The handsome, plumed flowers of pampas grass are appearing across the region - and they are commonly mistaken for toetoe.
It's important to know the difference, because toetoe is a prized native plant and pampas is a pest plant banned from growing and sale.
Each pampas plant can grow 3m or more high and shed a million seeds in its lifetime.
Those windblown seeds germinate and pampas colonises conservation land and forests, outcompeting native plants. Its dry leaves and flower heads are a fire risk, and it shelters pests like rats, rabbits and possums.
One of the two species in New Zealand can grow as high as 7m, with plants so huge that they have to be removed by a bulldozer.