Name: pīngao
Brand: grasses, sedges & rushes

Ficinia spiralis | pīngao, golden sand sedge, pikao

A vital New Zealand native sedge found on active sand dunes. Its distinctive rough-textured leaves emerge green, turning a warm golden yellow as the sand dries. Growing to 70 cm tall and 1m wide, it quickly colonises large areas. Pīngao extensive root system is crucial for capturing water during droughts and makes it excellent for sand dune stabilisation and erosion control, thriving particularly on slopes and moving sand in coastal environments. Though its natural habitat has diminished, it's increasingly used in mass plantings on non-sand slopes and banks.

Pīngao is New Zealand's primary native sand binder (alongside spinifex) is vital for stabilising coastal foredunes, often growing closer to the shoreline than any other plant. Once widespread across New Zealand and its islands, its populations have dramatically declined since European settlement. This decline was initially driven by widespread burning, browsing by livestock and wild animals, and was accelerated by competition from invasive species like marram grass and tree lupin, introduced for dune stabilisation. Today, coastal development, sand mining, and vehicle damage continue to threaten pīngao's survival.

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