{{Short description|Species of grass}} {{Speciesbox |image = Starr 050530-2059 Briza maxima.jpg |genus = Briza |species = maxima |authority = L. }}

'''''Briza maxima''''' is a species of the grass genus ''Briza''. It is native to Northern Africa, Western Asia and Southern Europe and is cultivated or naturalised in the British Isles, the Azores, Australasia, the western United States, Central and South America, and Hawaii.<ref name=grin>{{GRIN | access-date=2007-10-18}}</ref>

This species has a large number of common names, including '''big quaking grass''', '''great quaking grass''', '''greater quaking-grass''',<ref name=BSBI07>{{BSBI 2007 |access-date=2014-10-17}}</ref> '''large quaking grass''', '''blowfly grass''', '''rattlesnake grass''', '''shelly grass''', '''rattle grass''', and '''shell grass'''.<ref>[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20090627190948/http://www.joondalup.wa.gov.au/cms/filedisplay.asp?file=444 Joondalup Coastal Foreshore Natural Areas Management Plan] Retrieved 2007-10-15.</ref><ref>[http://www.weeds.asn.au/weeds/bot_to_comm.html ''Briza maxima''.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828213209/http://www.weeds.asn.au/weeds/bot_to_comm.html |date=August 28, 2007 }} National Weeds Strategy. Retrieved 2007-10-15.</ref><ref name=grin/>

It grows to a height of 60&nbsp;cm. Their spikelets resemble those of the unrelated species ''Bromus briziformis.'' The seeds and leaves are edible.<ref>{{cite web|title=''Briza maxima''|url=http://www.survival.org.au/bf_briza_maxima.php|work=Survival and Self Sufficiency|access-date=9 September 2011}}</ref>

==References== {{Commons category|position=left||Briza maxima}} {{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q140178}}

Category:Pooideae Category:Grasses of Africa Category:Grasses of Asia Category:Bunchgrasses of Europe Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Garden plants Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Grasses of Lebanon

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