noun

• A kind of reedmace (bulrush), Typha orientalis (family Typhaceae), formerly used by Maori as a building material, for thatch, etc. Frequently attributive. Also in elliptical use (now historical): a hut built of, or thatched with, this plant.

  Formerly regarded as representing an endemic Australasian species, Typha muelleri, but now considered conspecific with T. orientalis of China and Japan.