Category Archives: Plants

Going (Lady) Gaga over ferns

26 October 2012 – 8.48am

USA fern taxonomists have created a minor stir after re-classifying a group of central American ferns into a new genus named Gaga, after the singer Lady Gaga.

Abstract of the article formally naming the new genus Gaga.

Youtube video of the taxonomists discussing their research.

The researchers say the naming for Lady Gaga was in honour of “her articulate and fervent defence of equality and individual expression in today’s society”, linking the celebration of diversity within humans to the study of the intricate diversity in this group of ferns. Further, the Gaga ferns contain a stretch of DNA with the nucleotides GAGA that distinguish them from their close relatives. Lady Gaga also once wore a costume resembling a fern gametophyte (presumably not knowingly), and these taxonomists are apparently big fans of her music.

The rock fern, Cheilanthes sieberi, a New Zealand relative of the newly re-named Gaga ferns. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

The 19 species of Gaga ferns were previously classified in the genus Cheilanthes. However, DNA analyses of evolutionary relationships have shown that Cheilanthes is composed of a multitude of unrelated groups, which are therefore undergoing extensive re-classification; Gaga is but one example. From our own research and that of others, it appears that the Cheilanthes in New Zealand are true Cheilanthes and won’t be re-classified.

Abstract of our paper examining the generic classification of New Zealand Pteridaceae, including Cheilanthes.

Naming new species or genera after people is not the ‘done thing’ amongst (most) New Zealand plant taxonomists. The following words I read as a student still resonate strongly with me:

[taxonomists should] “base new names on character states or distinctive habitats that assist in distinguishing a new taxon from its near relatives” (Webb & Edgar 1999).

Utility over sycophancy, perhaps?

That said, sometimes it is hard to come up with a new, unique name, particularly in groups of organisms that contain a lot of undescribed species. Te Papa’s snail expert, Bruce Marshall, has 5 genera and more than 20 species named after him.

What if we were to extend the taxonomic honouring of celebrity to New Zealand – Dobbynii or Finnii, or Irenei or Danii anyone?

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Biodiversity, Ferns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

New Caledonia fern collecting

25 October 2012 – 2.46pm

I’m just back from three weeks collecting ferns in New Caledonia.

For a place so close to New Zealand (shorter flight time than to Australia), I knew very little about New Caledonia. I expect that is true for many New Zealanders, and it presumably reflects our very different cultures, not least being the language difference (French predominates in New Caledonia, and English* in New Zealand).

New Caledonia is not an independent country but a special collectivity of France. Nouméa, its largest city, is like a piece of France transplanted to the tropical Pacific. The original Melanesian character is perhaps most strongly retained in the (north-)east.

Wikipedia page on New Caledonia.

Wikipedia page on the indigenous Kanak people.

Some of Te Papa’s existing collections from New Caledonia.

We stayed in villages during some of our trip. Here at Bas Coulna, before we left to climb Mount Panié, we had a traditional-type hut. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Funded principally by a grant from the USA’s National Science Foundation, our collecting expedition was led by Matt von Konrat (Field Museum), Blanka Shaw (Duke University), and Louis Thouvenot, who was our guide and translator (none of the others in the expedition had been to New Caledonia before or spoke French, although Juan’s Spanish was useful on many occasions). The main goal was to collect Frullania liverworts, but we variously collected mosses, liverworts, and lichens – these are all small plants that are often neglected. I was invited along to collect ferns.

Interview with Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat programme about the expedition.

Blog post on similar expedition to Fiji in 2011.

The black stems, each only about 1 mm wide, of a Frullania liverwort creeping over a white lichen on the trunk of a mangrove tree. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

New Caledonia is home to about 270 ferns and lycophytes. That’s more than New Zealand, despite a land area less than 10%. About 35% of New Caledonia’s ferns and lycophytes are endemic (i.e., only found there), which is very high for a tropical Pacific island. However, the last comprehensive account is from 1969, and it is clear that much revision is needed. A reflection of this is that there are (at least) two species of new tree fern needing scientific description. During the three week expedition, I made 232 collections, of at least 160 different species. These include new species, new records for New Caledonia, and rediscoveries (species not recorded for a long time).

Te Papa’s updated checklist of Fiji’s ferns, which I hope to replicate for New Caledonia.

The Endemia website includes photos of many of New Caledonia’s ferns, and is an excellent photographic resource about New Caledonia’s biodiversity

In coming days I’ll post about some of the plants I saw, particularly, of course, the ferns.

Trip leader Matt von Konrat collecting Frullania liverworts up a mangrove. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Collecting near Tinou. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

All available space in our lodgings was often given over to drying specimens. Louis’s bed is somewhere under these paper packets. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

On our way to Mount Panié. We were fortunate to have horses carry our packs for the first part of the trek. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Maurice, one of our guides for Mount Panié, using a wreath of the fern Paesia rugosula to complement the shade of his cap. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Albeit clearly exhausted, here’s proof that I did make it to the summit of Mount Panié, New Caledonia’s highest point at 1629 m above sea level. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

The expedition couldn’t have been the success it was without the assistance of many, especially Louis Thouvenot, as well as the Nouméa herbarium, the government land managers, the Kanak land owners and guides, and our contacts at Dayu Biik, Conservation International, and Société Calédonienne d’Ornithologie.

* I can note that the so-called ‘English’ speech of the two (monolingual) New Zealanders was constantly belittled by the other members (all multilingual) of the expedition, none of whom spoke English as a first language. Matt and I weren’t sure what to make of this.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Biodiversity, Bryophytes, Ferns, Field trips, Pacific | Tagged , , , , | Comments (10)

Unravelling the secrets of a 200-year-old European Orchid collection

12 October 2012 – 11.37am

Te Papa’s collection of pressed, dried plant specimens includes samples of native and exotic species collected in New Zealand and other parts of the world. Many of the foreign specimens currently in the collection were brought into New Zealand in the late 1870s to be used as reference material and to assist with the identification of exotic species and to compare with the native species being discovered.

About 28000 specimens were purchased from the British Museum by the first director of Te Papa’s predecessor, the Colonial Museum, Sir James Hector. This collection, known as the Thompson-Baker Herbarium, included samples of mosses, liverworts, marine algae, ferns and other plants. To date, only a small part of this large collection has been adequately curated and many of the specimens are still stored between the same paper sheets or newspaper pages they were placed in by their collectors or previous owners.

Close up to one of the newspapers used to separate and store these plant specimens. Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

During the last three months Joyce Colussi-Mas has been working at Te Papa as a volunteer helping with the curation of the orchid specimens in the Thompson-Baker Herbarium. Joyce has carefully mounted over 500 specimens of European orchids on acid-free card, protected by a flimsy (thin paper sheet) and placed any loose labels, with information such as scientific name, place and date of collection, collector, into small cellophane envelopes and attached them to the card. Jonathan Frericks, MSc student at Victoria University of Wellington, also helped to mount some of these orchids.

Te Papa volunteer Joyce Colussi-Mas transcribing collection details from the labels attached to each orchid specimen. Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

The collection includes terrestrial orchids collected in countries such as France, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Russia. Some of the labels are written in Latin, German or French. Luckily, Joyce’s first language is French and all those notes from orchids collected in France or Belgium are being translated into English.

This label is from a specimen collected in the forests of Pechbusque (southern France) in May 1806. The label reads: Ophrys tephrosanthos Vill. var petalis fusco-punctatis. Bois de Pechbusque, Mai 1806. Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

Collection records of c.100 specimens have been examined so far and it seems most of these orchids were collected between the late 1770s and 1870s. Until now, one of the oldest orchid specimens we have found was collected on 16 July 1768. This orchid specimen is about 244 years old.

Fragrant orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea) collected on a hill side near Gottingen (Germany) in 1768. Back then this species was known as Orchis conopsea. The label reads: Orchis conopsea L. in der Lieth bei Mariengarten bei Göttingen. Translated by A. Zeller. Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

After studying the labels of each specimen we will know what species and how many different species of orchids are in the Thompson-Baker Herbarium, where and when these orchids were collected, and who the main collectors were. We already know that J. G. Baker, one of the owners of this collection, was a curator at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (UK) and contacting this institution will be our next step to find out more about the origin and stories behind these orchids.

Orchis alata collected in France, 1st May 1867. Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

By Carlos A. Lehnebach | Also posted in Biodiversity, Orchids | 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.

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 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.

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

By Heidi Meudt | Also posted in Biodiversity, Field trips, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 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.

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.

By Heidi Meudt | Also posted in Biodiversity, forget-me-nots | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (3)

Rare forget-me-nots discovered in the mountains of the South Island

22 August 2012 – 4.16pm

Today, two rare species of forget-me-nots have been added to the Flora of New Zealand. These new species were discovered during an expedition I led to Kahurangi National Park, one of the hotspot for forget-me-nots diversity in New Zealand.

These new species, Myosotis chaffeyorum (Chaffey’s Forget-me-not) and Myosotis mooreana (Moore’s forget-me-not) are described and illustrated in an article published today in the open access journal PhytoKeys.

These new forget-me-nots are extremely uncommon. Moore’s forget-me-not is currently known from a single spot where only six plants were found. Chaffey’s forget-me-not, on the other hand, is habitat-specific and it is only found at the entrance of small caves at the base of limestone bluffs.

Moore’s forget-me-not and a close up to its flowers. Photo CA Lehnebach, @ Te Papa

Habitat and plant of Chaffey’s forget-me-not. Photo by CA Lehnebach, @ Te Papa

Because of the low number of plants and populations currently known for these species they have been rated as “Nationally Critical”. This is not unusual for New Zealand forget-me-nots and many of them are currently threatened.

By Carlos A. Lehnebach | Also posted in Biodiversity, Field trips, forget-me-nots | Comments (0)

Orchid hunting in the Rimutaka Range

22 August 2012 – 1.12pm

When we think about about orchids we usually think about tropical islands or unexplored jungle-covered mountains in distant lands. This is not always the case, and many orchids are also found in temperate and cold regions of the world. Some orchids have even reached the Subantarctic islands where, not so long ago, two orchid species were discovered.

There are over 100 species of orchids in New Zealand. Some of them are very common and a trip to forested or alpine areas is all it takes to find several native terrestrial or epiphytic orchids. Recently I led a group of scientists and postgraduate students to several orchid-rich spots in the Rimutaka Range, only about 40 minutes from Wellington City. The aim of our trip was to find the different forms of the native Spider orchid Nematoceras trilobum in flower.

Spider orchid (Nematoceras trilobum agg.). Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

In our two-day outing we found 11 species of orchids. Some of them had already finished flowering, some were in full bloom and others were just starting to come out from their winter rest.

Gnat orchid (Cyrtostylis rotundifolia). Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

Helmet orchid (Corybas cheesemanii). Photo by CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

Green hood orchid (Pterostylis alobula). Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

Little moa orchid (Drymoanthus adversus, epiphytic). Photo by CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

Pygmy orchid, piripiri (Ichthyostomum pygmaeum, epiphytic). Largest leaves are about 1cm long! Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

Luckily our trip was very successful and we found the Spider orchid N. trilobum flowering in several spots. It has been suggested this orchid attracts its pollinators, tiny flies commonly known as  fungus gnats, by mimicking the fruiting body of small mushrooms on which female fungus gnats lay their eggs. Understanding how this system works in one of the goals of my researh project ”Does every spider orchid in New Zealand have its fungus gnat?“ funded by a Fast-Start Marsden Grant.

Spider orchid (Nematoceras trilobum agg.), my finger = 1.5cm. Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

A way to demonstrate how similar the orchid and the fungi look to the fungus gnats is comparing their patterns of  uv light reflectance. Anne Gaskett and Emma Bodley (University of Auckland) measured uv reflectance in some of the flowers we found this weekend. They will also investigate if the scent produced by the Spider orchid is similar to that of nearby fungi. Alastair Robertson and Chau Phing Ong (Massey University), are investigating how these orchids are pollinated and, with the help of Mary Morgan-Richards (Massey University), they will use DNA techniques to identify some of the gnats visiting the flowers.

Orchid hunting in the Rimutaka (Emma Bodley, Anne Gaskett, Chau Phing Ong, Alastair Robertson & Carlos A. Lehnebach). Photo by Jonathan Frericks, © Jonathan Frericks.

By Carlos A. Lehnebach | Also posted in Biodiversity, Orchids | Comments (2)

Curiosities, world-firsts, and monsters – fern spotting in Wellington

6 August 2012 – 12.23pm

On Saturday I joined the Wellington Botanical Society’s field trip to Wright Hill in Karori, Wellington. Wellington city would not be my first choice of locality for fern spotting, but we still found plenty to keep me interested.

The striking filmy fern Hymenophyllum flexuosum. The scientific name means wavy or undulating (flexuose) membranous (hymen) leaf (phyllum). The fronds of most filmy ferns are only one cell thick! Hymenophyllum flexuosum usually grows on rocks, but can be a low epiphyte on trees. Photo © Leon Perrie.

The filmy ferns Hymenophyllum flexuosum and Trichomanes endlicherianum are always pleasing finds. Although widespread, they are not common (but not so rare to be on the national Threatened or At Risk lists). We found them together on a shaded rock face. Rock outcrops are always worth a close inspection because they can be home to species not found in other nearby habitats.

Trichomanes endlicherianum. Note the tubular reproductive structures that characterise the genus. By contrast, the reproductive structures in Hymenophyllum are each enclosed by two distinct flaps. Trichomanes endlicherianum is almost always found on shaded, near-vertical rock faces. It occasionally grows on trees, particularly at the bases of nikau palms. The similar Trichomanes venosum commonly grows on the trunks of tree ferns, but is easily distinguished on account of having multiple veins in each segment of the frond. Photo © Leon Perrie.

The shield fern Polystichum silvaticum was also an interesting find. I spotted this less than half an hour after I had predicted we wouldn’t find it because I thought the environment was not wet or cold enough (and I had forgotten that I had previously collected it from nearby Makara about six years ago). Its presence says something about Karori’s climate.

The shield-less shield fern Polystichum silvaticum. Photo © Leon Perrie.

The reproductive structures of Polystichum silvaticum are naked, lacking the shield-like protective coverings that characterise its relatives. Photo © Leon Perrie.

But my day’s highlight was finding a hybrid between Polystichum neozelandicum and P. silvaticum, which is the first time this has ever been recorded. Some Polystichum hybrid combinations are quite common, particularly, P. neozelandicum × P. vestitum. However, P. neozelandicum and P. silvaticum rarely grow in close proximity, limiting the likelihood of their hybridisation.

First record of the hybrid between Polystichum neozelandicum and P. silvaticum. Photo © Leon Perrie.

We also spotted a monstrous form of hound’s tongue fern, Microsorum pustulatum. These are due to damage to the growing bud, such that it produces fronds that divide more than is typical. During the nineteenth-century ‘fern craze’, such abnormalities were highly prized (and financially-valued) by collectors. Hound’s tongue fern seems particularly predisposed to monstrosities: in the last year I have seen similar plants near Eastbourne and in the Waioeka Gorge, but only at low frequencies (c. 1%).

A so-called monstrous or crested frond of hound’s tongue fern, Microsorum pustulatum. The lobes of the fronds of hound’s tongue fern do not normally fork at their apices. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Learn more about hound’s tongue fern on the Common New Zealand Ferns webpages.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Biodiversity, Ferns | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Glowing wood and foxfire

13 July 2012 – 11.17am

I recently had an enquiry from someone who noticed during the middle of the night that their pile of split firewood was emitting a faint glow. What could cause this?!

Apparently there are fungi that grow in rotting wood that can emit light through luminescence. The phenomenon is sometimes called “foxfire”. I’ve never noticed this myself, but a colleague who is a mycologist (expert on fungi) assures me it does occur in New Zealand. Apparently the light is very faint, and your eyes have to be well-adjusted to the dark.

More on foxfire luminescence.

If anyone has seen foxfire themselves, I’m interested to know more, particularly within a New Zealand setting; for instance, what kind of conditions and what kinds of wood are particularly conducive?

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Biodiversity | Tagged , , , | Comments (6)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

By Heidi Meudt | Also posted in Field trips, forget-me-nots | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)
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