Ficinia spiralis (pëngao, pëkao, or golden sand sedge) is a coastal sedge endemic to New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands). Originally widespread, it has suffered severely from competition with introduced marram grass and animal grazing and now has only a patchy distribution.
Pëngao is a stout, grass-like plant, tall, from the sedge family, found on active sand dunes. It is found only in New Zealand and is easily distinguished from other dune species such as spinifex or marram grass. Seen from a distance, pëngao patches have a distinctive orange hue.
Most plants produce long, prostrate, tough rope-like stolons that creep along the sand surface until buried by shifting sand, leaving just the upper portion of leaves exposed. Some southern South Island populations produce dense tussock-like plants without extensive stolons.
Numerous tough, roughly textured leaves are borne in dense tufts on well-spaced, short, upright stems (tillers), along the length of stolons. The narrow leaves are 2âÂÂ5 mm wide, with colour ranging from bright green when young through golden yellow to a deep orange on mature plants.
Small, dark brown flowers appear in spring and are arranged spirally in tight clusters around the upper 10âÂÂ30 cm of the upright stem (culm), interspersed with leaf-like bracts. The seeds are shiny, dark brown, egg-shaped, 3âÂÂ5 mm long, and ripen and fall in early summer. Pëngao can also reproduce vegetatively with its stolons.
Pëngao was first scientifically described by Achille Richard in 1832, and was given the name Isolepis spiralis. In 1853 Joseph Dalton Hooker placed Pëngao in the genus Desmoschoenus. In 2010 A. M. Muasyaa and Peter de Lange merged the genus Desmoschoenus into Ficinia after their research showed that the two were indistinguishable.
The MÃÂori language name pëngao is unique to New Zealand, as there are no known cognates in other Polynesian languages. While the etymology is unknown, the element pë is often used in MÃÂori to refer to tides, and in other Polynesian languages to describe splashing or sprinkling. In the South Island, the plant is known as pëkao in NgÃÂi Tahu dialect.
The species epithet spiralis likely refers to the seed heads of the plant. The English language name golden sand sedge has become less frequently used in English, as the word pëngao has grown in popularity.
The species is endemic to New Zealand, found in sand dunes across mainland New Zealand and the Chatham Islands.
Pëngao is an important habitat for New Zealand bird and insect species, including the New Zealand pipit, Australasian harrier, New Zealand dotterel and the katipà  spider.
One MÃÂori name for pëngao is ngàtukemata o TÃÂne, or "TÃÂne's eyebrows". A pà «rÃÂkau involving pëngao describes a time of conflict between TÃÂne Mahuta, God of the Forest, and his brother Takaroa, God of the Sea. Takaroa was jealous of TÃÂne Mahuta's success in separating Ranginui, the Sky Father, from Papatà «ÃÂnuku, the Earth Mother. TÃÂne Mahuta tried to end the warring between them and as a sign of peace, TÃÂne Mahuta plucked out his eyebrows and gave them to Takaroa. Takaroa rejected TÃÂne's offer and threw the eyebrows back onto the shore, which grow today as pëngao/pëkao. Other pà «rÃÂkau describe pëngao beginning life as a seaweed and becoming stuck on the shore, after falling in love with the stalks of toetoe, or being placed on land to act as a guardian for the toheroa.
Leaves from pëngao, which turn bright yellow as they dry, are used by MÃÂori in traditional weaving, especially the construction of hats (pà Âtae), bags (kete), and mats (whÃÂriki). It is also used to create decorative tukutuku panels in a wharenui. The length, width, and strength of the leaves for weaving vary among pëngao populations growing in different areas. Leaves were also used by MÃÂori for thatching. Pëngao is also known to have been fashioned into a traditional armour by NgÃÂi Tahu.
The tender growing tips of the plant is a traditional MÃÂori food.
Prior to European settlement, pëngao was extremely widespead across sand dunes in New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, and has become displaced by introduced species, such as marram and Pinus radiata, and introduced weeds such as yellow tree lupins. Marram and pines create more stable dunes, so during colonisation large areas of pëngao were burnt. It is now restricted to scattered patches around coastal New Zealand, and is actively planted by community groups and the Department of Conservation when restoring native ecosystems.