Introduction
Overview
New Zealand native grasses are key components of natural and restored ecosystems, providing food and shelter for wildlife, stabilizing soil, and withstanding harsh conditions. Iconic species include Chionochloa rubra (Red Tussock), Austroderia toetoe (Toetoe), and Ficinia spiralis (Pāngao). These grasses are adapted to a range of environments, from alpine meadows to coastal dunes. They are valued in landscaping for their movement, texture, and ability to thrive with minimal maintenance, supporting biodiversity and erosion control. Essential species like Hard Tussock form the backbone of Canterbury and Otago's grasslands, while versatile grasses like Silver Tussock adapt from coastal cliffs to subalpine areas with their distinctive silvery coloration.
New Zealand's native grasses and grass-like plants include a diverse range of species from towering toetoe to compact sedges. These versatile plants add texture, movement, and year-round interest to gardens while providing important ecological functions. Many are drought-tolerant and low-maintenance once established, making them excellent choices for sustainable landscaping.
Large Burr Grass
Cenchrus caliculatus
Large burr grass ( Cenchrus caliculatus ) is a robust, spreading, clump-forming grass that in New Zealand grows only on Raoul Island in the Kermadec Islands.
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Coastal Tussock
Chionochloa bromoides
Coastal tussock ( Chionochloa bromoides ), also called seabird tussock, is a stout, bright green tussock grass endemic to the far north of the North Island.
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Pygmy Clubrush
Isolepis basilaris
Pygmy clubrush ( Isolepis basilaris ) is one of New Zealand's smallest sedges, a minute, moss-like plant forming dense, circular patches only 1 to 10 cm across and up to.
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Prostrate Bluegrass
Connorochloa tenuis
Prostrate bluegrass ( Elymus tenuis , now called Connorochloa tenuis ) is an endemic New Zealand grass with flat, bronze leaves and slender stems that trail along the.
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Alpine Rush
Marsippospermum gracile
Alpine rush ( Marsippospermum gracile ) is a densely tufted, endemic New Zealand rush with rigid, bright green, needle-fine leaves and slender stems 8 to 40 cm tall.
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Drooping Poa
Poa novae
Drooping poa ( Poa novae-zelandiae ) is a stout, bright green tufted grass endemic to New Zealand's mountains.
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Purple Plume Grass
Pentapogon micranthus
Purple plume grass ( Pentapogon micranthus , now Pentapogon micranthus ) is a stout, rigid, tufted grass with stiffly erect stems 0.4 to 1 m tall topped by dense.
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Bush Rice Grass
Microlaena avenacea
Bush rice grass ( Microlaena avenacea ), also called oat grass, is a broad-leaved, tufted perennial grass of shaded New Zealand forest.
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Giant Rush
Juncus pallidus
Giant rush ( Juncus pallidus ), also called leafless rush and one of the rushes known to Māori as wīwī, is New Zealand's most robust rush.
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Leafless Rush
Juncus pauciflorus
Leafless rush ( Juncus pauciflorus ) is a slender native rush with bright green to reddish stems up to 1 m long that sprawl widely and loosely from the base, sometimes.
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Sharp Spike Sedge
Eleocharis acuta
Sharp spike sedge ( Eleocharis acuta ) is a native wetland sedge found throughout New Zealand, from the Kermadec Islands to Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham.
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Sand Spike Sedge
Eleocharis neozelandica
Sand spike sedge ( Eleocharis neozelandica ) is a tiny, mat-forming sedge endemic to New Zealand.
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Small Spike Sedge
Eleocharis pusilla
Eleocharis pusilla is one of New Zealand's smallest sedges, forming bright green to brownish tufts of hair-fine stems only 1 to 12 cm long.
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Coastal Wind Grass
Lachnagrostis littoralis
Coastal wind grass ( Lachnagrostis littoralis subsp. littoralis ) is a small, densely tufted annual grass endemic to New Zealand.
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Purple Wind Grass
Lachnagrostis striata
Purple wind grass ( Lachnagrostis striata ) is a fine-leaved, low-growing grass endemic to New Zealand.
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Dwarf Alpine Woodrush
Luzula colensoi
Dwarf alpine woodrush ( Luzula colensoi ) is a tiny cushion-forming woodrush endemic to New Zealand.
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Machaerina arthrophylla
Machaerina arthrophylla
Machaerina arthrophylla , now called Machaerina arthrophylla, is a native wetland sedge with slender, cylindrical, rush-like stems 0.5-1.3 m tall.
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Agrostis pallescens
Agrostis pallescens
Agrostis pallescens is a tiny, finely rhizomatous bent grass endemic to New Zealand, usually only 3 to 5 cm tall, with fine pale to blue-green or light brown leaves and.
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Agrostis personata
Agrostis personata
Agrostis personata is a delicate endemic bent grass that forms lax, slender tufts usually up to about 30 cm tall, occasionally 60 cm, with soft leaves and fine.
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Agrostis petriei
Agrostis petriei
Agrostis petriei is a loosely erect, bluish-green to greyish-green tussock-forming bent grass endemic to the South Island, growing 15 to 55 cm tall with stiff, wiry.
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Schoenus concinnus
Schoenus concinnus
Schoenus concinnus is a small, tufted, rush-like sedge of permanently damp, sunny ground in coastal and alpine turf and along the margins of tidal streams, rivers, ponds.
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Schoenus nitens
Schoenus nitens
Schoenus nitens is a small, tufted, rush-like sedge of damp coastal ground: sand flats, dune swales and the margins of tidal creeks, brackish swamps, lagoons and ponds.
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Rytidosperma australe
Rytidosperma australe
Rytidosperma australe is a small, tufted native grass in the danthonioid group of the grass family.
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Sparganium subglobosum
Sparganium subglobosum
Bur-reed ( Sparganium subglobosum ), known in Māori as maru, is a soft, summer-green aquatic herb that grows to about 1 m tall at flowering.
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Carpha alpina
Carpha alpina
Carpha alpina is a tufted perennial sedge of bogs, mires and wet, peaty shrublands, found in New Zealand and Australia.
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Centrolepis strigosa
Centrolepis strigosa
Centrolepis strigosa is a minute, tufted annual herb, usually only 15 to 70 mm tall, that grows on damp, open sand and clay near coastal lakes and ponds.
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Isolepis caligenis
Isolepis caligenis
A small, bright green endemic sedge (Isolepis caligenis) of shaded montane stream banks and damp forest, 700-1400 m, from the Kaimanawas to Otago.
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Isolepis crassiuscula
Isolepis crassiuscula
Isolepis crassiuscula is a small, yellow-green to bluish sedge that in New Zealand grows only on the Central Volcanic Plateau of the North Island, from the upper.
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Isolepis pottsii
Isolepis pottsii
Isolepis pottsii is a slender, tufted sedge endemic to New Zealand, recorded from the North Island, South Island and Chatham Islands.
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Isolepis praetextata
Isolepis praetextata
Isolepis praetextata is a small, leafy, tufted sedge endemic to New Zealand's southern and western coasts.
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Isolepis reticularis
Isolepis reticularis
A delicate endemic sedge (Isolepis reticularis) with hair-fine, drooping green stems that carpets damp stream banks, seepages, pond edges and bog margins.
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Isolepis subtilissima
Isolepis subtilissima
Isolepis subtilissima is one of New Zealand's smallest sedges: a minute plant forming little fine-leaved tufts from a much-branched creeping rhizome, with thread-like.
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Oreobolus strictus
Oreobolus strictus
Comb sedge ( Oreobolus strictus ) is a small endemic sedge that forms loose green or yellowish-green tufts just 3 to 12 cm high.
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Fimbristylis velata
Fimbristylis velata
Fimbristylis velata is a small annual sedge that forms soft, finely hairy, spreading tufts on freshly exposed, sunny, damp or muddy ground.
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Deschampsia pusilla
Deschampsia pusilla
Deschampsia pusilla is one of New Zealand's smallest grasses: a compact, leafy tuft only 2 to 4.5 cm tall whose flowering stems are often hidden among the leaves.
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Deschampsia tenella
Deschampsia tenella
Deschampsia tenella , known as hair grass, is a slender, endemic New Zealand grass that forms smooth, leafy tufts usually 9 to 35 cm tall, sometimes spreading into a.
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Anthoxanthum recurvatum
Anthoxanthum recurvatum
Hierochloe recurvata , now named Anthoxanthum recurvatum , is an endemic holy grass of New Zealand's mountains.
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Koeleria cheesemanii
Koeleria cheesemanii
Koeleria cheesemanii is a small endemic alpine grass that forms dense, stiff, pale greyish-green tufts, usually 9 to 17 cm tall, with dense cylindrical flower heads.
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Lepturus repens
Lepturus repens
Lepturus repens is a semi-prostrate, grey-green perennial grass that forms dense mats more than 2 m across from long trailing stolons that root at the nodes.
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Poa pusilla
Poa pusilla
Poa pusilla is a small, slender and often delicate grass endemic to New Zealand.
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Poa pygmaea
Poa pygmaea
Poa pygmaea is one of New Zealand's smallest grasses, forming compact, rigid, grey-green to dull green cushions only about 10 cm across and 2.5 cm high.
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Poa ramosissima
Poa ramosissima
Poa ramosissima is a soft, bright green, turf-forming grass endemic to New Zealand's subantarctic Auckland Islands and Campbell Island/Motu Ihupuku.
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Poa schistacea
Poa schistacea
Poa schistacea is a grey-green to yellow-green grass endemic to the mountains of western Otago and north-eastern Southland.
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Poa tonsa
Poa tonsa
Poa tonsa is a small, compact, light green tufted grass endemic to the South Island mountains.
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Morelotia affinis
Morelotia affinis
Morelotia ( Morelotia affinis ) is a harsh, leafy, tufted sedge endemic to New Zealand, growing 20-70 cm tall from a stout, woody rootstock.
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Poa antipoda
Poa antipoda
Poa antipoda is a soft, drooping, light green grass that forms loose stoloniferous tufts about 20 to 60 cm tall, rooting where its stems touch the ground.
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Poa breviglumis
Poa breviglumis
Poa breviglumis is a soft, weak, loosely tufted native grass, about 5 to 40 cm tall, that spreads by stolons or rhizomes and roots at its lower nodes.
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Poa dipsacea
Poa dipsacea
Poa dipsacea is a small alpine grass endemic to the South Island, forming erect, open, rather stiff tufts up to about 30 cm tall from short rhizomes.
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