NEWS SNIPPETS

The following news snippets were also published in the Wellington Botanical Society Newsletter

December 2008 News

 From the President

Summer is here, and with it our summer trip 16–26 January, based in Westport and Karamea.   The organisers have matters well in hand.   At a recent committee meeting we evaluated the content and format of the Society’s web site, Newsletter and Bulletin.   We’ll be making a few changes in the coming year.   The web site will be the main place for rapid communication, and storing and making our publications more widely available.   To that end, all back issues of the Bulletin are being scanned as part of a project the NZ Plant Conservation Network had funded to get all botanical societies’ publications digitised.   The Newsletter will be slimmed down by publishing major trip reports and obituaries in the bulletin, and the Bulletin will be published more frequently.

Members were treated to a rare event at the October evening meeting when Anthony Wright, President, NZ Botanical Society, presented the Allan Mere to Dr Patrick Brownsey.   The Allan Mere is administered by NZBS and is awarded for “outstanding contribution to New Zealand botany”.   After the presentation of the Allan Mere, we were treated to Dr Peter Johnson’s talk “A very merry mere”.   Peter was last year’s recipient of the Allan Mere and he took us on a journey with the mere he has made from many different kinds of wood, containing many little treasures – the whole being Peter’s taonga.   Both Patrick and Peter have made outstanding contributions to NZ botany and we have all benefitted from their work.

Carol West

 Kelburn school’s inspirational ecological restoration project

In 1858 Charles Barraud painted a view of the gully below the school, with native bush in the foreground, and in 1875 Dr John Buchanan listed all the native and adventive plants in the adjacent area, now the Wellington Botanic Garden.   A copy of his archival, handwritten list is being used to guide the gully planting programme, because these two sites were once ecologically continuous, though now separated by Ngaio Road.

The steep, north-facing gully has been under dense weed growth for decades, until recent years when a generous grant funded the development of its upper part as a terraced adventure play area, and locals began to restore the lower part to indigenous vegetation.   WCC’s Berhampore Nursery has supplied eco-sourced plants and these have been supplemented in some cases.   For instance, WBS Newsletter readers may remember that last year three Nestegis cunninghamii saplings, progeny of the ancient, solitary, black maire in the Botanic Garden, were donated by David Sole, Manager, Botanic Garden.   Unfortunately, from time to time, some inappropriate species have also been planted in the gully, but these will be removed.

Friday 24 October was a day of great excitement for all the school pupils and the many parents who had volunteered time and energy over several years of weeding and planting.   Scores of guests were welcomed with a traditional powhiri, followed by waiata from a spirited kapa haka team trained by staff member Annie Gear, to witness the unveiling of a waharoa (ceremonial gateway) which the Gully Project planners had commissioned Jono Randell to carve.

Passing through the waharoa symbolises one’s transition from the everyday, recreational part of the gully, down to the restoration area, Te Waonui a Tane, the realm of Tane, where special conditions, requirements, and sound ecological practice apply.   It seems to me that other schools could well choose to follow this inspirational idea.

Barbara Mitcalfe

 Hutt river riparian planting trial

Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) is preparing a brief for Landcare Research Ltd to analyse the results of the native plant trials opposite Maoribank, and at Taita Gorge, and Avalon.   We hope to have a summary of findings available for the next BotSoc newsletter.

Jacky Cox, GWRC

 Massey Regional Park – a regional park for Wellington City

With the inevitable increase in petrol prices and the need to minimise travel, both personally and in the national and global interest, there is an equally strong need for a significant open-space recreational area as close as possible to the Wellington City community.

Wellington City has no regional park: Wellingtonians need a regional park, particularly given that they pay Greater Wellington Regional Council for regional parks, but have none.

The proposed Massey Regional Park is the best opportunity for a regional park in Wellington City, given its spectacular coast and harbour views, and walking tracks through native bush, farmland and pine forests, and learning about the unique military history of Miramar Peninsula.   It is also a place of refuge for our native flora and fauna, and a CO2 sink to offset the demands our community places on our air.

It would be named after William Ferguson Massey, the Prime Minister of NZ through WWI 1912–1925, whose soul rests at the Massey Memorial at the northern tip of the proposed park.

Support the creation of Massey Regional Park on this unique and nationally important coastal and harbour landscape within Wellington City.   Ensure that Councillors and MPs protect this 150-ha, outstanding coastal landscape, easily accessible by public transport, for our community to enjoy now, and into the future for the generations to come.

The land does not need to be purchased, as the proposed Massey Regional Park land is government-owned, and WCC reserve.

Source: http://masseyregionalpark.org.nz.

 Request for donations to protect native forest

If you would like to make a donation towards Wellington’s newest native bush reserve, located in Derwent St, Island Bay, please send it to Island Bay Natural Heritage Charitable Trust Inc, 36 Ribble St, Island Bay, Wellington, or to Westpac, Kilbirnie Branch account no. 030521-0311090-00.

Privacy Act authority: Yes / No (please indicate): I / we am / are happy to authorise the publication of my / our name(s), and the amount of my / our donation, to other supporters of the reserve and the public.

Note: All donors will be entered in the Register of Donors for the new reserve, and will receive an official receipt and certificate.   Donations of $5 or more are tax deductible.   Donations may be from individuals, families, organisations, or businesses.

 New conservation site established

Southern Environmental Association (SEA) have settled an Environment Court appeal regarding the ex-Owhiro Bay Quarry land, which SEA campaigned to make into a reserve in the 1990s.   Wellington City Council has agreed to rezone most of the ex-quarry land as a Conservation Site, the highest level of protection available in the District Plan, leaving only the most recent of the former quarry faces to be zoned as “Open Space B”.

Source: Southern Environmental Association

September 2008 News

 From the President

It’s a great honour to be elected President of Wellington Botanical Society following, as I do, in the footsteps of many of the leaders of New Zealand botany from the first President, W.R.B. Oliver.   I note that the subscription for a senior member when the Society was set up in 1939 was 5/-.   Just like the cost of running a car today compared with 70 years ago, the current subscription for an ordinary member of $20 represents a much smaller fraction of the average household income than it did in 1939.   We owe our ability to keep subs so low to the prudent judgement of our Treasurers, the generosity of members, and wise governance by committees over the years.   On the subject of Treasurers, it’s revealing to note that in the 70-year history of the Society, we have been served in the last 44 years mainly by two Treasurers: Kingsley Brown and Rodney Lewington.   The Society owes a deep debt of gratitude to Rodney, in particular, as he has been an active member since the early 1960s and an office-holder almost continuously since 1972, apart from an 18-month absence when seconded to Australia.   He has been Secretary, Vice-President, President (twice), a committee member and, for the last 20 years, Treasurer.   In addition he’s played a significant role in organising many summer trips, and for decades was deputy and then chief porridge-maker.   Thank you Rodney.

Looking forward I’d like to welcome the new committee, including Barbara Clark and Rodney Lewington, returning Secretary and Treasurer, respectively.   New committee members are Jill Goodwin and Richard Herbert.   Thanks to outgoing committee members Robyn Smith and Dave Holey for the work they’ve done while on the committee.

Carol West

 2008/09 committee

At the 69th Annual General Meeting, held on 18 August, the following were elected:

 Patrick Brownsey awarded the Allan Mere for 2008

It was with great pleasure that I was able to announce Patrick as the recipient of the Allan Mere for 2008 at the AGM on 18 August.   As we all know, Patrick is the primary expert on fern systematics in New Zealand and his book “New Zealand Ferns and Allied Plants”, co-authored with John Smith-Dodsworth, is the standard reference for fern identification.   He’s a fabulous teacher and BotSoccers have been fortunate to attend a number of workshops, field trips and lectures that he’s led over the years.   Patrick has been a member of BotSoc since the early 1970s when he came to New Zealand to a Postdoctoral position at Victoria University.

Wellington Botanical Society nominated Patrick for the Allan Mere and we were supported by Auckland, Manawatu and Otago Botanical Societies and some of his colleagues in doing so.

The presentation of the Allan Mere to Patrick will take place on Monday 20 October at our evening meeting where the guest speaker will be Peter Johnson, current holder of the Mere.   Peter’s talk is entitled “A very merry Mere”.   Anthony Wright, President, New Zealand Botanical Society, will present the Allan Mere to Patrick in person.

Carol West

 Shannel Courtney wins the Loder Cup for 2008

The Loder Cup is New Zealand’s premier conservation award.   Gerald Loder donated the Loder Cup in 1926 to “encourage and honour New Zealanders who work to investigate, promote, retain and cherish our indigenous flora”.   In mid-July, the Minister of Conservation, Steve Chadwick, announced Shannel Courtney as this year’s recipient.   She said, “This award recognises Shannel’s personal and professional commitment to protecting and restoring threatened indigenous plant life, particularly in the Nelson and Marlborough regions.   Shannel was nominated by the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society and it is clear that he is highly respected by his colleagues as a leader in his field.   Those supporting Shannel’s nomination highlighted his support to others in plant conservation and botanical research.   Shannel is also recognised for devoting his spare time to promoting, restoring and protecting our native plants, including work restoring 6 ha of coastal northern rata-podocarp-mixed broadleaved forest on limestone bluffs at Pohara, Golden Bay.   This is a wonderful example of the difference individuals can make in restoring natural environments on private land.   Shannel’s knowledge of the distribution and habitats of all NZ indigenous plants, especially threatened species, has made a huge contribution to conservation in NZ, and I congratulate and thank him as he joins other worthy recipients of this premier conservation award.”

Congratulations from Wellington Botanical Society, Shannel!

Carol West

 Bev Abbott’s term on Conservation Board ends

Six years ago, BotSoc asked if I’d let my name go forward as a potential member of the Wellington Conservation Board.   I agreed, and some months later, the letter arrived from the Minister of Conservation saying I’d been appointed for a three-year term.   Three years later, again supported by a nomination from BotSoc, I was appointed for a second term.   For two of those years, I chaired the Board.

I am extremely grateful to BotSoc for encouraging me in this direction.   At times it’s been hard work; at times it’s been frustrating; but overall, it’s been a valuable and rewarding learning experience.

Conservation boards’ functions are limited to those set out in the Conservation Act, so they lack the freedom of non-government organisations such as BotSoc to decide what to do.   Boards can advise DOC, but don’t have any (governance) powers to tell DOC what to do.   Members receive fees for attending meetings – $140/day for (usually) 8-hr meetings, and IRD and ACC want their share.   Field trips and site inspections, 1–2 a year, where Board members can talk with DOC staff about their achievements and challenges, more than compensate for the hours spent at meetings.

My main frustration, however, lies in the delay to the start of the process for reviewing the first Conservation Management Strategy for Wellington Conservancy (the Wellington CMS).   Wellington’s first CMS was approved by the NZ Conservation Authority in 1996.   Under the Conservation Act, the Director General is required to review the CMS no later than 10 years after it was approved.   The Minister, however, is able to extend the term of a CMS, and the term of Wellington’s CMS has been extended twice, most recently to June 2010.   The good news is that work on the Wellington review has started, and BotSoc is likely to be invited to be part of the informal consultation on a preliminary draft CMS later this year.   We need to be ready to suggest “management objectives for indigenous species and their habitats and ecosystems” and to “identify and, where possible, prioritise the threats posed by pests to indigenous species, habitats and ecosystems” in Wellington Conservancy, and at particular special places.   These purposes of CMSs come from the Conservation General Policy approved in 2005.

While waiting (and agitating) for the CMS review process to begin, the Wellington Conservation Board has prepared submissions on a wide range of conservation- related topics, some from DOC head office, some from other central government agencies, some from Greater Wellington Regional Council and others from local councils.   This is where much of my learning has occurred, and it’s always satisfying when draft plans and strategies are changed to reflect ideas we’ve put forward.   It’s also been possible, and quite legitimate, for ideas from BotSoc submissions to be reworded for inclusion in Board submissions, and vice versa.   I had one amusing moment though when there was a contradiction between the submission I signed as Chair of the Board and the one I signed as President of BotSoc.

My time on the Board has now come to an end.   I expect, however, that from time to time, I’ll turn up for the Public Forums that the Board holds at all its meetings for people to tell the Board about conservation matters they care about.

My thanks again to BotSoc for the opportunity.

Bev Abbott

 Liverworts and hornworts flora

A Flora of the Liverworts and Hornworts of New Zealand, Volume 1 by John J. Engel and David Glenny, published by Missouri Botanical Gardens Press, 2008, ISBN: 9781930723672, hardback, colour photos, black and white illustrations, pages: viii + 898.

This is an illustrated guide to an important component of NZ’s green plant flora.   The liverworts and hornworts, together with the mosses, make up the bryophytes.   Liverworts are morphologically a more diverse group than the mosses in that they have both leafy and thallose forms, the leafy forms sometimes being mistaken for mosses.   This volume, the first of three, deals with leafy liverworts, as will Volume 2; Volume 3 will deal with the remainder of the leafy liverworts, together with the thallose liverworts and the hornworts.   Volume 1 provides keys and descriptions to 211 of the 595 liverwort species, and provides a key to all genera of the largest order, the Jungermanniales.   It provides detailed notes on distribution and habitat, and discussions under the family and genus descriptions place the NZ flora in the context of the world liverwort and hornwort flora.   To complement the descriptions, 172 black-and-white plates illustrate details of many of the species and 101 colour images illustrate almost all of the 60 genera in this volume.

Volume 1 includes a detailed Introduction, which presents a history of exploration of the NZ flora; provides a detailed overview of the region’s climate, geology, and vegetation; and includes a special contribution on endophytic fungi associates in NZ liverworts and their ecological and evolutionary significance.

When this three-volume flora is completed, it will be the first flora for these two groups of bryophytes since Hooker’s 1864–1867 Handbook of the New Zealand Flora.

Available to BotSoc members from Manaaki Whenua Press for $144.00 + $7 delivery within NZ (full retail price is $160.00 plus delivery).   Online orders at www.mwpress.co.nz or email mwpress (at) landcareresearch.co.nz.

 Percy scenic reserve

Excell Corporation has been sold

Excell, my employer, has been sold to Downer EDI Works and Transpacific Industries, with sale completion by 30/9/08.   Little information has been received, so senior management have told us that it is business-as-usual.

SH2 re-alignment

A permanent fence has been erected on the road frontage, south of the culvert, to protect the rear of the threatened species garden.   We are waiting for Fletcher-Higgins to erect the permanent nursery fence.

The Dowse Drive interchange work is progressing and should be completed by February 2009.   Once it is operational, the caretaker’s house will be relocated to the north end of Dowse Drive by the new entrance to the reserve.   The retaining wall has been built and clad with ponga battens on the north bank.

An Olearia hectorii tree, transplanted from the old house garden to near the new vehicle bridge, has adapted to its new position and seems to be in good health.   It has gone through the deciduous stage over winter and has buds awaiting spring.

Threatened plants from the Chatham Islands

The Chatham Island collection garden has been expanded.   There are now two sites, one by the waterwheel between the boardwalk and SH2, which is mainly shaded, and sometimes partly inundated with water, and a sunny, dry, site 30 m away between SH2 and the car park lawn.

Current plant species include: Aciphylla dieffenbachia, Astelia chathamica, Carex ventosa, Carex chathamica, Coprosma acerosa, Coprosma propinqua var. martinii, Cortaderia turbaria, mbergeria grandifolia, Euphorbia glauca, Hebe dieffenbachia, Hebe chathamica, Leptinella potentillina, Libertia peregrinans, Linum monogynum var. chathamicum, Melicytus chathamicus, Myrsine coxii, Olearia traversii, Phormium aff. Tenax, Pratia arenaria, Pseudopanax chathamicus, Rhopalostylis aff. sapida, Schoenus sp.

Recent acquisitions from Otari-Wilton’s Bush include Embergeria grandifolia, Olearia traversiorum, O. semidentata, and O. chathamica which will be grown on and planted next year.

Brachyglottis huntii has been planted at both garden sites, but unfortunately has not liked the conditions.   It can be seen elsewhere in the reserve, just north of the information board, and between the public toilets and the new bridge.

GWRC – water quality

Greater Wellington Regional Council has been checking water quality in “Percy Stream” during the re-development.   Frances Forsyth said the quality is good, and there are several kokopu, large native freshwater fish, in the lower area of the stream.

Jill Broome, Plant Collections Supervisor, Percy Scenic Reserve, Petone

 National Plant Conservation Awards for 2008

Clean sweep for Wellington region in national plant conservation awards for 2008

The Wellington region achieved a clean sweep of national plant conservation awards for 2008.   They were presented in Wellington on 9 August, by Ian Spellerberg, President, NZ Plant Conservation Network.

“These awards acknowledge the outstanding contribution made by individuals, schools, communities, nurseries and councils in protecting our globally important native plants” Ian said.   The awards were:

Life-time achievement

Winners: Barbara Mitcalfe and Chris Horne

These are two of the most passionate plant people in Wellington.   Stalwarts of Wellington Botanical Society, and highly regarded as botanists and wise minds in the plant conservation world, they are truly amazing, inspirational people who have assisted with hundreds of plant surveys and planting projects, and guided botanical walks and BotSoc trips.

Individual

Winner: Arnold Dench

In the 1950s, Arnold, with his wife, Ruth, began converting a steep, wind-swept paddock in Newlands, Wellington, into a native plant garden of national importance.   Since then, they have specialised in our alpine flora, e.g. Celmisia, Myosotis, Wahlenbergia, Ourisia, Ranunculus, ground covers, grasses and grass-like plants, learning, by trial and error, how to germinate the seeds, grow on the seedlings, and raise them to adulthood.   Arnold has provided threatened plant material to Percy Scenic Reserve, Lower Hutt, and Otari-Wilton’s Bush, Wellington, and at other times, accepted seed and specimens from these reserves, and from botanists around NZ, for growing on, and return.   Arnold and Ruth have always been ready to pass on what they have learnt about the cultivation and horticultural use of our native plants, and as keen to learn from others.   Arnold’s knowledge of our alpine flora, his readiness to share that knowledge, his exchanges of plant material, and his presentations on alpine plants, have made an outstanding contribution to the profile of our threatened native plants.

School

Winners: Kelburn School Gully Project

In 1999, Kelburn School’s community began returning a weedy gully to its native state, using eco-sourced plants recorded in the ecologically contiguous Wellington Botanic Garden bush areas.

Nursery

Winners: Berhampore Nursery - Wellington City Council

Each year Berhampore Nursery Manager, Jonathan Bussell, and his team, produce 100,000 eco-sourced plants for use throughout the city in restoration programmes, rehabilitation plantings, streamside and wetland plantings, and for schools.   There are few parts of the city, from its coastal margins to the grey scrublands on Mt Kaukau, that the staff have not been planting.   They are an invaluable resource that supports the community at large.

Community

Winners: Waitohu Stream Care Inc.

This group was formed in 1999 to restore the riparian margins of Waitohu Stream, Horowhenua.   They have produced thousands of native seedlings in their nursery, and planted them to stabilise the banks of the stream and provide habitat for fauna.

Council

Winners: Greater Wellington Regional Council Greater Wellington lead several programmes in the region, including habitat protection, community restoration days, co-ordinating plant groups, undertaking pest control.   They are achieving great things for plant conservation.

The NZ Plant Conservation Network is the largest non- governmental organisation devoted solely to protecting NZ’s unique plant life (see www.nzpcn.org.nz).   For more information about the Network, the awards, photographs from the ceremony, and for contact details of award winners:

John Sawyer, Secretary, NZ Plant Conservation Network, M: 0210 583894, T: 04 470 8427 (w).

 “Complete” list of environmental weeds

A ‘Consolidated List’ of environmental weeds in NZ has been compiled by DOC to improve consistency for what have been referred to as ‘DOC weeds’.   This list comprises 328 vascular plant species.   The report notes that two-thirds of environmental weeds have been deliberately introduced as ornamental plants.   Ominously it predicts that the rate of new naturalisations shows no sign of abating, so it is expected that the ‘Consolidated List’ will continue to grow.   The report, written by Clayson Howell, can be downloaded from the DOC website: www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/science-and-technical/drds292.pdf .

 NZ Gardener of the Year 2008

Chris Rance is regional Gardener of the Year for southland

Invercargill-based BotSoccer, Chris Rance, is the regional winner for Southland in the Gardener of the Year competition.   She’s in the running to be National Gardener of the Year, but for her to win that title she needs your vote.   Voting forms are in this month’s issue of NZ Gardener.   Entries close on 30 September.   Note: you must use the official form from NZ Gardener.

Carol West

Post Script

An 86-year-old Wellington nun who set up a community garden that rents vege plots to apartment dwellers has been named NZ Gardener 2008 Gardener of the Year.   Sister Loyola Galvin from the Home of Compassion in the coastal suburb of Island Bay was the clear winner in a public vote from among 15 regional champions.   NZ Gardener magazine’s ultimate accolade aims to recognise New Zealand’s unsung horticultural heroes who use their passion for gardening to give back to the community.

Sister Loyola won the top prize for her efforts to encourage novice gardeners to grow their own food.   She set up the Common Ground community garden scheme, putting aside an area of lawn at the Home of Compassion for allotment-style gardens for apartment dwellers who have no land to grow food. Members of the scheme, and two gardening writers from the Dominion Post newspaper nominated her for the award.

The runner-up for NZ Gardener 2008 Gardener of the Year was Auckland’s 87-year-old Margaret Jones. Margaret joined the Soil and Health Association in 1941, and 67 years later, her motto is still: “Don’t panic, it’s organic!”

31 October 2008

 Letters to the editor

We would welcome your comments on any aspect of BotSoc’s activities:
•   places you would like to visit on field trips
•   opics you would like to have covered in evening meetings
•   topics you would like covered in BotSoc’s Bulletin and Newsletter
•   other matters of concern or interest to you.
Thank you

The committee

 Nominations sought

Who should BotSoc nominate for:
•   Loder Cup?
•   H. H. Allan Mere Award?
•   Conservation Award?

Your suggestions would be welcome!   Please send them to: Barbara Clark, Secretary, WBS, PO Box 10 412, WN 6143.   Ph 233 8202, fax 233 2222, bj_clark (at) xtra.co.nz

 QeII trust Open space Covenants

The trust has recently registered the following Open Space Covenants in the Wellington region:
•   Horowhenua D.C. / Jones, Fluker and Brandon – 1.7 ha forest
•   Kapiti Coast D.C. / Blair and Macdonald – 0.6 ha wetland
•   Kapiti Coast D.C. / Fisher and Caughley – 1.4 ha forest
•   Kapiti Coast D.C. / Fraser – 0.5 ha forest
•   Kapiti Coast D.C. / Jentime Holdings Ltd – 2.0 ha forest
•   Tararua D.C. / Blatchford – 3.2 ha forest and wetland
•   Tararua D.C. / Ireland and Olesen – 59.4 ha forest
•   Tararua D.C. / Thomson and Smyth – 4.7 ha forest and treeland
•   Tararua D.C. / Wyfield Farm Ltd – 8.9 ha forest
•   Masterton D.C. / Stuart – 4.8 ha forest and wetland
•   South Wairarapa D.C. / Skerman, De Latour, Todd and Murphy – 12.9 ha archaeological feature, landscape and treeland

Source: Open Space 73, 7/08 For information on covenanting indigenous plant communities, or other natural features, on your property, contact: QEII National Trust, Box 3341, WN 6140.   Ph 472 6626.   Wellington Regional Representative: Lisa Clapcott, ph 06 364 2207, lclapcott (at) openspace.org.nz.

 Botsoc Bulletins

Botsoc Bulletins

Expand your collection of our “flagship” publication and boost BotSoc’s bank balance!   The following back issues are available at a cost $3 per issue, incl. p&p; $12 for any five issues incl. p&p:
1950s: 23 (9/50); 30 (12/58).
1960s: 32 (12/61); 33 (2/66); 34 (11/67); 36 (12/69).
Index to Bulletins nos. 1-35.
1970s: 37 (11/71); 38 (9/74); 39 (10/76); 40 (8/78).
1980s: 41 (9/81); 42 (9/85); 43 (4/87); 44 (11/88).
1990s: 46 (12/94); 47 (9/96).
2000s: 48 (9/02), 49 (12/05).

Copies of our latest Bulletin, 50 (3/07), are $11 each incl. p&p, to members and other individuals, and $21 each incl. p&p to organisations.

Please make your cheque payable to Wellington Botanical Society, PO Box 10 412, Wellington 6143.   Thank you!

Rodney Lewington, Treasurer

 National Pollination survey (NPS)

The purpose of the NPS is to survey bird-plant mutualisms throughout NZ.   We are using the pollination service for tree fuchsia as an indicator of the health and wellbeing of our native ecosystems.   This is part of research run jointly by Landcare Research, DOC, and University of Canterbury.   We need your assistance.

We need lots of people to complete the survey from many locations all over NZ this summer!   Please help by completing the survey for a tree fuchsia population near you.   Even if there are only two or three tree fuchsia near you, the data you collect are valuable.

For more information, and survey forms, visit: www.biol.canterbury.ac.nz/pollination_survey.

Jenny Ladley, Research Assistant, School of Biological Sciences University of Canterbury

 NIWA Science Fair prize for botany

The Wellington Botanical Society $100 prize for the best exhibit of a project involving NZ native plants was awarded to Louis Olsen-Stahl, a year 10 pupil at Wellington College.

The NIWA Wellington Science and Technology Fair, held 20–23 August 2008, attracted almost 400 entries, of which a dozen had a botanical theme.   Louis entered his project “Sick of gorse – better wait”.   This presented the results of a study of succession in coastal forest in East Harbour Regional Park.

The carefully thought-out project, from hypothesis through design, field work and analysis, to conclusion, was clearly expressed in his presentation.   Louis concluded that there are more influences on succession than he thought at the start, but his results did support the hypothesis that gorse makes a good nursery for native forest.   Congratulations Louis.

Rodney Lewington

May 2008 News

 Chris and Brian Rance honoured

We congratulate BotSoccers, Chris and Brian Rance, whose knowledge of the indigenous flora of the southern South Island, and dedication to its conservation, have been acknowledged in the name assigned to a buttercup from Fiordland – Ranunculus ranceorum.   The paper establishing the new name and rank of this buttercup by P.J. de Lange and B.G. Murray is in the NZ Journal of Botany 46, published February 2008.

Bev Abbott, President

Source: The Southland Times 14 March 2008, via BotSoccer Kaaren Mitcalfe, Pounawaea, Catlins.

 QEII Trust Open Space Covenants

The Trust has recently registered the following Open Space Covenants in the Wellington region:
•   Horowhenua D.C. / Mayclair – 0.7 ha forest
•   Tararua D.C. / Hales – 0.3 ha forest
•   Masterton D.C. / McKay, Houston & Lowes – 6 ha forest
•   South Wairarapa D.C. / Moiki Farm Ltd – 5.7 ha forest
•   Hutt C.C. / Daglish – 4.2 ha forest.

Source: Open Space no. 72, 3/08/07

For information on covenanting indigenous plant communities, or other natural features, on your property, contact:
QEII National Trust, Box 3341, WN 6140.   Ph 472 6626.
Wellington Regional Representative: Lisa Clapcott, ph 06 364 2207, lclapcott (at) openspace.org.nz

 Land protection

Wellington Conservancy, Department of Conservation has recently protected the following site:

Whirokino Covenant-Kapiti Area   c. 6.85 ha.   Protects a shallow dune lake formed by parabolic dunes on Whirokino Farm, near Foxton, the wetland being representative of dune lakes formerly found in Horowhenua.   Contains raupo reed-land, flax and sedges.

The conservation covenant replaces and extends one of 6993m², registered when the farm was transferred to Landcorp in 1992.   Public access is by arrangement with the owners, Doug and Glynis Easton, and Owen Tucker.

David Bishop, Community Relations Officer, Wellington Conservancy, Department of Conservation, Ph 472 5821

 Threatened plants need our attention

DOC is seeking information on the distribution of several threatened plant species in its Poneke Area (including Wellington Peninsula south from Makara, Hutt Valley, Rimutaka Forest Park, Wainuiomata and Turakirae coast).   The Department holds little or no information about these species in Poneke Area, and seeks BotSoccers’ help in collating existing records, and recording further occurrences.   The species are:

 Karori Tunnel eastern portal planting

Comparing a photograph of the site taken during the 2003 planting, with the site today, shows that the growth of the planted species since then has been remarkable.   Last spring some of the kowhai began to flower and perhaps this spring the coastal flaxes will flower, attracting some of the many tui in these parts.   The Poa cita, silver tussocks, are now very much at home in the dry, exposed, upper area where they are best suited.   Recent showers have produced a surge of weed growth in the remaining gaps, which I am hoping to fill with this year’s allocation of flax and silver tussock from Berhampore Nursery.   WHEN THE TIME COMES, ALL OFFERS TO HELP PLANT WILL BE WELCOMED.

Barbara Mitcalfe

 Karori Sanctuary Botanical Trail – now open!

Several years ago BotSoc offered to set up a Botanical Trail to encourage Sanctuary visitors to pause and learn about the native plants regenerating alongside Lake Road and Te Mahanga Track.   The self-guided Botanical Trail has now developed from an idea into a reality, an easy walk from the Visitor Centre.   Sub-titled “An introduction to some native plants in Karori Sanctuary”, the accompanying Guide, available at the Visitor Centre, was designed to interest and inform.   Particular care was taken to minimise the use of technical terms.   A separate sheet with a botanical glossary, and a list of the common, Maori and botanical names of the plants selected, is also available.   Clearly-numbered posts, from 1 to 16, stand beside the plants selected along the Trail, which are illustrated and described in the Guide.   BotSoc contributed to funding the printing, and the text was developed by BotSoc volunteers in consultation with the Sanctuary Marketing Team.   May we suggest you try out the Botanical Trail next time you are in the Sanctuary?   Comments are invited.

Barbara Mitcalfe and Chris Horne

 Members’ Evening – 17 March 2008

We thank the following for their contributions to a fascinating evening:
•   Sunita Singh, Syd Moore and Chris Horne – slides of Aotea / Great Barrier Island field trip.
•   Carol West – slides of NZ and other species growing in England, Scotland and Ireland.
•   Margaret Harper – South Coast Marine BioBlitz, and her recording 164 taxa of diatoms, including one new genus, and one new species.
•   Arnold Dench – Comments on sadly neglected state of Cockayne Rock Garden at Christchurch Botanic Garden; specialised alpine plants from Banks Peninsula, Eyre Mountains, Southern Alps, Rimutaka Range.
•   Bev Abbott – Druce Collection at Percy Scenic Reserve.
•   Bryan Halliday – Gunnera monoica, Rakiura / Stewart Island.
•   Dave Holey – ceramic plates depicting kowhai, NI tieke / saddleback, and native frog.12

December 2007 News

 Sue Millar honoured

We congratulate Sue who received a civic award from Upper Hutt Mayor, Wayne Guppy, “for her considerable contribution to the environment and conservation in Upper Hutt, particularly through her involvement with Forest and Bird and Wellington Botanical Society”.

Sue co-leads, with Glennis Sheppard, two BotSoc workbees in Te Marua Bush a year.   Other work cited in her award includes :
•   Leading the establishment of a nursery at Rimutaka Prison from 1985 to 2003, when it moved to Maidstone Park,
•   Leading the raising of over 30,000 native plants, and workbees to plant them in restoration sites around the city,
•   Implementing and co-ordinating planting and weeding activities in all Forest and Bird restoration sites in the city over the past 20 years.

Well done, Sue!

Source: Upper Hutt Leader, 31/10/2007.

 Loder Cup 2007

The Loder Cup was awarded this year to Amanda Baird, DOC’s biodiversity programme manager on the Chatham Islands.   Based on Chatham Island since 1996, Amanda has been instrumental in bringing many threatened Chatham Island plant species back from the brink of extinction, as well as working tirelessly to protect and restore vegetation on the Chathams.   Congratulations Amanda.

 NZ Biodiversity Recording Network

The network is an online system for viewing and recording natural history observations from anywhere in the country; for common species, from common places, as well as the rarities.

It will enable you to set up a site from your backyard or school grounds, and build up a picture of the changing of nature through the years or seasons.   If you have any problems, contact meurkc (at) landcareresearch.co.nz

The network is funded from Terrestrial and Freshwater Biodiversity Information Services (TFBIS), and hosted by Landcare Research.   www.nzbrn.org.nz.

 National Pollination Survey (NPS)

The purpose of the NPS is to survey bird-plant mutualisms throughout NZ.   We are using the pollination service for tree fuchsia as an indicator of the health and wellbeing of our native ecosystems.   This is part of research run jointly by Landcare Research, Department of Conservation, and University of Canterbury.

We need your assistance.   We need lots of people to complete the survey from many locations all over NZ this summer!   Please help by completing the survey for a tree fuchsia population near you.

For more information, and survey forms, visit: www.biol.canterbury.ac.nz/pollination_survey/index.shtml.

Jenny Ladley, Research Assistant, School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury.

 MWH Seed Bank

New Zealand’s only native plant seed bank was opened in Palmerston North in August.   It will ensure the survival of more than 200 threatened species, by drying the seeds, then storing them at minus 20 degrees C.

The bank joins a worldwide seed bank network working to protect plants from the effects of climate change.   It was mooted by the NZ Plant Conservation Network.   Northland iwi, Ngati Kuri, donated the first seeds for the bank, which is housed at AgResearch’s Margo Forde Germplasm Centre.   The bank was funded by environmental consultancy, MWH NZ, and will be managed by AgResearch.

Source: The Dominion Post, 17 August 2007.

 Land protection

Wellington Conservancy, Department of Conservation has recently protected the following sites :
•   Lake Huritini covenant-Kapiti Area.
•   c. 15 ha.   Protects a shallow dune lake formed by parabolic dunes damming runoff from a flood plain; highly representative of dune lakes formerly found in Horowhenua.   Contains raupo reed land, flax and sedges, with cabbage trees over Coprosma propinqua.   Access to the lake is by arrangement with the Minister and owner for botanical purposes only.
•   Stonewall proposed scenic reserve, Wairarapa. 121 ha.   Owner: HMQ (DOC, Wellington Conservancy).   Protects threatened plant communities of regionally vulnerable coastal turfs, consolidated coastal gravel and beach, grey scrub and coastal scarp adjoining Aorangi Forest Park; includes western part of Ngapotiki Fan.   Contains threatened Pimelea / Raoulia mat plant association; an undescribed Notoreas moth; Austrofestuca littoralis; and other regionally significant plant species including: Cheilanthes distans, Chionochloa beddiei, Coriaria ‘rimutaka’, Eryngium vesciculosum, Scandia geniculata, Sonchus kirkii and Sophora molloyi.

David Bishop, Community Relations Officer, Wellington Conservancy, Department of Conservation, Phone 472 5821.

 “Carex raotest”

Curious about a slightly bronze carex I had seen occasionally on the Carrad Covenant trip, I brought back a small specimen to study.   Unfortunately I had found no mature ones, and had to be content with a very young flower head, only about 7 cm tall.   Even under magnification it was too immature to be useful for identification, so I sent the specimen to Colin Ogle, in Wanganui.   Colin had lived and botanised in Pukerua Bay for many years, so I couldn’t have chosen a better person.   Back came the prompt, full reply – that it was the unnamed “Carex raotest”, so tag-named because it has features of both C. raoulii and C. testacea.   Colin went on to write that when Tony Druce first saw the plant at Colin’s he immediately suggested the tag-name, and admitted that he had probably listed it in various places as C. raoulii, which in fact is much less common.   Colin says “To me, from live material, the main features are (a) leaf shape in cross section – double-folded leaves = C. raoulii, C. ‘raotest’, V-shaped = C. testacea; (b) utricles hispid on surface = C raoulii; utricles smooth, with maybe odd, fine spines on the beak and / or shoulder of the utricle = C. testacea, C. ‘raotest’; (c) terminal spikes purely male = C. testacea, C. ‘raotest’; terminal spike with some utricles at outermost tip = C. raoulii.”

Barbara Mitcalfe

 Northern rata flowering

Take Waterworks Road west from SH2 at Kaitoke, to Pakuratahi Forks, Kaitoke Regional Park, at the end of December – early January, to see if up to fifty northern rata / Metrosideros robusta are in flower.   Take binoculars, so that you can study the many huge trees close-up!

Dave Holey

Epilobium microphyllum, winner of the 2007 favourite plant poll. Photo: Naomi Lorimer

 New Zealand’s favourite plant for 2007

The willowherb, Epilobium microphyllum, won this year’s NZ Plant Conservation Network poll for New Zealand’s favourite plant.   E. microphyllum occurs from Kawhia and East Cape south to Stewart Island.

Other plants in the top ten this year were Chatham Island forget-me-not, bamboo rush, tawari, nikau, northern rata, kakabeak, coral broom, Poor Knights lily, and water brome.   For more information about NZ’s favourite plant see www.nzpcn.org.nz.

 QEII Trust Open Space Covenants

The trust has recently registered the following Open Space Covenants in the Wellington region :
•   Kapiti Coast D.C. / Rowe - 3.8 ha forest,
•   Kapiti Coast D.C. / Tyler Prentis Properties Limited - 0.5 ha wetland,
•   Upper Hutt C.C. / Money and Tyson - 0.3 ha forest.

Source: Open Space no. 71, 11/07

 BotSoc of Otago calendar

Congratulations to BSO on compiling and producing their beautifully illustrated 2008 calendar.

In A4 landscape format, with large, bold figures and a bonus page for January 2009, it is a very good buy at $13 plus $1.50 postage.   Ranunculus sericophyllus adorns the cover, then there’s a sharp reminder on January 2008’s page, that exotic plants such as Hieracium lepidulum (pictured en mass) have invaded too many indigenous plant comunities in New Zealand.   A wide range of plant types is pictured, from colourful, crustose lichen Placopsis perrugosa to snow-white mountain ribbonwood, Hoheria lyallii.

Barbara Mitcalfe

 Percy Scenic Reserve news

Redevelopment news – SH 2 realignment.     The works around the nursery area are nearly complete.   The culvert work for Percy’s Stream is the last step.   The Head-Wall has been installed after being constructed on site, and gabions are to be placed in the stream walls for protection against flood.

Petone foreshore – threatened plant gardens.     The Percy crew look after the gardens at Petone Foreshore around Settlers Museum and Buick Street.   These gardens are not irrigated but are amazingly resistant to drought and salt spray.
Some of the more threatened plants thriving are :
Aciphylla dieffenbachii, A. squarrosa, Austrofestuca littoralis, Euphorbia glauca, Eryngium vesiculosum, Carmichaelia kirkii, Chionochloa beddiei, Coprosma propinqua ‘Moa Point’, Lepidium flexicaule, L. oleraceum, Muehlenbeckia astonii, Pimelea aff. aridula ‘Cook Strait’, Pimelea aff. aridula ‘Te Mata Peak’, Selliera rotundifolia.
The gardens directly adjacent to the Museum building are Wellington coastal species.   It was designed by Robyn Smith in 2002 and is maintained in this theme and enhanced as Wellington coastal species become available.

Jill Broome, Plant Collections Supervisor, Percy Scenic Reserve

September 2007 News

 2007 AGM

2007/2008 committee.

At the 68th Annual General Meeting on 20 August 2007, the following were elected:

 NIWA Science Fair

Tariq Kader and Josiah Nelson, year seven pupils at Karori Normal school, won this year’s Botanical Society prize for their project “Sweating plants”.   Our judges, Gordon Leary and Rodney Lewington, said the project was neatly designed and the two boys had clearly thought a lot about the project.   They had chosen five native plants of different leaf forms and presumed different leaf transpiration rates, and had devised a simple and visual way of measuring the uptake of water by the plants.The results, predictably, showed that water transpiration was the greatest in the big rangiora leaves and was the smallest in the totara leaves.

Bev Abbott

Adiantum hispidulum from the south-west Aorangi Range. Photo: Leon Perrie.

 Adiantum hispidulum

We recently discovered a population of Adiantum hispidulum in the south-west Aorangi Range.   The distribution of this fern is exceedingly sparse south of about Taupo.   The only other records we are aware of are a couple from the Chatham Islands, a couple from Taranaki, one from a Levin garden, and one from Wellington (near Ngauranga).   Several of these specimens are morphologically unusual, and merit further investigation.   We would be grateful for details of additional populations from the lower North Island or South Island.

Leon Perrie and Patrick Brownsey, Te Papa, P.O. Box 467, Wellington, leonp@tepapa.govt.nz, 04 381 7261.

 Another Te Marua Bush Extension???

At only 0.9 ha, the Bush needs to expand to reduce the “edge effect”, and thereby increase its long-term sustainability.   GW Ranger, Steve Edwards, suggested to us that in addition to continuing to infill-plant the new Te Marua Bush extension, we begin planting the strip of road reserve bordering the west side of the pony paddock immediately north of the Bush.   Steve’s idea has the full support of GW’s Philippa Crisp, Principal Adviser, Planning, Parks, and was warmly received by the workbee members on the day.   Next Autumn, as preparation for planting, GW will first rip the strip, as they did for the new extension, since the substrate is likely to be at least as bouldery as the Bush itself.   Imagine eventually a stately avenue of podocarp-broadleaf forest, adding to existing indigenous biodiversity and local amenity.   There is no shortage of locally sourced seedlings, and provided Upper Hutt Forest and Bird Branch are willing and able to continue their staunch propagating and potting-up efforts, and as long as we, BotSoc, continue our own efforts, it will be yet another stage in our long-term, botanical partnership with GW.   So, congratulations, Steve, for an inspirational idea!

Barbara Mitcalfe

 Cars, carbon and climate

Dieter Steinegg, Tree Officer, Christchurch City Council, spoke to Canterbury BotSoc about modern arboriculture, and the role of trees in urban areas.   He highlighted the influence of trees on the climate, and estimated the number of trees required to offset the carbon emissions of one of the more than 303,125 motor vehicles registered in Christchurch.   There are about 150,000 trees on council land now, but about 3,637,500 trees would be required to offset the emissions of the city’s vehicle fleet.

Dieter said that in 50 years, one tree recycles over $37,000 worth of water, provides $31,000 worth of erosion control, $62,000 worth of pollution control, and produces $37,000 worth of oxygen.   Trees near buildings can reduce air-conditioning needs by 30%, and can save 20-50% in energy used for heating.   They aid stormwater management, reduce runoff and erosion, and help to recharge groundwater supplies.   He said that every 1000 urban trees we plant today will save over $1m in stormwater management, pollution abatement, and energy costs.

Dieter encourages people to plant more trees, and notes that people who plant trees become healthier, better looking, richer, and have more friends!

Source: Canterbury Botanical Society Newsletter, 8/07.

 Peter Johnson honoured

We congratulate Dr Peter Johnson, who has been awarded the 2007 H.H.Allan Mere Award, for his outstanding contribution to botany in New Zealand.   Peter has been an active member of the botanical fraternity for many decades and has published widely in both the academic and popular press.   His publications include the well-known Wetland Plants in New Zealand, which he co-authored with P.A. Brooke, and books on weeds and wildflowers.   His reports to biodiversity protection agencies, all accompanied by detailed plant species lists, informative illustrations and perceptive advice, have led to the protection of many areas in southern New Zealand.   Herbariums throughout the country include specimens he has collected.   Audiences at many conferences, schools and organisations have appreciated his first rate communication and photographic skills, his sense of humour, and passion for New Zealand’s plants.

Wellington Botanical Society and the Botanical Society of Otago both nominated Peter for the Award.   Carol West and Bill Lee wrote letters of support for our nomination.

The name of the Award recognises the Harry Howard Allan, the first Director of the former DSIR Botany Division and the symbol of the award, a handsome pounamu (nephrite) mere (handclub).   It was originally presented to DSIR Botany Divison in 1982 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Allan’s birthday.   The award is now administered by the New Zealand Botanical Society.

Bev Abbott, President

 QEII Trust Open Space Covenants

The trust has recently registered the following Open Space Covenants in the Wellington region:
•   Manawatu R.C. / Martin - 27.9 ha forest
•   Tararua D.C. / Perry & Hindmarsh - 36.8 ha forest
•   Tararua D.C. / Speedy (x2) - 19.9 ha forest
•   Tararua D.C. / Wright - 3.7 ha forest
•   Masterton D.C. / Campbell - 10.5 ha forest and wetland
•   Carterton D.C. / Guscott & Joblin - 17.4 ha forest

Source: Open Space no. 70, 7/07.

 Conservation Awards

We congratulate BotSoccers Jean Luke, for her work at Queen Elizabeth Park, and Clive Paton, for incorporating conservation into Ata Rangi Vineyard’s business plan.   They received their awards from Hon Chris Carter, in the Great Hall at Parliament.

Editor

 Pest animal alert, Mk. II

At the behest of United Future, Hon Chris Carter, Minister of Conservation, set up an independent panel to consider recreational and environmental matters concerning deer, chamois, thar and pigs.

According to the discussion paper just released by the panel, “environmental pests such as feral deer and pigs could be developed as ‘game’ animals by adding females to boost breeding numbers, or releasing sires with better quality genes” (The Dominion Post 19/9/07).   According to panel chair, Margaret Austin, a former Minister of Science, “There is a long-standing controversy over the significant impact these animals have on many of New Zealand’s fragile native habitats”.

As noted in our May 2007 Newsletter, pest animals tend to browse preferred palatable species to near-extinction, or actual extinction, in areas they infest.   We said that it is essential that the panel include ecologists and botanists to present the case for retention of pest animal status for all four species in the wild.   This will ensure that the Department of Conservation and district and regional councils will be able to mount pest control operations whenever necessary.   We welcome the appointment to the panel of Sue Maturin, Forest and Bird, and Graham Nugent, Landcare Research.

Submissions were due 6 November 2007.   See “How to manage deer, chamois, thar and pigs - consultation document”.   Secretary, PO Box 9134, Christchurch 8243.   The subsequent report may be found at www.doc.govt.nz.

Editor

 Karori Tunnel Planting

Despite the difficulties presented by this site, the previous plantings are looking good.   Another 50 Phormium cookianum and Poa cita were planted here last week by three generations of Mitties and a Horne, but there are still spaces needing filling with next year’s plants, to control weeds, add amenity and increase indigenous cover.

May 2007 News

 QEII Trust Open Space Covenants

The trust has recently registered the following Open Space Covenants in the Wellington region :
•   Tararua D.C. / Ellingham – 3.2 ha forest
•   Masterton D.C. / Bartlett – 35.3 ha forest
•   Masterton D.C. / Birch – 9.1 ha forest
•   Masterton D.C. / Joblin – 11.5 ha forest
•   Masterton D.C. / Waimapu Land Developments Ltd – 0.8 ha forest
•   Wellington C.C. / Wellington Natural Heritage Trust Inc. – 8.2 ha forest.

Source: Open Space no. 69, 4/07

 Land protection

Wellington Conservancy, Department of Conservation, has recently protected the following sites :
•   Mahaki covenant, Kapiti Area.   18.8 ha.   Protects lowland forest adjoining Paraparaumu Scenic Reserve.
•   Ata Rangi Conservation Covenant, Wairarapa Area.   33.5 ha.   Protects podocarp forest with alluvial stream flats, podocarp-beech on terrace risers, and beech forest associated with incised stream.
•   Fairbrother’s Conservation Covenant, Wairarapa Area.   43.25 ha.   Protects riparian beech forest with an ‘incised-to-bedrock’ stream bed.   The forest, on the older soils of the Aorangi Range, has a denser understorey than the more recent alluvial terrace forest in the nearby Ata Rangi Covenant.   The forest contains the rare leafless mistletoe.
•   Kanuka Management Agreement, Wairarapa Area.   1 ha.   Protects a small, dense area of mixed divaricating shrubs, including populations of Coprosma obconica, Pittosporum obcordatum and at least 30 individuals of Coprosma pedicellata.

David Bishop, Community Relations Officer, Wellington Conservancy, Department of Conservation, Ph 472 5821

 Sheila Natusch ONZM

We congratulate Sheila, appointed an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit in the New Year’s Honours, for her work as a botanical author and illustrator.

Editor

 Maureen Young honoured

We congratulate Maureen, winner of the NZ Plant Conservation Network 2006 Individual Award.   Maureen, a skilled botanist, is “one of the most important advocates for plant conservation in Auckland.   She has assisted the Department of Conservation with locating threatened plant sites over many years … she is a legend”.   Maureen has been on several of our summer field trips, including our Borland Lodge, Southland, trip in 2000/01, a long way from her home in Warkworth!

Editor

 Pest animal alert

At the behest of United Future NZ, the Government is to set up a consultation panel to consider recreational and environmental matters concerning deer, chamois, tahr and pigs.

Given the tendency for pest animals to browse preferred palatable species to near-extinction, or actual extinction, in areas they infest, it is essential that the proposed panel includes ecologists and botanists to present the case for retention of pest animal status for all four species in the wild.   This will ensure that the Department of Conservation and district and regional councils will be able to mount control operations whenever it is deemed necessary.   Peruse the Public Notices in your daily paper for information about the panel, its publications, and deadlines for submissions.

Editor

 Maureen Young honoured

We congratulate Maureen, winner of the NZ Plant Conservation Network 2006 Individual Award.   Maureen, a skilled botanist, is “one of the most important advocates for plant conservation in Auckland.   She has assisted the Department of Conservation with locating threatened plant sites over many years … she is a legend”.   Maureen has been on several of our summer field trips, including our Borland Lodge, Southland, trip in 2000/01, a long way from her home in Warkworth!

Editor

 Karori Sanctuary Botanical Trail

Members will note that the Sanctuary’s official title has recently been amended by the Trust to omit the word “wildlife” which they say has proved misleading in the minds of overseas visitors in particular.

The Sanctuary has now obtained funding for a brochure to accompany self-guided walkers along Te Mahanga Track.   BotSoc initiated the idea and is part-funding the brochure, which is designed for walkers with little or no botanical background.   It describes some of the plants seen en route, and includes selected, relevant, phenological and ecological information.   Barbara Mitcalfe and Chris Horne have spent many months as volunteers drafting the text and negotiating amendments to meet both the Sanctuary’s and BotSoc’s precise requirements.

 The Ornithological Society of NZ

OSNZ promotes the study of birds by organising, providing some equipment, and helping to fund, bird study in NZ.   It publishes Notornis – a quarterly scientific journal, Southern Bird – a magazine, and occasional books describing the results of bird studies in NZ, the southwest Pacific and Antarctica.

OSNZ is a voluntary group dependent on the enthusiasm, active participation, knowledge and financial support of its members.   It has no paid staff, and is a charitable society.   It runs field trips to teach people more about birds, where to find them and how to study them.

OZNZ is not a conservation organisation, but the studies its members do provide information on which sound conservation decisions can be made.

Subscriptions :   Ordinary: $57.50; student: $30; life: $1150; institute / group: $115; corporate: $290.

OSNZ Membership, PO Box 12-1039, Henderson, Auckland.

 Ian Atkinson honoured

“The Ian Atkinson Laboratory for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology Research” has been established at Victoria University, the first university in New Zealand to recognise formally the importance of such studies.   It also recognises and honours the personal, lifelong work of internationally known ecologist Dr Ian Atkinson, to promote interest in restoration ecology as a means of making our conservation methods more effective “Studying restoration ecology furthers our efforts to protect the nation’s native plants and animals as well as the biological communities essential for their survival,” says Ian, a long-term BotSoccer.   We congratulate Ian on his well-deserved distinction, and the invitation from Victoria to use a work station there.   This has given him the chance to interact with both students and staff, which he says is,“always a stimulating way of clarifying one’s thinking and perhaps coming up with an idea that will work!”

 Ecological restoration programmes

Victoria University, with Karori Sanctuary, and Massey University, is offering three programmes: MSc, Postgraduate Diploma, and Postgraduate Certificate in Ecological Restoration.

Visit www.victoria.ac.nz/sbs/ or contact:

Ecological Restoration Co-ordinator, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University, P.O. Box 600, Wellington.   Ph 04-463 5339; Fax 04-463 5331, E-mail: biosci (at) vuw.ac.nz.

 Rakiura Matters

Gunnera hamiltonii.   Photo: Chris Rance / DOC.

The draft Rakiura / Stewart Island Conservation Management Strategy and the draft Rakiura National Park Management Plan issued in September 2006 attracted over 400 submissions.   Recently a spate of letters to Southland Times shows that DOC’s proposed eradication of marram grass, an invasive, Australian species, from areas of Stewart Island’s Mason Bay, is a “hot” issue for some.   Meanwhile, pingao and sand tussock, (both in gradual decline nationally), spinifex, and even the nationally critically endangered Rakiura endemic Gunnera hamiltonii are being smothered by billowing hectares of marram, a sight which those of us BotSoccers who were in Mason Bay last January will not be likely to forget.

Barbara Mitcalfe

 Karori Tunnel eastern portal planting

Once an eyesore, this steep face is now an example of how a weedy, rubbishy, “waste” area can be transformed by appropriate planting, with the cooperation, resources and services of WCC’s Berhampore Nursery.   Next time you’re going through the tunnel towards Karori, glance up and enjoy the sight of wharariki, harakeke, silver tussock and kowhai, all supplied by the Nursery, plus some assistance with planting on this potentially hazardous site.   With some more tussocks and flax to be planted this Spring, the site should be virtually self-sustaining.   It is just one of many sites which could do with some community interest and input – is there such a site near you?   If you and your neighbours combine and agree on a planting plan, you can order some free, native plants early in the year and a Nursery staff person will visit the site and advise you on what they can supply for you to plant in the following Spring.

Barbara Mitcalfe

 The plight of urban trees

Wellington City Council recently reduced the amount of “yard” space which can be taken up by infill buildings, but existing city trees still have a tough time, especially in areas where there is development pressure, and unfortunately Wellington has no tree-protection rule.   The city’s few rata are a case in point, for example, the fine, shapely northern rata near the corner of Victoria and Abel Smith streets.   It grows at the intersection of several property boundaries and its crown overhangs two of them slightly.   With resource consent, a contractor has erected a two-storeyed building on the property immediately south of the rata.   Care has been taken to protect the rata trunk, but construction has necessitated some root and crown trimming.   A Council arborist has been regularly monitoring the site and advising the contractor and it remains to be seen how the tree responds.

December 2006 News

 Winter planting in Wellington

Despite the wet winter, WCC staff, community groups and other volunteers have planted about 110,000 plants around the city, most grown at WCC’s Berhampore Nursery.   Plantings included 2500 on Lyall Bay dunes, 2400 at Hape Stream near the former Owhiro Bay quarry, 5500 sedges and grasses on the banks of the realigned section of a tributary of Karori Stream along the west side of Karori Park, and 1500 northern rata, 100 rimu and 1000 other native plants on Tinakori Hill.   The bush areas in the Botanic Garden are being restored, and this year twelve black maire seedlings were planted, propagated from the last original tree in the Garden, the first seedling being planted by Mayor Kerry Prendergast.   Another 1000 plants have been planted to help to restore the bush areas, some of them as buffer plantings on their margins.

Source: Absolutely Positively Wellington Newsletter October 2006

 Otari BioBlitz: Fri 23 & Sat 24 March

Several BotSoc members have already expressed an interest in assisting the plant team on the Bioblitz.   The focus is on field identification of plants with some identification being made at a base in the Otari School Hall.   If you would like to be involved and want to know more about the plant side of the Bioblitz then contact Rodney Lewington, rodneyjl (at) xtra.co.nz (04) 475 3145.   If your interest is in other biota (spiders, snails, bugs, algae to name a few) please contact Phil Garnock-Jones, Phil.Garnock-Jones (at) vuw.ac.nz

 Kupe / Kevin Smith Marine Reserve

We welcome the establishment of this 840-ha reserve on Wellington’s south coast between Te Raekaihau Point in the east, and Owhiro Bay in the west.   After survey and gazettal in 2007, it will protect in perpetuity the area’s natural features and marine life.   When announcing the formation of the reserve, the Minister of Conservation, Hon. Chris Carter, said “…it is to be sited at the confluence of three oceanic currents.   The confluence brings together warm, cold temperate and sub- Antarctic waters, allowing a rich and unusual variety of sea life to thrive.   Over 180 fish species are found off Wellington’s south coast”.   Source: The Dominion Post 7 December 2006.   Dr Wendy Nelson, a marine biologist, notes that “The Wellington South Coast is a rugged environment with scenic, cultural, recreational and scientific values.   There is high biodiversity in the Cook Strait region – for example there are over 400 species of macroalgae found in this region, representing 40% of NZ’s total flora from the Kermadecs to the sub-Antarctic islands.   This level of diversity is very high in global terms – and it is remarkable that it is found such a short distance from the capital city“.

The reserve is 32nd of NZ’s marine reserve which together protect about 0.3% of the mainland’s coastline.   The 2167-ha Kapiti Marine Reserve, established in 1992, was the first in the Wellington region.   The Government aims to have 10% of our coastline protected by 2010.

Editor

 Call for submissions on 2007 NZ threatened vascular plant list

The NZ Plant Conservation Network, in partnership with the Department of Conservation, has launched a submission process for the new NZ threatened vascular plant list for 2007.   Submissions may be made using the on-line form on the right side of the home page of the website of the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network – see www.nzpcn.org.nz.

Submissions are welcome until 31 March 2007.   The NZ Threatened Plant List will then be compiled by an expert panel comprising Peter de Lange, John Barkla, David Norton, Ewen Cameron, Peter Heenan and Shannel Courtney.   It will then be published and will replace the previous list (de Lange et al. 2004).

Even if you are not sure about the national status of a species, it is important that you submit your own data or make known your feelings about the changing status of native species based on your own surveys.   Possible changes include adding a new species to the threatened plant list or a downgrade or upgrade in threat status from its current listing.   For more information see the Network website – www.nzpcn.org.nz

References :   de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D.; Johnson, P.N.; Hitchmough, R. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42: 45-76.

 National seed bank established

The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network announced in November the establishment of a national seed bank for NZ threatened plants.   The announcement was made at the Network annual conference in Auckland.   The seed bank project has been sponsored by MWHNZ Ltd, a consultancy company involved in a wide range of engineering and environmental projects.

The seed bank was launched at the Auckland Regional Botanical Gardens by Zoe Burkitt (of MWH) and The Hon. Chris Carter, Minister of Conservation.   The seed bank will be incorporated into the Margot Forde Germplasm Centre in Palmerston North and will be managed by AgResearch Ltd.   For more information about the seed bank see the website of the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network – www.nzpcn.org.nz

 WBS Bulletin 51 : Call for papers and articles

Now that Wellington Botanical Society Bulletin 50 is being made ready for publication, work has started on 51.   Have you discovered a threatened plant recently or a weed not previously recorded from the region or the country?   Have you visited an interesting botanical area and compiled a checklist of species you recorded there?   Have you completed research on native plants or plant communities?   Have you observed changes in the plants in a local reserve?   Have you discovered how to grow a native plant and want to share your knowledge?   Have you been involved in restoring native plants to a reserve?   The Bulletin is your venue for telling stories about plants to your fellow BotSoc members.

Please send articles or contributions to John Sawyer (jsawyer (at) doc.govt.nz), P.O. Box 5086, Wellington.

 Purchase of Otari Farms

We welcome Wellington City Council’s purchase of 70 ha of the property contiguous with Otari-Wilton’s Bush.   The land includes that from the Otari boundary, up to and over the ridge and down to the unformed part of Parkvale Road.   The land now in public ownership includes kohekohe forest, with pukatea, regenerating shrublands and pines.   WCC has fenced off all the bush areas.   Grazing on the part of the land in pasture will be leased to Mr Pierce.   The 70-ha will be gazetted as reserve.   Formerly owned by Meridian Energy, the remaining 330 ha of the farm have been sold to farmer Russell Pierce.

WCC is working with Russell Pierce to protect the bushclad headwaters of North Makara Stream between his pasture and the Kilmister Block owned by Council.   The gully includes tawa, kiekie and typical Wellington colonising species.   BotSoc botanised this area in November 1998 – see trip report in April 1999 Newsletter.

The committee will schedule a field trip to the 70-ha site.

Bev Abbott, President

 Percy Scenic Reserve extended

We welcome Hutt City Council’s acquisition of the Sir James Hector / London Estate which is bush-clad land above SH2, below London Road, Korokoro, and contiguous with Percy Reserve.   The land, surplus to the needs of Transit NZ, has been leased to HCC for a peppercorn rental.   Among the features of this second-growth forest are the closed canopy to 12 m, tawa to 18 m, significant regeneration (seedlings, saplings and poles) of kohekohe and wharangi, hinau to 65 cm d.b.h., and a planted hard beech, 65 cm d.b.h., possibly associated with Sir James Hector.

Lower Hutt Mayor David Ogden wrote to BotSoc on 22 September 2006 to thank us for doing a botanical reconaissance of the land, and speaking in support of our submission to Hutt City Council on 6 December 2005.

We thank members Barry Dent, Gordon and Sheelagh Leary, Barbara Mitcalfe and Chris Horne, led by Korokoro residents Kate and Barry Malcolm, for preparing a list of native and adventive plant species on the site on 18 November 2005.

Hector was the founder of the Dominion Laboratory, (later Chemistry Division, DSIR), and Geological Survey.   Mt Hector is one of the highest points in the Tararua Range.   Gordon Leary has suggested to HCC that the land could be officially opened to the public in November 2007 to mark the centenary of Hector’s death.

Bev Abbott, President

 QEII Trust Open Space Covenants

The trust has recently registered the following Open Space Covenants in the Wellington region:

Kapiti Coast D.C. / Carter – 57.1 ha forest;
• Carterton D.C. / Mckenzie, McInstry, Gold & Langridge – 16.2-ha wetland;
• Carterton D.C. / Butterick – 22.2-ha forest;
• Porirua C.C. / Farmview Ltd (6) – 0.8-ha shrubland;
• Wellington C.C. / Fenaughty – 5.5-ha forest;
• Wellington C.C. / Warren – 40-ha shrubland.

Source:   Open Space no. 68, 11/06

 Wanted

Marchantia polymorpha.   Photo: Rodney Lewington.

Have you seen a liverwort that looks like this?   It has a black dashed line down the centre of each “frond”.   The illustration is a large specimen – it can be only 15 mm across the whole frond.

Marchantia polymorpha ssp ruderalis has been found growing as a weed in seed-raising trays in the nursery at Otari-Wilton’s Bush and in two other areas that have connections with Otari.

This is a new record for New Zealand.   It probably emigrated from the UK and seems to have been here for a few years at least, but not recognised.

The purpose of this note is to seek information on its possible distribution within New Zealand.   Its most likely location is in nurseries.

If you see it, please tell Rodney Lewington, rodneyjl (at) xtra.co.nz; tel 04 475 3145.

 Rorippa divaricata

If you have seen this plant in the Mt Messenger / Whitecliffs area, or know where it has been recorded there, please contact me.

Jane Hart, Waikato BotSoc, janehart (at) xtra.co.nz.

September 2006 News

 Leptinella nana update

Leptinella nana.   Photo: Robyn Smith.

Leptinella nana is a tiny perennial herb which is found only in the Rai Valley, Marlborough, on Mt Pleasant in the Port Hills of Christchurch and in Whitireia Park near Porirua.   It is categorised as “Nationally endangered”.

For the past four years, I have planted plugs of Leptinella nana mainly in erosion hollows along the south cliffs of Titahi Bay.   Although most have failed, one of the original plantings has survived for four years and three sites from 2004 have also survived.   Despite eighteen months of drought, which broke with a vengeance this winter, there are now seven sites not only surviving but expanding in size.   One of these sites disappeared for the whole of the summer of 2005/06 and reappeared this autumn.   The original site, in an erosion hollow, has many fragments of plants and is spreading around the site.   Leptinella nana doesn’t like stability - it moves around if allowed but can’t compete with the likes of exotic grasses and buck’s horn plantain, Plantago coronopus, which is its major competitor in Porirua.

In the summer of 2005, Richard Gill from the Kapiti DOC office accompanied me to GPS all of the surviving planted sites.   He also advised me to try planting some new types of sites, namely in the narrow foot tracks around the area.   I was sceptical, but Richard said the foot traffic would keep the grass from overtaking the Leptinella, so I decided to try these areas.   Of course Richard was correct.   Three new sites were planted on three different parts of the narrow track above the cliffs.   Two of three sites have persisted through to the present.   Thanks Richard for such good advice.

Robyn Smith

 Whitireia Park – restoration planting

After three years of planning, the first restoration planting at Whitireia Park near Porirua took place on 20 August.   Eighteen months ago the Whitireia Park Board contracted Julia Williams of Drakeford Williams Ltd, a Wellington-based ecologically sensitive landscape architect consultancy to draw up a plan of the fenced-off escarpments on the eastern side of the park.

The Whitireia Park Board decided that the small catchment just below the largest bush remnant at Onehunga Bay would be the best place to start a restoration programme.   This catchment has running water in winter widening out to a wetland area, and it was deemed the best place to plant a continuous belt of native vegetation from the bush down to the carpark.

The local Titahi Bay Lions Club donated the funds to buy 600 plants in root trainers, and although this is a small number, it was important to start small and do it well and see if there would be community support for future plantings.   Ecosourced plants of Cortaderia toetoe, Phormium tenax, Carex virgata and Cordyline australis were used in the wetter areas, with Coprosma repens, Kunzea ericoides and Phormium cookianum on the drier sites.

The turnout of planters was overwhelming and we shall have two sessions of releasing over the growing season, and more plantings next year.

Robyn Smith, Whitireia Park Board member

Whitireia Park – restoration planting.   Photo: Robyn Smith.

 Peter de Lange receives Allan Mere award

Peter de Lange (Vice President of the NZ Plant Conservation Network) is the recipient of the Allan Mere award for 2006.   The Allan Mere Award is administered by the NZ Botanical Society.   The Award is made annually to a person or persons who have made outstanding contributions to botany in NZ, either in a professional or amateur capacity.

 Karori Tunnel eastern portal planting

We are grateful for the work done by WCC’s Berhampore Nursery in propagating and supplying another fifty hardy, Wellington plants, Poa cita and Phormium cookianum, which we planted on 7 September.   The kowhai planted 2 years ago are just beginning to flower, and last year’s wharariki and ti kouka have put on an impressive growth spurt.   This previously rubbishy, neglected site is already adding to local indigenous diversity and amenity - perhaps next year’s allocation of plants will be the last needed to complete the site.

Barbara Mitcalfe and Chris Horne.

 “Team Te One Bush” wins Weedbusters! award

BotSoccers on the 2004 Easter trip will remember botanising this 21-ha podocarp / broadleaf remnant on a Rangitikei river terrace in the Kawhatau Valley.   Some of the trees are estimated to be more than 500 years old, but there was a serious problem with old man’s beard, hectares of sycamores, and possums.   The Bush is now well on the way to recovery, thanks to Queen Elizabeth II Open Space Trust covenanting 6.9 ha, and Manawatu / Rangitikei Forest and Bird “Team Te One Bush” efforts which resulted in their winning first prize in the regional Weedbusters! Awards for conservation on privately owned land.   Horizons-Manawatu have now removed 95% of the sycamores and have provided possum control.   BotSoc has helped rescue this significant forest remnant by compiling a plant species list to support Team Te One’s application for restoration assistance, another example of WBS activity in the community at large.

Trisetum antarcticum. Photo: Barbara Mitcalfe.

 Trisetum antarcticum being restored to Wellington coast

Trisetum antarcticum is a NZ endemic grass of threatened status, categorised Gradual Decline.   Early records exist for western and southern Wellington coast, but it is now uncommon in the area.   Its habitat is coastal gravel, sand and bluffs, from sea level to 30 m a.s.l.   BotSoccers who were on the trip to the Carrad QEII Covenant on the western escarpment of Pukerua Bay, may remember seeing one lone plant of T. antarcticum on a foreshore rockstack, such is its rarity today.   Finding one plant of it three years ago during a survey of Tapu Te Ranga Island, and another, just north of Owhariu Bay, I gave seed of it to Jonathon Bussell, (Manager, WCC’s Berhampore Nursery), to propagate.   Hundreds of plants resulted, and on the advice of Wellington Conservancy, DOC, they are now being planted in appropriate sites such as Makara Foreshore Reserve and Matiu / Somes, Kapiti and Mana Islands.   The Flora of NZ Vol. V describes the T. antarcticum panicle as, “compact, dense, oblong; sometimes with spreading, lower branches, leaf-blade abaxially glabrous, scabrid above”.   I haven’t seen any Wellington T. antarcticum with spreading, branched panicles, but since I’ve never seen more than three plants in flower in the wild, I don’t know whether this particular characteristic is common in Wellington populations.   When in its vegetative state T. antarcticum looks much like e.g. Yorkshire fog, but the panicle is distinctive.

Barbara Mitcalfe

 Elytrigia pycnantha – unwelcome immigrant

This robust, strongly rhizomatous grass, thriving in large patches on Houghton Bay beach and dunes where spinifex should be, attracted my attention after the BotSoc trip to View Road South Headland Reserve last year.   From a distance it could have been mistaken for spinifex, so I took a flowering specimen, later identifying it as the grass Elytrigia pycnantha, sea couch, (NZ Flora Vol.V, page 404.).   The specimen is now in the Te Papa herbarium.   This rampant weed is overtaking WCC plantings of pingao and spinifex on the south coast, e.g. at Houghton Bay.   My impression is that it may have been mistaken for spinifex, since pingao has been carefully planted around it.   It is also thriving among marram and other weed grasses in Princess Bay and bays further east.   In Princess Bay it also grows in damp sand among rocks near the high tide mark, as well as on the dunes.   A site visit with Mike Urlich and Wayne Cowan, (Greater Wellington Biosecurity) has resulted in their commitment to monitor these infestations and to begin a spraying trial to eliminate or at least control this threat to our already battered south coast indigenous ecosystems.

Barbara Mitcalfe

 Percy Scenic Reserve : Redevelopment news – State Highway 2 realignment

Funding approved, tenders close in December.   Start date 3-6 months after that.

The plants that are in the construction areas have been propagated, (either by Robyn Smith or me) and either replanted in the gardens or growing on in pots.

We will know more when the final tender documents are received.

The new vehicle bridge over Percy Stream has been built, to enable trucks and other vehicles access into the reserve proper.   The new access into the reserve will be off Dowse Drive, a much safer option for workers and the public alike.

The aviary has been decommissioned, and the birds are now housed at Civic Gardens in Lower Hutt behind the Council Administration building.

The Druce and other plant collections are still being duplicated, and a new site has been found at New Plymouth.   Waireka Property Limited (a private property owned by John Matthews) has accepted the challenge of keeping a duplicate collection alive in Taranaki, with several hundred plants already transported to the site.   Owen Barriball is the horticulturalist in residence, and the property is being improved continuously with the construction of a greenhouse in progress.

Jill Broome Plant Collections Supervisor Percy Scenic Reserve

 Botanical Art Society

The society is located at the Avice Hill Centre, Memorial Avenue, Christchurch.   We are a group of artists with mixed abilities who meet twice month, with workshops held during the year tutored by local and overseas artists.   Our annual exhibition is held in February at Our City O-Tautahi.

Subscription: members $50; affiliates $20.   Members and affiliates receive newsletters, are entitled to submit work to exhibitions, and receive a 10% discount on any workshop or class run by the society.

Helen Nutt, President, BAS, 36b Hackthorne Rd, Cashmere, CH.   Ph 03 332 4750, fax 03 332 5364, e-mail cbas (at) xtra.co.nz.

 Larsen Crescent Bush, Tawa

We congratulate Wellington City Council which in 2005 accepted the submissions of Richard Herbert, Fraser Jackson and Friends of Tawa Bush Reserves, and zoned this important matai-totara-tawa remnant from Residential (Outer) to Conservation Site 5B.   The bush was saved from subdivision by the evidence to the Environment Court in 1996 of several people and organisations, including BotSoc, which resulted in WCC buying it from the developer.   Larsen Crescent Bush, c. 0.5 ha, was once part of the same indigenous forest community as Redwood Bush, across Peterhouse Street.

Sources: WCC Hearing Committee report 15/9/05; Richard Herbert; Barbara Mitcalfe.

 Short-tussock grassland – ecological values – threats

In response to the article on this topic in our April newsletter, Dr Bryan Jenkins, Chief Executive, Environment Canterbury, notes that another significant change in the Mackenzie Basin and adjacent districts is the replacement of tussock species by hawkweeds / Hieraceum sp., and bare ground.   Environment Canterbury is very aware of the biodiversity values of this special area, and is preparing a Biodiversity Strategy for the region, including the Mackenzie Basin and adjacent districts.

Environment Canterbury also provides advice on the Tenure Review process, which includes advice on biodiversity values that should be protected when proposals for Tenure Review for individual properties are being developed.   Staff are working with land occupiers in the Mackenzie Basin on land management matters in their area, including the protection of biodiversity values.

Dr Jenkins agrees with BotSoc that the biodiversity of the Mackenzie Basin and adjacent areas is unique.

Source: Letter from Dr Jenkins dated 6/7/06

April 2006 News

 Amy Hodgson’s early plant collection finds a new home at Te Papa

Amy Hodgson, Helen Druce’s mother, was an amateur botanist who became internationally known and respected for her pioneering research on liverworts.   For this work, at 87, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from Massey University, where her bryophyte collection is held.   However it is Dr Hodgson’s early collection of native vascular plants, compiled in the 1920s, which Helen inherited and has now donated to Te Papa.   Dr Barry Sneddon and Dr Patrick Brownsey are very grateful to acquire the collection because Hawkes Bay plants are poorly represented in the Te Papa herbarium, and Amy’s collection is in remarkably good condition, with each specimen carefully mounted and annotated.   It is a privilege to handle these specimens collected so long ago, lovingly preserved in pursuit of a hobby which became a passion, and which contributes significantly to the sum of knowledge of Hawke’s Bay botany.

Barbara Mitcalfe

 Wellington Plant Conservation Network reactivated

On Tuesday 14 March 17 invitees attended a meeting at Otari-Wilton’s Bush Visitors’ Centre to consider a proposal to reactivate the WPCN.   The following were represented: GWRC, DOC, Excell, WCC Parks and Gardens, BotSoc, Otari, Wellington Botanic Garden, Berhampore Nursery and Karori Wildlife Sanctuary.   The Queen Elizabeth II National Trust sent an apology.   Convenor John Sawyer outlined the history of the WPCN including how it had led to setting up the NZ Plant Conservation Network.   Attendees were in agreement that the WPCN could fill a very useful range of roles such as providing direction, coordinating a range of plant conservation activities, offering expertise and advocacy and creating new and strengthening existing partnerships.   Those attending plan to meet again in May with information on their current plant conservation projects and suggestions for projects to be achieved in the next 12 months.

Barbara Mitcalfe

 Cape Palliser purchase secures stunning coastal landscape

In keeping with the government’s Conservation Policy to increase protection of coastal land, Conservation Minister Chris Carter has announced the purchase of the Stonewall Block, a 121-ha coastal property near Cape Palliser, south Wairarapa coast.   It will be managed as scenic reserve by DOC, protecting a pristine area as well as securing important recreational opportunities.   Rising from sea level to the Aorangi Forest Park boundary, and from the western part of Ngapotiki Fan to a boundary with land owned by the local iwi, Ngati Hinekawa, Stonewall Block has a diverse range of regionally threatened plant species and communities that make it an extremely important biological area almost unique in the lower North Island.   In combination with the adjoining Aorangi Forest Park it will provide complete sequences of vegetation from shoreline to hilltop that are not protected elsewhere.   The Ngapotiki Fan which has scientific and educational values will also be protected.   One of the conditions of sale is to continue to exclude 4WD vehicles to protect the biodiversity of the area.   Grazing will cease after the end of April 2007.

Adapted from a Press Release.   For more information, contact Allan McKenzie, Manager, Land Conservation, DOC, ph. 04-371 3099.

 Karori Tunnel eastern portal

The native plants supplied by WCC for the previously weedy, unsightly, over-steep slope above Karori Tunnel are now growing strongly.   We hope Berhampore Nursery will be able to supply plenty of Phormium cookianum this Spring to reduce maintenance by preventing rampant weed growth, and to complete the site’s ecological objectives.

 Wellington City plantings

Following WCC’s invitation to the public last year to submit ideas for “Greening the Quays” plantings, BotSoc discussed a range of ideas and criteria with members of the Urban Development Group.   We suggested replacing their preferred choice of Norfolk pines, with a mix of indigenous Wellington species, including some non-tree species which need less trimming and are less likely to interfere with underground utilities.   Clear views for pedestrians and those driving or cycling is clearly another criterion.   An important criterion for us, was the desirability of designing more street plantings with a view to enhancing urban indigenous biodiversity, such as the very successful use of the threatened shrub Muehlenbeckia astonii on Jervois Quay median strip.   Jonathon Bussell, manager of WCC’s Berhampore Nursery strongly supports this criterion and is keen to supply more threatened native plants such as Muehlenbeckia astonii and Euphorbia glauca.   Other eco-sourced native species such as Griselinia lucida and Chionchloa rubra, and also a range of native cultivars will be used for street plantings.   We do not know what the final selection of plants will be but we are pleased to have had some input.

Barbara Mitcalfe

 Riverscape botanical mural

Have you seen Ellen Coup’s 60-metre long mural on The Terrace, opposite the west end of Ghuznee Street?

Ellen began the mural in February, and completed it early in April.   Her research involved Wellington BotSoc, Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, and Wellington Public Library.   “I found a book in the library called Wellington’s Living Cloak, which was really inspirational”.   Ellen describes the mural as “an ode to the indigenous vegetation of Wellington”.   The “Riverscape” was funded by Wellington City Council, and cost about $8000.   Once signs are erected, it will be formally unveiled.

Reference: The Wellingtonian, 23/2/06.

(Wellington’s Living Cloak – A Guide to the Natural Plant Communities was written by Isobel Gabites, and published in 1993 by Wellington Botanical Society and Victoria University Press.)

 Road reserve plantings

We congratulate Berhampore Nursery for continuing to supply annually, free of charge, a range of hardy, Wellington native species for road reserve and revegetation purposes.   Thousands of these “bombproof” plants are distributed in Spring each year in response to applications by individuals or groups.   There is no guarantee of supply because sometimes it is exceeded by demand, but if you are interested in improving the amenity and indigenous biodiversity of road reserve by planting near where you live, you can make a written application to Jonathan Bussell, Manager, Berhampore Nursery, WCC, PO Box 2199, Wellington.   Now is a good time of year to do this.   The planting and subsequent maintenance are the responsibility of you and / or your group, but in this way we can put into practice our enthusiasm for native plants by helping to return them to the urban scene.

Barbara Mitcalfe

 Fungal Network of NZ

The network is a new society that was incorporated after the 19th NZ Fungal Foray at Ohakune.   Check www.funnz.org.nz for membership form, photos of past forays, more information, and links to other mycology sites.   Subscription: $15 – waged, $10 – unwaged.   The financial year is 1/3/06 - 28/2/07.

 QEII Trust Open Space Covenants

The trust has recently registered the following Open Space Covenants in the Wellington region:
• Horowhenua D.C. / Landcorp Ltd. - 4.0 ha, wetland
• Masterton D.C. / Beetham - 6.8 ha, forest, treeland, shrubland
• Masterton D.C. / Scott - 80.5 ha, forest, shrubland, wetland
• Masterton D.C. / Scott - 13.7 ha, forest, shrubland, wetland
• Carterton D.C. / Goodin - 2.4 ha, forest
• Kapiti Coast D.C. / Lincoln - 1.7 ha, forest
• Kapiti Coast D.C. / Palmer - 2.1 ha, treeland, wetland
• Upper Hutt C.C. / Glazebrook - 2.7 ha, shrubland, wetland
• South Wairarapa D.C. / Donald - 10.5 ha, forest.

Source: Open Space No. 66, 3/06

 Land protection

Wellington Conservancy, Department of Conservation, has recently protected the following sites:
• Mokiri Bush Scenic Reserve.   Wairarapa Area.   121.48 ha purchased from former owner.   Involves ROW through private land, subject to special conditions for access.   Northern part of RAP 7, Eastern Wairarapa PNAP report, comprising rewarewa-tawa (rimu) forest on upper hill slope; with manuka and kanuka hardwood forest on lower hill slope and gully.
• Hutton’s Conservation Covenant.   Kapiti Area.   9.5567 ha.   Owner: Hutton Farm Estate Ltd.   Native forest valuable as habitat for land snails.
• Ruamahanga Conservation Covenant.   Wairarapa Area.   c. 5.5 ha.   Owner: C.J. Hudson QC & L.P. Goddard.   Part RAP 11, Wairarapa Plains PNAP.   Kanuka forest on gully terrace and scarp, and otara / matai / titoki on riparian flat.
• Hoskins Covenant.   Wairarapa Area.   c. 5 ha in 4 side-by-side certificates of title.   Owner: C & B Hoskins.   Regenerating shrub forest, comprising kanuka, cabbage tree, nikau, matai and mahoe, adjoining east side of Rimutaka Forest Park.

David Bishop, Wellington Conservancy, Department of Conservation.   Ph 472 5821

 Nominations sought

If you have suggestions about who BotSoc should nominate for:
• Loder Cup
• H. H. Allan Mere Award
• Jubilee Award
• Conservation Award
please contact Barbara Clark, Secretary, Wellington BotSoc, PO Box 10 412, WN.   Ph 233 8202, fax 233 2222, kevin.clark (at) clear.net.nz.

 Reports from the committee

Among the topics discussed at the 23 March committee meeting were:
• 26 members have yet to renew their subscriptions
• 2006/07 summer field trip
• Bulletins - digitising them so that they can be put on web site
• Bulletin No. 50 - progress
• H.H. Allan Mere Award - nomination
• Weedbusters 2006 Award - nomination
• Loder Cup - nomination
• WBS Jubilee Award
• Easter field trips 2006 & 2007
• Wellington Plant Conservation Network - reconvening
• Iron-hearted Trees, by Dr Philip Simpson - sales by BotSoc
• invitation cards to specific people to attend evening meetings
• Manawa Karioi Ecological Restoration Project “Adopt-aplot” scheme
• WCC Community Grants Scheme - changes
• Wellington Conservation Board - vacancies
• Science Fair 2006 - WBS Award
• Lucy B Moore Scholarship Fund - request for donations

Editor

 Stan Butcher QSM

We congratulate Stan who was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal in the New Year’s Honours for his environmental work in the community.

When Stan was in the 6th form at Napier Boys’ High School in 1940, he painted a grim picture of the way we had treated our environment, but predicted that things might only get worse.   He wrote “Imagine how ridiculous it is to replace native bush, which abounds in wildlife and good timber, with the dark and sombre pines of doubtful value as timber, and in which very few of our native birds will live.   We have seen what the last 100 years have brought to this fair land, but do we know what the next will bring?   Will we see rapid regeneration of the native fauna and flora, or will we see a continuation of the present policy of taking all that a bountifully endowed land will give, and of giving nothing in return?”   It’s a question that remains valid 65 years later, although in the intervening years, Stan has done his best to make sure that we do not destroy our environment.

Since he retired in 1981, Stan has put thousands of hours into battling for our native plants and birds.   He is a long-time member of BotSoc, and is chair of Lower Hutt Branch, Forest and Bird Protection Society.   Stan is one of the stalwarts who have revegetated Matiu / Somes Island.

“We can’t look forward with any confidence to maintaining our current lifestyle.   Politicians seem reluctant to take the issue seriously, and with the population rapidly increasing, our flora and fauna is on a ‘path to destruction’”

Source: “The Hutt News”, 10/2/06

 Wellington Botanical Society Jubilee Award – 2005

We congratulate Rilka Taskova, PhD, Post-doctoral Fellow, School of Biological sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, recipient of the 2005 Award.

Research project title: “Chemotaxonomy and evolution of Heliohebe”.

Project description: Heliohebe, formerly recognised as Hebe, was segregated as a distinct genus by Garnock- Jones, 1993.   It includes five species confined to the northeastern parts of the South Island.   Heliohebe species are the closest relatives of Hebe and are important garden plants.   Studying their diversity and relationships is important for understanding the evolution of New Zealand’s flora and conservation.   The aim of the project is to provide a new chemical approach to assess the phylogeny and evolution of genus Heliohebe and its relationship with other members of the Hebe complex.

For more information, contact rilka.taskovastamenova (at) vuw.ac.nz ph 463 5233 ext 8136, fax 463 5331.

 Scurvy grass tops poll

Cook’s scurvy grass / Lepidium oleraceum was voted NZ’s most popular plant in the NZ Plant Conservation Network’s poll result announced in December 2005.   This threatened plant occurs in the Wellington region only on Mana and Kapiti islands.   Captain Cook made his sailors eat it during their exploration of New Zealand, because its vitamin C content helped to ward off scurvy.

Source: “The Dominion Post”, 3/12/05

 Short-tussock grassland – ecological values - threats

The valley-floor, short-tussock grasslands of the Mackenzie Basin contain important elements of our flora and fauna that are not found elsewhere.   They provide habitat for three endemic grassmoths of the genus Orocrambus, with another rare species shared with Central Otago – the females of all four species are short-winged which greatly limits dispersal, and makes them prone to local extinction.   These valley-floor grasslands are special and must be retained and protected.   We have abundant literature about insects from the late Graeme White’s recent work, and others, and a PNA report to base a case around.

The future of the low-tussock grassland and low shrubland looks bleak, because so little is protected, and the axe, in the form of irrigation, is about to fall on another area.   There are large, green pasture areas and dairy cattle now entrenched at Glenbrook.   There are still remarkably good examples of these indigenous plant communities south of the irrigated areas towards Omarama, and north towards Tekapo, but it seems only a matter of time before they are developed and irrigated.

If we do not act now, the Mackenzie Basin will look like most of Central Otago in no time, and we will soon forget how distinctive they are, or were.   Please send your ideas for how we can work to protect the remaining short-tussock grasslands to Brian Patrick, on whose e-mail this article is based: bpatrick (at) xtra.co.nz.

 Lucy B Moore Memorial Scholarship

After Lucy Moore’s death a scholarship was set up to honour this much-loved New Zealand botanist, by her old school, Epsom Girls’ Grammar.   Lucy attended E.G.G.S. in the 1920s and was dux in her final year.   During her subsequent career with DSIR, and in her long and productive retirement, she was always keen, in her quiet way, to encourage others.   Botanical artist Bruce Irwin gives a lovely account of her collaboration with him (Irwin, 2006) (safe now to tell!), and this is no doubt a typical example of her generosity and quiet determination to help others she judged had a contribution to make.

The scholarship consists of a book prize, usually around $60, and a scholarship of $500 to the top Year 13 (final year student) who intends to study the biological sciences at university, and it has been running since 1988.   The current interest on the principal in the fund is only sufficient, however, to continue the scholarship at about one third of this level.   Botanists who contributed then, and others, might like to make a donation to revitalise this award.

Cheques should be made out to:
‘Epsom Girls’ Grammar School Foundation’ clearly marked that they are for the ‘Lucy B Moore Memorial Scholarship’ and posted to:
Epsom Girls’ Grammar School, Silver Road, Epsom, Auckland 3.

To add a personal memory: Ross Beever was invited to speak at Lucy’s funeral about her contribution to science.   A nephew, who had contributed obviously very happy memories of a favourite aunty, came up to us afterwards and thanked Ross for explaining some mysteries, adding “We always knew she was terribly clever, but we didn’t know what she actually did!”

Jessica Beever

Reference :
Irwin, JB (2006) Lucy Moore - New Zealand botanical artist.   The New Zealand native orchid journal 98: 18-19.

December 2005 News

 QEII Trust Open Space Covenants

The Trust has recently registered the following Open Space Covenants in the Wellington region :
• Tararua / Hilson: 5.5 ha forest
• Tararua / McKenzie: 6.8 ha forest
• Tararua / Tapui Land Company Limited: forest and treeland
• Kapiti Coast / Thorpe: 2.8 ha forest

As at 2/12/05, there were 193 Open Space Covenants registered in the Wellington region, protecting 4899 ha of private land; and 2219 covenants protecting 74377 ha nationwide.

Sources: Open Space no.65, 11/05, and Dr Richard Allibone, QEII National Trust

 Percy Scenic Reserve news

It looks as if the redevelopment of State Highway 2 is finally going to happen.   Since the first intentions were notified by Transit NZ in July 1997, the staff at Percy have been in a holding pattern, with several commencement dates reached and passed.
Earlier this year the Government gave Transit $800m to use for roading projects throughout the country, so the start date for Percy redevelopment is now July 2006.
Propagation of the intended construction zone is continuing, along with the duplicates of the potted collection for insurance purposes.
Otari Wilton’s Bush and the Dench property have taken some of the duplicate plants into their care for the interim period, and other plant nurseries are being sought for holding some of the outdoor collections.
A new fernery is being created as the Parataniwha house is in the demolition zone.   It is not yet ready for public viewing; planting has been delayed until the irrigation system has been installed.

Open day
An open day was held at Percy on Sunday 31 October.   Arnold and Ruth Dench conducted the Alpine House Tours.
The weather was almost winter-like that day with torrential rain, and only 18 hardy people showed up for the three-hourly tours.
Positive feedback was received, and the recent publicity in the Hutt News and The Dominion Post helped advertise the open day.
Arnold supplied alpine seed he received from the NZ Alpine Society, and it was sown in September; so far one seed has germinated, Brachyglottis bellidioides.

Curly leaf on Macropiper and other trees.
We have had leaf curl affecting Macropiper, Aristotelia and some other trees in the reserve for some time.   The culprit was first thought to be two-spitted mite, confirmed by Massey University after samples were sent for analysis.   However, Rob Lucas has been visiting the reserve in recent months, capturing images for his new books, and studied the pest.
It has been identified as a relative to the cyclamen mite which lives in the humid conditions of th