New Zealand: Toetoe

A tall and graceful native grass seen across New Zealand is toetoe, which as far as I can make out is properly pronounced in Māori like the English words toe-eh-toe-eh, but which has been Anglicized to toy-toy (and is sometimes therefore seen spelled toitoi). The relevant Wikipedia article says that there are five species, all of which botanists moved in 2011 from the genus Cortaderia (which includes Pampas grass) to the genus Austroderia.

I photographed this toetoe by a pond at Zealandia in Wellington on the overcast and sometimes drizzly morning of February 21st.

© 2015 Steven Schwartzman