Thanks to Chris Jonkers for putting an end to my pondering!
Been checking this plant over the last few months and hadn't noticed this species before then nor do I recall seeing it anywhere else (other than another specimen at this property). The fuzzy things are presumably fruit/seed pods. They feel hard. The leaves make me think hakea or acacia but ruled out latter because fruit nothing like acacia seed pods I’m familiar with. I now know that simply early stage of acacia pods. No help from iNat system (just concluded "plant") and google images keep suggesting a variety of plants (including acacia and hakea) probably based on superficial appearance, like fuzzy flowers. Note that this specimen is about 1.5M tall.