These are easily spotted grass-like plants on Ōnoke Spit and are key to supporting important dune ecosystems like this one. Both hinarepe and pīngao are classified as at-risk species as their numbers are declining across Aotearoa New Zealand.

These are species you’ll have to look a little harder to find as they grow low to the ground as “cushion” plants. Vegetable sheep are so named because their clusters resemble sheep on a hillside from a distance. The bright orange notoreas moth can be seen flying around pinatoro in large numbers.