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 The base form of this word, wī, denotes two species of grass, Poa cita and Chionochloa australis, and is used interchangeably with the reduplicated form, wīwī, for several species of rush, particularly Juncus edgariae (illustrated on the left) and J. usitatus. Wīwī is a generic term which designates members of the genus Juncus and the related genus Ficinia (Cyperaceae).
Poa cita, "the silver tussock", is one of the two grasses bearing the name wī. It is found throughout Aotearoa especially in wilder coastal areas, like the Wellington shoreline, but also around the Rotorua lakes and on shingle beds and in shrubland in Canterbury. Its attractive appearance and toughness make it ideal as a feature plant in coastal gardens.
The other grass with this name is the "carpet grass", Chinocholoa australis, wī kura (red or precious wī). This is a South Island species, which forms dense mats in herb fields and grasslands in montane and alpine areas where the soil is constantly moist.
The other plants with this name are rushes, known collectively as wīwī. Most are members of the genus Juncus, but the group includes Ficinia nodosa. This is a fairly hardy plant found especially on sand dunes, sandy beaches, rocky outcrops and other open areas. It is found throughout Aotearoa and has a wide distribution also in other parts of the southern hemisphere.
Juncus edgariae is an endemic species, and the most commonly encountered of these plants, often appearing in pastureland and even urban gardens as well as the edges of lakes and other damp areas. Its ubiquity has earned it the doubtful distinction of being of being among the few native plants regarded as "weeds". It grows in clumps, and stems may be anything from two to six feet high.
Juncus usitatus is found from Northland to Canterbury, as well as in Australia, Norfolk Island and New Caledonia. It grows in a variety of open situations in coastal and lowland areas, from swampy ground and damp pastures to rocky situations and seasonally dry clay soils. Its ability to grow on basalt lava surfaces make it a weed around Auckland City. It grows up to about a metre tall.
Juncus kraussii subsp. australiensis, the "sea rush", is found throughout the North Island and most of the South Island, and also Australia. It is mainly a coastal plant, found in salt marshes, brackish stretches of water and lagoon and river margins, as well as around volcanic vents in the Rotorua area and a few other inland places. It grows from 2 to 4 feet hugh.
Wīwī (Juncus spp.) generally
were traditionally used to provide waterproofing layers in thatched roofs and walls. The stems af the rushes were also regarded as ara atua -- pathways to the gods -- in decision-making and certain rituals. They were used in divination, including as "straws" to determine the guilt or innocence of an accused person.
Although wīwī are regarded as weeds in many contexts, in contemporary Aotearoa the decorative value of native rushes and grasses is also recognized, and some species are regularly employed in garden design (see for example The Native Garden by Isobel Gabites and Ron Lucas).
The root word, wī, makes a single appearance in Ngā Mōteatea, in a lament by a noble woman afflicted with leprosy, comparing her anguish to the flames of a raging grass fire:
Tērā te ata iti hohoro mai koia;
Matatū noa ana ko au nei anake.
Kei te mura tonu o te pua re-wī e kā ana, e pā!
Come quickly, thou infant morn, hasten hither;
For 'tis a wakeful vigil I alone do keep.
The fever within, O sire, is like the flaming tussock!
[He waiata mō te mate ngerengere, by Te Rohu (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), NM 43:1-3]
(There is a note to the text (NM, pp. 192-3) that the phrase "pua re-wī" refers to the bloom (pua) of the tussock (wī), with "re-" added simply to provide euphony in singing.)
Wīwī in Te Paipera Tapu
 In the Māori translation of the Bible, wīwī is used as a catch-all term for reeds and rushes, especially in ambiguous texts.
In the first example below, the precise identity of the herbage growing alongside the Nile is unclear, and the translations are correspondingly diverse. The word chosen in the Samoan text is particularly interesting. Art Whistler (Plants in Samoan Culture, p. 163) has this to say about it: "An ancient name referring to an unidentified species of grass, probably Oplismenus compositus ..., basket grass, or perhaps referring in general to several species." Since the Rev. George Pratt, who compiled the first Samoan dictionary, referred to falī only as "grass", it's likely the Samoan text reflects this generic designation.
Nevertheless, the falī as Oplismenus is illustrated above, left.
Na, ko te putanga ake o nga kau e whitu i roto i te awa, he ahua pai, e whai kiko ana; a ka kai ratou i roto i nga wiwi.[Genesis 41:2]
And there came out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass. [NRSV]
And there were seven cows, sleek and fat, and they began to feed among the rushes. [JB]
Fa'auta fo'i, 'ua ō a'e i le vaitafe o povi e fitu 'ua tino lelei ma te pepete, 'ua latou 'a'ai fo'i le vaofalī. [TP]
In the next example, while the Maori and English translations are generic in nature, the Samoan designates a specific plant,
'utu'utu, Eleocharis dulcis, the widely-distributed "water chestnut", also native to Samoa, and a common marsh plant.
Na ko te haerenga iho o te tamahine a Parao ki te horoi; ko ana kotiro hoki e haere ana i te taha o te awa; a, ka kite ia i te aaka i roto i nga wiwi, ka ngare i tana kotiro ki te tiki.[Exodus 2:5]
The daughter of Pharoah came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her maid to bring it. [NRSV]
... Among the reeds she noticed the basket, and she sent her maid to fetch it. [JB]
‘Ona alu ifo lea o le afafine o Farao e tā‘ele i le vaitafe, o sāvavali ane fo‘i lona galu teine i le ‘auvai o le vaitafe; ‘ua iloa atu e ia le ‘ato o lo‘o i le vao utuutu, ‘ona ‘auina atu lea e ia o lana ‘au‘auna fafine na te ‘aumaia. [TP]
 Wīwī alternates with kakaho where the Hebrew
text uses the word gomeh, which is most likely to designate papyrus (see M. Zohary, Plants of the Bible, p. 137). I have included translations from the Jerusalem Bible in the examples on this page, which follow this pattern consistently (unlike some other English translations), paralleled by the Samoan translations, which in this case use the Samoan adaptation of the Hebrew word.
E tupu ranei te wiwi i te mea kahore he repo? E nui ranei te raupo ki te kahore he wai?[Job 8:11]
"Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water?" [NRSV]
"Does papyrus flourish except in the marshes? Without water can the rushes grow?" [JB]
“Pe tupu mai ‘ea le kome a lē o i ai se palapala?
pe tupu mai ‘ea le utuutu ‘ae lē o i ai se vai? [TP]
In this next example wīwī stands for agmon, the lake rush, Schoenoplectrus lacusta, a close relative of Māori kutakuta (and elsewhere translated by kakaho).
The Samoan fiso is a large reed, Erianthus maximus, that may be an ancient Polynesian introduction.
Mo reira ka tapahia e Ihowa te upoko o Iharaira me te hiawero, te nikau me te wiwi, i te ra kotahi. [Isaiah 9:14]
So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in one day. [NRSV]
Hence Yaweh has cut head and tail from Israel, palm branch and reed in a single day. [JB]
O le mea lea e vavae‘eseina ai e le ALI‘I le ulu ma le i‘u o Isaraelu, o le lau pama ‘atoa ma le fiso i le aso lava e tasi. [TP]
Finally, once more wīwī stands in for gomeh, "papyrus", reflected by the Samoan equivalent kome, with divergent English translations.
Na ka meinga te kirikiri mumura hei harotoroto, te whenua maroke hei puputanga wai: a i te nohoanga i takoto ai nga kirehe mohoao, ko te tarutaru, ko te kakaho, ko te wiwi. [Isaiah 35:7]
The burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp; the grass shall become reeds and rushes. [NRSV]
The scorched earth becomes a lake, the parched land springs of water. The lairs where the jackals used to live become thickets of reed and papyrus. [JB]
E ‘avea fo‘i le serapi ma vailepa, e ‘avea fo‘i le nu‘u naumati ma vaipuna. O le mea e nonofo ai luko, e ta‘o‘oto ai i latou, e fai lea ma mea e tutupu ai u ma kome. [TP]
There are further discussions of the translators' choices for the names of waterside plants, and descriptions of the Palestinian and Polynesian plants named, on the pages for kakaho and raupō.
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