Chionochloa is a genus of tussock grass in the Poaceae

Poaceae

The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...

family, containing mainly species of grass endemic to New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 such as snow tussock (e.g. Chionochloa conspicua), red tussock

Chionochloa rubra

Chionochloa rubra, commonly known as red tussock, is a tussock that is endemic to New Zealand.-References:*Zotov, V.D. Synopsis of the grass subfamily Arundinoideae in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 1963, 1: 78-136....

 and hunangamoho. Most of the 24 species in the genus grow in clumps, some up to 1.5 m tall.

Red tussock dominates the tall tussock grasslands on the North Islands volcanic mountains and can also be found in areas on the northern half of the South Island. Snow tussock, of which there are several species, can be found above the tree line together with other species.

Some of the species are referred to as snowgrass or its ellipsis

Ellipsis

Ellipsis is a series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word, sentence or whole section from the original text being quoted. An ellipsis can also be used to indicate an unfinished thought or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence...

 of snowgrass tussock

Tussock (grass)

Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are found as native plants in natural ecosystems, as forage in pastures, and as ornamental grasses in gardens....

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