Heidi Meudt

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Kia ora from northern Germany

14 May 2013 – 7.51pm

Moin!

That is how you say Kia ora or Hello in Oldenburg, which is where my family and I have been living since August 2013. As I near the half-way point in my 18-month fellowship, I thought I would show you where I am living, update you on what I have been up to in the lab, and introduce you to my lovely colleagues here.

Oldenburg is located in the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany and has about 160,000 inhabitants, most of whom get around by bicycle, ourselves included.

Getting on our bicycles at Pferdemarkt, Oldenburg, Germany, Sept 2012. Photo by Mauricio López.

Each day I cycle to the University of Oldenburg, where I am curently based. The best part of my 15-minute daily commute is cylcing down the last kilometre along Drögen-Hasen-Weg.

My trusty bicycle at the start of Drögen-Hasen-Weg, about 1 km from the University of Oldenburg, May 2013. Note also the beautiful spring flowers! Photo by Heidi Meudt.

My colleagues tell me that “Drögen-Hasen-Weg” means “Dry Feet Way” in Plattdüütsch, the local dialect of German still spoken in this area. In earlier times, this road was a way for the locals to get around without having to cross any waterways. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

The beautiful native trees (“Traubeneiche”, or sessile oak, Quercus petrea) that line this “Eichenallee” (literally, “oak avenue”) are now a protected natural monument.

Sessile oak trees (Quercus petraea) along the Drögen-Hasen-Weg Eichenallee, Oldenburg, Germany. Here they are just beginning to show their new green spring leaves, May 2013. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

A fellow commuter along the Drögen-Hasen-Weg Eichenallee, Oldenburg, Germany, May 2013. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

After cycling through the beautiful tunnel of oak trees (did I mention I get to do this every day?), I arrive at the science campus of the University of Oldenburg, and turn right at this sign to get to my office. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

I have come to Oldenburg to work on a research project regarding polyploidy in New Zealand and European Veronica with Dirk Albach, and in the process learn some new techniques. Polyploidy means whole genome doubling, and it occurs in Veronica species from both areas. We will compare the genes that are expressed in European and New Zealand polyploid species with their closest diploid relatives to determine when these genome doubling events occurred, confirm that the polyploid species likely evolved following hybridisation of diploid ancestors, and compare patterns of evolution of duplicated genes.

One of the first things I learned was how to extract RNA, or ribonucleic acid, from leaf tissue.

Here I am with Eike Mayland-Quellhorst, grinding up some Veronica leaf tissue in liquid nitrogen for RNA extractions in the lab, May 2013. Photo by Silvia Kempen.

Once the tissue has been ground to a fine powder, it is poured with the liquid nitrogen into a small tube. Photo by Silvia Kempen.

Here I am extracting the RNA of the ground leaf tissue at the clean bench in the lab. Photo by Simon Pfanzelt.

Once the RNA is extracted and cleaned up, it is checked to determine whether it is of sufficient quality and quantity for sequencing. The next step will be to send the samples to a sequencing facility, and hopefully soon I will get some new data to analyse!

Another part of the project involves determining genome size, that is, measuring how much DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) a particular plant contains in the nuclei of its cells. By working with Silvia Kempen, one of the technicians in the lab, I have learned how to use a flow cytometer and have measured the genome size of several Veronica species.

Getting everything ready in the flow cytometry lab to measure the genome size of three samples, May 2013. Photo by Silvia Kempen.

Chopping up the leaves from the first sample with a razor blade in preparation for flow cytometry, May 2013. Photo by Silvia Kempen.

Watching Silvia calibrate the flow cytometer, which is the small machine to the right of the computer. Once the machine is calibrated, it is ready to measure the genome size of our prepared samples, May 2013. Photo by Eike Mayland-Quellhorst.

I must admit, the lab work has had its ups and downs, and it has taken me longer to get to this point than I had planned. One logistical problem we had, was that the plant material collected prior to my arrival did not result in good RNA extractions. That meant we needed to collect fresh plant material and retry the extractions, so I did my part by heading to Mallorca, Spain, on a collecting trip.

Collecting Veronica plants in Mallorca, Spain, with local botanist and PhD student Jaume Seguí Colomar. Photo by Mauricio López.

But perhaps delays, hiccups and changes are to be expected when one is learning new techniques, in a new lab, in a new country, and in a new language, no less! Although I speak quite a bit of English at the university, I am taking an evening language course, and I seek out daily opportunities to practice German with my colleagues. Speaking of which, here they are!

Photo of Dirk Albach’s working group, outside our office and lab space at the Universtiy of Oldenburg, May 2013. Standing, left to right, Heidi Meudt, Eike Mayland-Quellhorst, Vera Mageney, Niklas Buhk, Katarzyna Palinska, Thomas Schmidt, Jane Looschen, Jennifer Nolzen, Lillian-Lee Müller, Imke Notholt, Simon Pfanzelt, Ute Friedrichs, Maria Brandes, Lena Koehler. In front, Bernhard von Hagen and Dirk Albach. Photo by Gerhard Zotz.

Lab outings and field trips are a great way to get to know each other. One day last October, we took a trip to the nearby North Sea coast to the Wattenmeer (Wadden Sea), which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

At the Wattenmeer (Wadden Sea) along the North Sea coast in Germany in May 2013. From left to right Petr Kosachev, Eike Mayland-Quellhorst, Dirk Albach, Carolina García, Simon Pfanzelt. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

Then in February, one afternoon our lab took a “Grünkohlfahrt” (literally, “kale walk”), which is a regional custom involving walking around with your friends or colleagues while eating, drinking, and playing special, regional games together. Oldenburg claims to be the kale capital of Germany.

Here I am on our Grünkohlfahrt (“kale walk”) taking my turn at the northern German sport called “Boßeln”, which is essentially outdoor road bowling! Feb 2013. Photo by Silvia Kempen.

At the end of the Grünkohlfahrt, we sat down together to share some excellent regional cuisine…

Our traditional northern German dinner after the “kale walk”, including two types of German sausages (Pinkel and Kochwurs), potatoes, and (of course!) kale! Feb 2013. Photo by Silvia Kempen.

And earlier this month, we had a very exciting special visitor, Radio New Zealand journalist Veronika Meduna, who came to interview Dirk and me about our collaborative research. You can hear the resulting interview here.

Dirk Albach and his son Felix, Veronika Meduna, and Heidi Meudt in the University of Oldenburg glasshouses during our interview. There is one Veronica plant in a pot in front of us, and several kale plants behind us. April 2013. Photo copyright Veronika Meduna, Radio NZ National.

On both professional and personal levels, our experience in Germany so far has been at times enlightening, challenging, surprising, and overwhelming. Germany is a great place to do scientific research, and there are countless opportunities to learn about and experience its fascinating culture and history. Our first 9 months have certainly qualified as an adventure so far, and I look forward to experiencing what the next 9 months will bring.

Bis dann!

A big thank you to my whanau for supporting and accompanying me in this adventure. Here they are in the Schlossgarten (Palace Garden) in the winter snow! The main church of Oldenburg, Lambertikirche, is in the background. Jan 2013. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

Posted in Biodiversity, Field trips, Plants, Veronica | Tagged botany, DNA, flow cytometry, genome size, Germany, Humboldt Foundation, Mallorca, New Zealand, RNA, University of Oldenburg, Veronica | Comments (1)

Going International, Part II – What caught my eye at two recent botany meetings

24 September 2012 – 6.20pm

Here are just a few of the many highlights from the two international botany conferences I recently attended: Botany 2012 (Columbus, OH, USA) and Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology 2012 (German Botanical Society 21st International Symposium, Mainz, Germany).

Plant identification goes visual, interactive and mobile

Plant identification keys are useful when you want to identify an unknown plant specimen to a species. Traditionally, keys have been found in books or other printed media, and have used written, verbal descriptions as choices that user must make (see an example here for Plantago from the 1961 New Zealand Flora). When using a conventional key, a user must proceed down the key and finally “key out” or identify the plant specimen of interest.

But keys are becoming increasingly interactive, making use of specialised computer software and including photos and drawings to aid identification (see for example Key to the Flowering Plant Genera of New Zealand). Keys are also becoming exteremely mobile, with the development of smart phone applications for plant identification (such as Leafsnap for the USA). I saw one talk by Alexander Krings about the development of these great apps for the Flora of North Carolina. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to have such mobile plant identification apps for the New Zealand flora?

I also attended a hands-on workshop about so-called “visual keys“, which rely exclusively on photos and other visual aids. At the workshop, which was run by Bruce Kirchoff from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, we were divided into groups whose task was to create our own visual key for oak tree leaves using only a set of images. Then other workshop participants tested our group’s visual key by keying out leaves from another set of images. The workshop was fun and challenging, would be a great exercise for high school or university biology courses, and got me thinking about different ways I might create plant ID keys, especially for the forget-me-nots I am currently working on.

DNA Sequencing: The Next Generation

Use of so-called “Next Generation Sequencing” in (NGS) evolutionary biology research was a dominant theme at both conferences I attended. (And even though this might sound more like something from a certain television programme from the 1980s and 90s, I can assure you I was attending botany conferences, not sci-fi conventions!) The relatively new technology of NGS allows sequencing of large portions of the genome quickly, giving us orders of magnitude more DNA data from the organisms we study and allowing researchers to understand them better and answer more interesting questions about them.

In fact I have come to Oldenburg, Germany to learn and perform NGS methods to study the evolution of certain polyploid New Zealand and European Veroncica species (more on that later). By the way, on the conference field trip to “Mainzer Sand”, I saw my first European Veronica species in its native habitat, check it out (with thanks to Aaron Liston for the photos):

Heidi Meudt on the botanical field trip to the “Mainzer Sand”, at the “Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology” meeting, the 21st International Symposium of the German Botanical Society (DBG) , Sept. 2012. I am kneeling just behind the European plant species Veronica spicata. Photo by Aaron Liston.

Veronica spicata flowers from the “Mainzer Sand”, Mainz, Germany. Sept. 2012. Photo by Aaron Liston.

Veronica spicata fruits from the “Mainzer Sand”, Mainz, Germany. Sept. 2012. Photo by Aaron Liston.

Posted in Biodiversity, Field trips, Plants, Uncategorized | Tagged DNA sequencing, international conferences, New Zealand, next-generation sequencing, plant identification, plant identification keys, workshop | Comments (1)

Going International

13 September 2012 – 6.18pm

Back in July, I attended the 2012 Botany Conference, which was held in Columbus, OH, USA, and later this month, I will attend the “Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology” meeting of the German Botanical Society (DBG) in Mainz, Germany. Why so much international travel, you may ask, and why is it important to Te Papa and its researchers? I’ll start by answering the second part of this question first.

First, attending meetings is a great way to get the word out to our colleagues around the world about the research we are doing. By that I mean the specific research that individual Te Papa reseachers like myself are actively pursuing, as well as the more general contribution Te Papa as an institution is making regarding scholarly research. Most conference attendees (myself included!) will present their latest results in the form of a poster or a 15- or 20-minute presentation. This year my talks focus on our latest research on New Zealand forget-me-nots, a group of plants which we have been blogging about for the last year and a half. A summary of the work I am presenting at these meetings is available here.

Second, hearing about the latest technologies, methods and results from colleagues is both invigorating and exciting! And, I must add, at times slightly overwhelming. Over 1000 botanists–ranging from students to experts–attended the Botany 2012 meeting, and there were hundreds of talks and dozens of workshops to choose from. I always come back from conferences with lots of new ideas that I can apply directly to my research on native New Zealand plants. I highlight some of the interesting things I learned at this year’s meetings here.

Third, attending international meetings is all about (face-to-face) networking. Of course we live in an age where productive collaboration and networking can (and does) happen with e-mail, the Internet and Skype. But none of these can 100% fully replace actual face-to-face interactions with real people. Attending international conferences, one might discuss and plan current research with overseas collaborators, be introduced to new colleagues that may one day become future collaborators, and participate in spontaneous and sometimes heated discussions in a room full of colleagues.

And now on to the other part of my original question, Why so much international travel? As a Research Scientist at Te Papa, I may not always have the opportunity to attend an international meeting each year, let alone two of them! This year is a bit special because I was honoured to receive an Fellowship for Experienced Researchers from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. So, for the next 18 months I’ll be based at the Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg in Germany working on a collaborative research project on New Zealand hebes and their European relatives (Veronica) in collaboration with Prof Dr Dirk Albach.

This is a great example of how collaborating and networking at previous international conferences has played an important role in shaping the direction of my research. I hope to blog about some of my experiences here as the fellowship unfolds.

This is a recent photo of me (Heidi Meudt) taken here in Oldenburg, Germany. I will sign off in German by saying: Auf wiedersehen, bis bald! Photo by Mauricio López.

Posted in Biodiversity, forget-me-nots, Plants | Tagged forget-me-nots, Germany, hebes, international conferences, networking, research, Te Papa | Comments (3)

Highlights from forget-me-not field trips from last summer

26 June 2012 – 9.58am

This year I went on several field trips to collect native forget-me-nots (genus Myosotis). With my research on native plantains now finished, my current research focus is now to figure out how many native species of forget-me-nots we have in New Zealand, revise their taxonomy, understand their evolutionary history, and amend their conservation status. Te Papa colleagues Jessie Prebble (see one of her blogs here) and Carlos Lehnebach are also collaborating on this project.

Field work (such as this trip to Taranaki in Nov 2011) is a key component of this work. And with wintry weather now keeping this botanist (and perhaps many of you!) mostly indoors, it’s the perfect time to put up a few photos and show you some of the highlights from these trips.

Chalk Range, Marlborough, South Island, Nov 2011.

With the collaboration of Department of Conservation botanists Jan Clayton-Greene and Cathy Jones, we found several different forget-me-not entities on the Chalk Range, including this one, which has been given the tag-name Myosotis aff. australis “white”.

Habitat of Myosotis aff. australis “white” in the Chalk Range, Marlborough, South Island (WELT SP090551). Photo by Heidi Meudt, copyright Te Papa.

Flowers of Myosotis aff. australis “white” from the Chalk Range, Marlborough, South Island (WELT SP090551). Photo by Heidi Meudt, copyright Te Papa.

Myosotis aff. australis “white” in the Chalk Range, Marlborough, South Island (WELT SP090551). Photo by Heidi Meudt, copyright Te Papa.

Inland Hawkes Bay ranges, Dec 2011.

On this trip, I teamed up with Jessie Prebble, Mike Thorsen, and several landowners to search for forget-me-nots that had been previously collected in this area. Although we didn’t find all the ones we were hoping for, we did find some big populations of Myosotis spathulata, shown here.

Habitat of Myosotis spathulata, Hukanui Station, Hawke’s Bay, North Island (WELT SP090628). Photo by Heidi Meudt, copyright Te Papa.

Flower of Myosotis spathulata, Hukanui Station, Hawke’s Bay, North Island (WELT SP090628). Photo by Heidi Meudt, copyright Te Papa.

Myosotis spathulata, Hukanui Station, Hawke’s Bay, North Island (WELT SP090628). Photo by Heidi Meudt, copyright Te Papa.

Queenstown area, Otago, South Island, Feb 2012.

For this trip, Phil Garnock-Jones and local botanist Neill Simpson accompanied me on yet another forget-me-not field trip (we were also collecting speedwell hebes on this trip, which you can read about here). As you can see from all the photos on this page, the morphological diversity of the different species of forget-me-nots is truly astounding!

Myosotis pulvinaris, Shotover Saddle, Otago, South Island (WELT SP091594/A). This cushion plant was just past flowering. Just imagine what it would have looked like covered with flowers! Photo by Phil Garnock-Jones.

Myosotis macrantha, near Queenstown, Otago, South Island (WELT SP091596). Photo by Phil Garnock-Jones.

Here I am collecting Myosotis on a beautiful day on Coronet Peak, Otago, South Island.

Next month I’ll be giving a talk at the Botany 2012 Conference on some of our recent forget-me-not research. I’ll show our latest results using DNA sequencing and DNA fingerprinting to look at how the different species of New Zealand Myosotis are related to one another. You can see the abstract here.

See some of Te Papa’s Myosotis collection here.

Posted in Field trips, forget-me-nots, Plants | Tagged botany, Department of Conservation, fieldwork, forget-me-nots, Myosotis, native plants, summer, taxonomy | Comments (0)

A new native plantain, Plantago udicola

18 June 2012 – 2.47pm

Victoria University Emeritus Professor Phil Garnock-Jones and I have just described a new species of native plantain, Plantago udicola. The name udicola means “dwelling or living in damp places” and is in reference to the types of sites the new species is usually found in.

The new species, Plantago udicola from Lake Sylvester (WELT SP090375/A). Photo copyright Mei Lin Tay.

Of the 200 or so species of Plantago worldwide, there are about 20 species of Plantago in New Zealand. This includes a handful of non-native invasive species, several of which are common garden and roadside weeds, together with 11 native species. The new species Plantago udicola Meudt & Garn.-Jones is described in a recent paper that revises the taxonomy of all native New Zealand plantains.

Abstract of the paper describing Plantago udicola.

To determine whether Plantago udicola deserved species status (as well as to test the taxonomy of the other native species), I studied and compared specimens from our collection at Te Papa and other herbaria. Because native plantains are very small and have tiny, wind-pollinated flowers, this meant spending long hours at the dissecting microscope. I also took into consideration the plants’ chromosome numbers and habitats, as well as previously published DNA analyses.

Plantago udicola looks similar to two other species of native plantains, Plantago raoulii and Plantago spathulata. Plantago raoulii is a common low-elevation plantain found in coastal and forest habitats throughout New Zealand. P. raoulii was even collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, the botanists aboard Captain Cook’s first voyage. Plantago spathulata is another lowland species but is restricted to coastal and inland areas of southeastern North Island and eastern South Island.

See images of Plantago spathulata, Plantago raoulii, and other native Plantago here.

Plantago udicola is distinguished from these two species by its different chromosome number (it has 96 chromosomes!), habitat (flushes in damp tussock and herb fields over 600 m elevation), and a unique suite of morphological characters, including up to four ellipsoid, uniform seeds, scapes with two different kinds of hairs, bracts with hairy margins, and sepals with hairs at the tip only.

Habitat of Plantago udicola from Lake Sylvester (WELT SP090374/A). Photo copyright Mei Lin Tay.

It may be that Plantago udicola is an allopolyploid of P. spathulata and P. raoulii (or their ancestors). In fact probable hybrids of P. spathulata x P. raoulii (each of which has 48 chromosomes) are similar morphologically to P. udicola. This hypothesis will need to be tested in future studies.

You can see many of the important traits that help separate Plantago udicola from the other 10 native New Zealand plantains in this botanical illustration by Bobbi Angell. Plantains in general are difficult to photograph, so we don’t yet have many photos of this new species. Botanical illustration is another (and more traditional) way to show the main characteristics of a plant at different stages in its life cycle.

Botanical illustration of Plantago udicola. Copyright Bobbi Angell.

Bobbi Angell also drew three other native Plantago species, and Te Papa houses these and several other of her illustrations. Find out more about the Bobbi Angell illustrations Te Papa holds.

Even though Plantago udicola was only recently described, for half a century botanists have thought it was probably distinct. Interestingly, Te Papa botanists Leon Perrie and Pat Brownsey also described a new fern species earlier this year, which like P. udicola, was also suspected of being a new species for nearly 50 years. Both of these examples highlight the importance of our collections at Te Papa, and at other New Zealand and international herbaria, as a potentially rich source of new, as-yet-undescribed species.

Posted in Plantago, Plants | Tagged botanical illustration, botany, morphology, new species, New Zealand, Plantago, plantain, Plants, taxonomy | Comments (2)

The hunt for the smallest forget-me-not in the world

16 November 2011 – 9.07am

Spring is in the air, and for botanists like myself that means it’s time to head out into the field to try to find and collect plant specimens for our research. This year, like last year, I will be going to specific places around the country to look for different species of native New Zealand forget-me-nots. Last year I collected this forget-me-not in coastal Taranaki:

Myosotis petiolata var. pansa from the northern Taranaki coast, which we found and collected in Dec 2010 for my taxonomic research on New Zealand forget-me-nots. Photo by Heidi Meudt, copyright Te Papa.

The first week of October, Jessie Prebble and I returned to coastal Taranaki on our first foray of the field season. We knew from studying previous collections from Te Papa’s herbarium and other New Zealand herbaria that we should find at least two other species there: Myosotis brevis and Myosotis pygmaea.

We planned to visit about eight different sites over two days. Because both species are very small in size, we spent a lot of time at each site searching on hands and knees trying to find them. But I don’t think we realized just how small they are until we finally found Myosotis brevis at the third site we visited. Check it out: the entire plant can fit on your fingernail!

How many forget-me-nots can you see in this photo? Myosotis brevis from coastal Taranaki, Oct 2011. Photo by Heidi Meudt, © Te Papa.

Close-up of two Myosotis brevis plants showing green-leaved and brown-leaved forms from coastal Taranaki, Oct 2011. Photo by Jessie Prebble, © Te Papa.

At another site we found Myosotis pygmaea, which although still small, seemed like a giant compared to M. brevis!

Myosotis pygmaea from coastal Taranaki, Oct 2011. Photo by Jessie Prebble, © Te Papa.

And here is a close-up:

Close-up of Myosotis pygmaea from coastal Taranaki, Oct 2011. Photo by Heidi Meudt, © Te Papa.

Collaboration was instrumental in finding these plants. So far, we’ve been fortunate that private landowners and iwi have allowed access to most sites we want to visit, and that other colleagues, local enthusiasts and Department of Conservation staff were willing to share their knowledge and accompany us on our plant hunt.

Our plant-hunting crew, finding Myosotis brevis on the Taranaki coast, North Island, New Zealand. Photo by Heidi Meudt, copyright Te Papa.

Since our Taranaki trip, we’ve also found Myosotis brevis at two other North Island locations in November: near Cape Palliser (Wairarapa), and also Te Ikaamaru Bay (see Phil Garnock-Jones’ blog about that trip). But I hope I’m not giving you the impression that forget-me-nots are easy to find! Our experience so far shows that, on average we’re finding Myosotis in only about half of the known sites where it’s been collected before.

This field work is an important first step to gather the necessary samples to perform genetic and morphological analyses on native forget-me-nots. Continued collaboration and information-sharing will be essential to update the taxonomy and conservation strategies of these plants.

Posted in Field trips, forget-me-nots, Plants | Tagged fieldwork, flowers, forge-me-nots, Myosotis, native plants, New Zealand, North Island | Comments (6)

Native foxgloves and forget-me-nots – Research past and future

18 January 2011 – 1.13pm

While exploring the subalpine flora around the Otira Valley during the field trip at the end of the Australian Systematic Botany Society 2010 Conference I recently attended, I came across some plants that I have studied in the past, as well as others that I’m about to begin researching. After a tramp up the valley, I headed straight for these sheltered, humid, south-facing cliffs.

Forget-me-not and foxglove habitat in Otira Valley, Arthur’s Pass National Park, Dec 2010. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

This type of habitat seems to be the ‘favourite’ of many of the 13 species of foxgloves endemic to New Zealand (genus Ourisia, family Plantaginaceae). I knew from previous field experience that the Otira Valley is one of the best places in the country to see native foxgloves. And I wasn’t disappointed!

First up was creeping ourisia, or Ourisia caespitosa, a small, tiny-leaved species that is widespread throughout New Zealand.

Creeping ourisia (Ourisia caespitosa), Otira Valley, Dec 2010. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

Ourisia caespitosa can form large mats, which carpet the herbfield with its beautiful white flowers that have three lines of hairs inside the corolla throat, Dec 2010. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

Next up was one of the largest species of New Zealand native foxgloves, Ourisia calycina. This South Island species used to be called O. macrocarpa subsp. calycina, but some of my recent research has shown it is genetically and morphologically distinct from O. macrocarpa, and should therefore be recognized as its own species.

Ourisia calycina, Otira Valley, Dec 2010. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

Interestingly, where O. caespitosa and O. calycina come into contact, they appear to hybridise. In 1897, Donald Petrie described what he thought to be a new species and named it Ourisia cockayneana after another famous New Zealand botanist, Leonard Cockayne. Since then, several lines of evidence suggest that O. cockayneana is a hybrid and not a distinct species.

Ourisia x cockayneana, Otira Valley, Dec 2010. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

The herbarium at Te Papa holds the type specimen of O. cockayneana which you can see in Collections Online.

Also nearby was yet another species of native foxglove, Ourisia simpsonii, which is known from alpine herbfields above 1200m on the South Island.

Ourisia simpsonii, Otira Valley, Dec 2010. Note its delicate hairy rosette of leaves, and its glabrous (hairless) corolla throat, which are two characteristics that distinguish it from the species shown above. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

Together with my colleague at Te Papa, Carlos Lehnebach, we’ve only just begun to look at the evolutionary history and taxonomy of the 35+ species of forget-me-nots endemic to New Zealand. So stay tuned for more updates about our progress on our research.

Myosotis explanata, Otira Valley, Dec 2010. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

Posted in forget-me-nots, Plants | Tagged botany, fieldtrip, flora, forget-me-not, hybrids, mountains, Myosotis, New Zealand, Ourisia, Plants, South Island | Comments (1)

Te Papa botanists attend recent systematic botany conference

18 January 2011 – 12.29pm

Botanists from Te Papa recently attended and presented some of their research at the 2010 Australian Systematic Botany Society (ASBS) Conference. Notably, this is only the second time the annual ASBS Conference has been held in New Zealand.

The theme of this year’s meeting was, “Systematic botany across the ditch: links between Australia and New Zealand”. Collaborative research on Australasian plants by scientists from both countries was highlighted throughout the four-day conference at Lincoln University hosted by Landcare Research and the New Zealand Plant Radiation Network (NZPRN).

About half of the 100 attendees were from Australia and half from New Zealand, including four of us from Te Papa. The conference was an excellent opportunity for us to network with colleagues, as well as to showcase the botanical research happening at Te Papa.

Leon Perrie gave a talk co-authored by Lara Shepherd (Massey University) on their genetic work on fierce lancewood (Pseudopanax ferox).

Leon Perrie at the end of his talk on Pseudopanax, with Ilse Breitwieser (Landcare Research), Nov 2010. Photo by Heidi Meudt, © Te Papa.

Pat Brownsey co-authored a talk given by David Glenny on the biogeographic history of New Zealand ferns and liverworts. Carlos Lehnebach discussed the taxonomic implications of his morpholometric study of hook sedges (Unicina spp.).

Carlos Lehnebach giving his talk on Uncinia at the ASBS conference, Dec 2010. Photo by Heidi Meudt, © Te Papa.

Heidi Meudt summarized her systematics research on native Plantago species.

As many of the New Zealand botanists who attended the conference are also members of the NZPRN, we took the opportunity to have a short NZPRN meeting. Heidi Meudt and Andrew Clarke (Otago University) co-presented a short workshop on how to contribute to the NZPRN wiki.

Andrew Clarke (Otago University) and Heidi Meudt presenting a wiki workshop to members of the New Zealand Plant Radiation Network (NZPRN) at the ASBS conference, Dec 2010. Photo by Carlos Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

More photos of the conference can be seen here and here.

On the last day, many participants went on the field trip to get a first-hand look at the floras of montane forests and alpine herbfields in the Arthur’s Pass area. It was the perfect way to end a great conference!

Otira Valley, Arthur's Pass National Park, ASBS 2010 field trip, Dec 2010. Photo by Heidi Meudt, © Te Papa.

Posted in Plants | Tagged Australia, conference, fieldtrip, New Zealand, New Zealand Plant Radiation Network, Plantago, presentations, Pseudopanax, research, systematic botany, Uncinia | Comments (1)

The toromiro tree: Kowhai’s remarkable cousin from Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

29 November 2010 – 11.56am

Close-up of the flowers of Sophora toromiro growing at the National Botanic Gardens in Viña del Mar, Chile. Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

Does the plant in the above photo look familiar? That’s probably because the tree in the photo is in the same genus—Sophora—as the kowhai. There are about 45 species of Sophora worldwide, including the toromiro tree from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) shown above. There are eight different species of Sophora in New Zealand, several examples of which can be seen in Te Papa’s Collections Online.

What is so special about the toromiro tree? Toromiro is an endemic plant species from Rapa Nui that has been extinct in the wild for over 30 years.

The species was formally described as Sophora toromiro in a 1921 book about the botany of Rapa Nui . An interesting account of the history and taxonomy of the toromiro has been published previously.

Last week, an article in the Chilean newspaper La Tercera highlighted the exciting recent progress of a team of scientists from Universidad Católica in Chile who are working toward re-establishment of the toromiro tree on Rapa Nui.

The team of Chilean scientists, led by Patricio Arce, have managed to propagate 700 individual plants so far. This is a big accomplishment. Growing these plants is especially tricky because they need a specialized fungus growing in their root system in order to survive.

Importantly, the use of genetic techniques has confirmed that the original plants used to vegetatively propagate these individuals are Sophora toromiro (and not some other closely-related species). By next year, the scientists hope to have about 5000 toromiro individuals ready to be relocated to Rapa Nui.

I saw my first toromiro tree at Rapa Nui’s small botanic garden while visiting the island with my family in 2007.

Sophora toromiro in the botanic garden on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), 2007. Note the circular stone wall surrounding the plant. Similar stone-walled garden enclosures, or manavai, were once agriculturally important on Rapa Nui. Photo © Mauricio A. López L.

This individual is one of few re-established individuals currently alive on the island, as previous attempts to restore larger populations there have so far proven unsuccessful.

On a more recent trip to Chile this year, I was excited to find several individuals of Sophora toromiro growing in a special garden at the National Botanic Gardens at Viña del Mar.

Special toromiro garden at Chile’s National Botanic Gardens in Viña del Mar. Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

Other botanic gardens around the world are also growing toromiro as part of an international conservation effort to help keep it alive. For example, check out the efforts of the Royal Botanic Garden at Melbourne and watch a short video on toromiro conservation work at Kew Gardens in England.

One of the Sophora toromiro individuals at Chile’s National Botanic Garden, Viña del Mar. Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

Although it is hard to imagine based on the size of the plants in these photos, toromiro trees were once big enough that their wood was prized by Rapa Nui carvers. I checked Te Papa’s Collections Online and discovered that Te Papa has several Rapa Nui wood carvings in its collection, one of which is shown below.

Moai kavakava (human figure), 1800s, Maker unknown, Easter Island. Oldman Collection. Gift of the New Zealand Government, 1992. Te Papa

Was this beautiful statuette made using toromiro wood? In addition to toromiro, a few other tree species are found on Rapa Nui, at least one of which may also be used for carving. Comparative wood anatomy techniques have been used to show that certain carved wooden tablets from Rapa Nui were made from the wood of the mako‘i tree (Thespesia populnea). Such specialised methods would be required to accurately identify the type of wood that was used in the figure shown here.

Due to the cultural, historical and biological significance of the toromiro to the people of Rapa Nui and the rest of the world, I sincerely hope that the efforts of international and Chilean researchers to re-establish the toromiro on its native island are successful.

Posted in Plants | Tagged Chile, conservation, Easter Island, kowhai, Plants, Rapa Nui, Sophora, toromiro, wood carving | Comments (1)

A few Chilean plants

29 October 2010 – 12.48pm

During a recent family holiday to central and southern Chile, I was able to do a bit of botanising. In addition to several plants endemic to Chile, we also saw several with a Pacific connection. First stop was a day trip to the National Botanic Gardens at Viña del Mar to check out some native plants.

Here I am with some of my family in front of a specimen of Jubaea chilensis, the native Chilean palm, with its uniquely stout trunk. Photo © Mauricio A. López L.

Several young Jubaea chilensis growing at the botanic gardens. It is possible to see these plants in the wild in the hills along the highway that links Santiago with Viña del Mar. Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

A native cactus in the botanic garden. We also saw several other candelabria-type cacti like this one on the highway between Santiago and Viña del Mar. Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

The gardens also housed many exotic plants, including several from New Zealand. Note for example the Phormium tenax (harakeke, New Zealand flax) on the left of this photo of the lake inside the gardens.

Lake inside the botanic garden. Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

We noticed that harakeke and also Cordyline australis (cabbage tree) are frequently planted and appear to be thriving in urban areas and along roadsides throughout Chile.

One of my favourite parts of the botanic garden was the small area dedicated to the endemic flroa of the Juan Fernández Islands, which contains several threatened species.

The shrub Rhaphithamnus venustus (Verbenaceae). Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

Ochagavia elegans (Bromeliaceae). Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

The Juan Fernández cabbage tree, Dendroseris litoralis (Asteraceae). Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

An excellent article about Dendroseris litoralis can be found here.

About 1000 km south of Viña del Mar in the beautiful Chilean lake district, we visited a southern beech forest in Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park (Chile’s oldest national park).

Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park, with Osorno Volcano in the background, and native Nothofagus forest. Photo © Mauricio A. López L.

Although it was only early spring, I was able to find a few (quite colourful!) shrubs in flower inside the forest.

Gaultheria sp. (Ericaceae). Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

Notro, or Chilean fire bush, Embothrium coccineum (Proteaceae). Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

Michay, Berberis darwinii (Berberidaceae). While beautiful in its native Chile, it is an invasive pest in New Zealand. Photo © Heidi M. Meudt.

Posted in Plants | Tagged botanic garden, botany, Chile, flower | Comments (0)

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The toromiro tree: Kowhai’s remarkable cousin from Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

A few Chilean plants

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