Plants « Te Papa's Blog

Tag Archives: Plants

How to learn ferns

15 April 2013 – 8.27am

Last weekend I was out with the Kapiti-Mana branch of Forest and Bird, giving them an introduction to ferns. A few weeks back, I gave a similar walking-talk at Otari-Wilton’s Bush in Wellington. Many people find ferns an appealing group to learn. Aside from their iconic status in New Zealand, good learning resources are available, and there are enough different New Zealand ferns to be a challenge without being overwhelming. Most forested sites in New Zealand will be home to between 20 and 50 species of fern.

Te Papa’s online guide to Common New Zealand ferns.

Te Papa’s online guide to New Zealand tree ferns.

When teaching people how to identify a fern plant, I stress that there are four characteristics to initially look for:

1) does it have reproductive structures? Fern reproductive structures occur on the underside (or margins) of the frond. The shape (e.g., round versus elongate into lines) and position (i.e., on the margin or away from the margin) are important. Related ferns almost always have similar reproductive structures, even if their fronds look completely different.

Different groups of ferns are characterised by their reproductive structures, which can come in many forms. Clockwise from top left: 1) Polystichum; shield ferns. The reproductive structures are aggregated into round patches. Each of the black spheres is a sporangium (plural = sporangia), the capsule that produces the spores (in Polystichum, there are 64 spores in each sporangium). A distinct cluster of sporangia is called a sorus (plural = sori). In many ferns the sori are partially covered by protective tissues, called indusia (singular = indusium). In Polystichum, the indusia are round, giving rise to the common name of shield fern for this group. 2) Cardiomanes; kidney fern. The sori occur on the margins and arise from tubular indusia. 3) Gleichenia; tangle ferns. Two or three sporangia (the yellowish dots) occur on the underside of each frond segment. 4) Hypolepis; pig ferns. The sori are on the margin of the frond and are partially protected by the inrolled margin of the frond. 5) Asplenium; spleenwort ferns. The sori occur in lines away from the margin, and are arranged in a ‘herring bone’ pattern. 6) Pteris. The sori line the margins of the frond. Photos Leon Perrie, montage © Te Papa.

The nature of the reproductive structures can be critical for identifying a fern. If I happen upon a fern I don’t know and it does not have reproductive structures, I do not bother attempting to identify it. If you’re learning ferns, I recommend you do the same.

2) does it have scales or hairs or is it naked (glabrous)?

There are two major groups of tree ferns in New Zealand: Cyathea tree ferns are scaly, whereas Dicksonia tree ferns are hairy. Photos Leon Perrie, © Te Papa.

Close up of the scales of Cyathea (left) and the hairs of Dicksonia (right). Photos Leon Perrie, © Te Papa.

Hairs are only one cell wide, but this can only be checked with a microscope. As a general rule, if you can’t decide whether something on a fern is a scale or a hair, call it a scale if it is obviously wider than your own hairs.

3) how divided is the frond? It might be undivided (= “simple”), or once divided, or twice divided… etc.

Loxogramme dictyopteris, lance fern, has undivided/simple fronds. Asplenium oblongifolium, shining spleenwort, has once divided fronds. Asplenium bulbiferum, hen & chickens ferns, has three-times (or nearly so) divided fronds. Photos Leon Perrie, montage © Te Papa.

4) are the fronds tufted, or do they arise along a creeping rhizome (modified stem)?

Blechnum discolor, crown fern, has tufted fronds. Right: In Arthropteris tenella, the fronds arise at intervals along a creeping rhizome; several creeping rhizomes can be seen as brown lines up the tree trunk. Photos Leon Perrie, montage © Te Papa.

Left: Blechnum discolor, crown fern, has tufted fronds. Right: In Arthropteris tenella, the fronds arise at intervals along a creeping rhizome; several creeping rhizomes can be seen as brown lines up the tree trunk. Photos Leon Perrie, montage © Te Papa.

Noting these features will help you identify a fern. These features are what I make sure I record when I am collecting and/or photographing ferns.

The Kapiti-Mana Forest and Bird trip was to Mangaone Walkway near Waikanae. Below are the ferns we discussed. Several of them already feature in:

Te Papa’s online guide to Common New Zealand ferns.

Blechnum novae-zelandiae, kiokio. Most Blechnum species have different looking fertile (top left) and sterile fronds. Fertile Blechnum fronds are usually reduced to narrow segments, which are green when young, black when the spores are mature, and brown after the spores have been shed. Most Blechnum species also have only once-divided fronds. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Blechnum fluviatile, creek fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

Blechnum discolor, crown fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Blechnum colensoi, Colenso’ hard fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Blechnum colensoi, Colenso’s hard fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Cyathea smithii, kätote. A scaly tree fern. Has a distinctive skirt of dead frond stalks. Photo Leon Perrie. (c) Leon Perrie.

Dicksonia squarrosa, whekï. A hairy tree fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

Asplenium flaccidum, hanging spleenwort. Usually grows from tree trunks. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

Asplenium bulbiferum, hen & chickens fern. This looks very different to the hanging spleenwort, but they have the same arrangement of their reproductive structures, reflecting their close relationship. (They commonly form (sterile) hybrids.) Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Microsorum pustulatum, hound’s tongue fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

Hymenophyllum revolutum. Filmy ferns have very thin leaves, and many look translucent. There are three principal groups in New Zealand: Hymenophyllum, Trichomanes, and Cardiomanes. Most Hymenophyllum species have their reproductive structures enclosed by two separate flaps. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

Trichomanes venosum. In Trichomanes, the reproductive structures are enclosed by a tubular, often trumpet-like structure. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Cardiomanes reniforme, kidney fern. More closely related to Hymenophyllum than Trichomanes, although the reproductive structures are at least superficially more similar to the latter. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

Leptopteris hymenophylloides, single crape fern. The sporangia are spread over the frond underside rather than being clustered into sori of regular shape and size. The frond is translucent like a filmy fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Tmesipteris elongata, a fork fern. More closely related to ferns than to seed plants or lycophytes. Nevertheless, the relationship is a distant one, and it doesn’t look very fern like. There are at least five species in New Zealand, and they are usually epiphytic on tree ferns. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Lycopodium volubile. A lycophyte rather than a fern. Ferns are more closely related to seed plants than they are to lycophytes, but ferns and lycophytes share a similar mode of reproduction. The leaves of lycophytes are only small, and the leaves bearing sporangia are often clustered into distinct ‘cones’, which are the pendulous, brown structures in this image. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Biodiversity, Ferns, Plants | Also tagged botany, ferns, learning, New Zealand, teaching | Comments (2)

The small and the weedy: Foxton field trip

2 April 2013 – 3.14pm

I spent a couple of days of the long weekend with the Wellington Botanical Society, exploring the Foxton area, between Whanganui and Palmerston North. Much of the first and second days were spent in the sand dunes between Himatangi and Foxton Beach, and at Koitiata near Turakina.

A huddle of prostrate people peering intently at the ground; can only mean a botanical society has fixated on some small plant. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Many of the plants in the wetter parts of the dunes are very small. This is mudwort (Limosella lineata). Photo © Leon Perrie.

Arrowgrass, Triglochin striata, is not actually a grass, and belongs to the unusual monocot family Juncaginaceae. The arrangement of the flowers and the narrow leaves are distinctive. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Intermixed Selliera rotundifolia, with the round leaves, and Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae, with the jointed linear leaves. Selliera rotundifolia is only found in the south-west of the North Island. Photo © Leon Perrie.

The tiny Isolepis basilaris is distinctive in holding its inflorescences amongst its leaf bases, near ground level; see just below the image’s centre. Immediately behind are the small, oval leaves of Myriophyllum votschii. To the rear are the green oval fruit of Selliera rotundifolia, whose leaves flank the image’s left and right. Photo © Leon Perrie.

The dunes are also home to larger plants. This is the sand daphne (Pimelea villosa). It has a conservation status of Declining because of ongoing damage to sand dunes and apparent seed-set failure. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Close-up of the flowers of sand daphne. With its abundant hairs, it is easy to see the relevance of the recently reinstated species name, villosa (= covered with soft hairs). This was previously known as Pimelea arenaria. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Some surprising things can become weedy in the sand dunes.

Formosum lily (Lilium formosanum), from Taiwan, is abundant in the dunes around Foxton Beach. A pretty problem. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Formosum lily (Lilium formosanum), from Taiwan, is abundant in the dunes around Foxton Beach. A pretty problem. Tree lupin (Lupinus arboreus), with yellow flowers, is the bush behind and is also a weed. The orange stems in the foreground belong to the native knobby club rush (Ficinia nodosa). Photo © Leon Perrie.

An exotic Fuchsia in the sand dunes at Koitiata, near Turakina. Just one or two plants were seen. Does anyone know what species/cultivar of Fuchsia this is? Photo © Leon Perrie.

One plant of what I think is French lavender (Lavandula stoechas) in the Koitiata dunes. © Leon Perrie.

The ‘Red Apple’ cultivar related to Aptenia cordifolia (thanks to Colin Ogle for the identification), from South Africa. This is in the same family as our native iceplants. A couple of patches of Aptenia ‘Red Apple’ were established next to a garden-discard site in the dunes at Koitiata. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Pumpkin had also self-established next to the Koitiata garden-discard site. Several fruit were harvested, albeit for nutrition rather than science. Photo © Leon Perrie.

A few plants of the aristea iris (Aristea ecklonii) were found in the Koitiata sand dunes. The species is already a menace in Northland, and hopefully it doesn’t become as abundant in the southern North Island. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Weeds also caught our attention elsewhere.

The abundant pom-pom daisy heads of wavy leaved fleabane (Conyza bonariensis) caught my eye in the carpark of Round Bush/Omarupapako, where it was growing in the gravel with the related broad leaved fleabane (Conyza sumatrensis), which I’m more familiar with. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Wavy leaved fleabane (Conyza bonariensis) has larger daisy heads than broad leaved fleabane (Conyza sumatrensis). Additionally, the inflorescence bracts of wavy leaved fleabane are tipped red, which can be clearly seen in the image, compared to green in broad leaved fleabane. Photo © Leon Perrie.

The botanical society did not progress far through the tangled swamp forest vegetation of Round Bush/Omarupapako Scenic Reserve. However, we went far enough to encounter karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) and to debate its merits in the southern North Island, where some people consider it to be weedy. The large trunk at centre is a podocarp, while the trunk to the immediate left is a tall and reproducing but not particularly old karaka. Karaka seedlings are evident in the foreground. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Water purslane (Ludwigia palustris), at Lake Koitiata, was new to me. I identified it using David Glenny’s Key to Flowering Plant Genera of New Zealand. Photo © Leon Perrie.

David Glenny’s (Landcare Research) Key to Flowering Plant Genera of New Zealand.

We found the exotic ferny azolla (Azolla pinnata) at Lake Koitiata. Normally this floats, but it had become marooned in the mud with the summer-lowered water levels. This is only the fourth record of this invader in the southern North Island. Photo © Leon Perrie.

How to distinguish the native Azolla rubra from the weedy Azolla pinnata, and how you can help track their distributions.

Botanical Society trips are a great way to learn how to distinguish plants. I certainly learnt a lot during this trip, and thanks to all those who took part and shared their knowledge.

Contact details for local botanical societies in New Zealand.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Biodiversity, Field trips, Plants | Also tagged Foxton, sand dunes, weeds, Wellington Botanical Society | Comments (2)

Helping to save our rare and endangered orchids

30 January 2013 – 9.43am

Orchids are one of the top five plant groups with conservation issues in New Zealand. Unlike many other endangered or uncommon plants, propagation of native orchids from seed for conservation has not been attempted in New Zealand before. With the help of funding from the Otari Wilton’s Bush Trust, the Wellington Botanical Society and the San Diego County Orchid Society (USA) we will implement seed germination techniques commonly used overseas to propagate New Zealand’s rare and endangered orchids.

Ladies tresses orchid (Spiranthes novae-zelandiae), is a native species currently ranked as Nationally Vulnerable. Habitat destruction is one of the main causes for the continuous decline of this orchid. Photo: C.A. Lehnebach; © Te Papa.

Ladies tresses orchid (Spiranthes novae-zelandiae), a native species currently ranked as Nationally Vulnerable. Habitat destruction is one of the main causes for the continuous decline of this orchid. Photo: C.A. Lehnebach; © Te Papa.

Orchids are well known by their unusual flowers and elaborate pollination systems. Many orchids rely on insects to produce seeds and disruption of this relationship may threat orchid’s survival. Orchids, however, also require another organism to survive; a fungus. Unlike other plants, orchid seeds lack of endosperm; the nutritious tissue found inside seeds. This tissue provides food to the embryo during germination and until the very first leaves are formed.

Seed of the native spider orchid Nematoceras trilobum. The round structure in the centre is the embryo and the net-like tissue around it is the seed cover. Orchid seeds are very small; this one here is less than 1 mm long. Photo: C.A. Lehnebach; © Te Papa.

To overcome this peculiarity, orchid seeds use a fungal “infection” to get carbon and mineral nutrients from the soil into the embryo and developing seedling. This association is essential for orchid seeds to germinate and it may last for the entire life of the plant. Inside the infected cells, either in the roots or the base of the stem, the fungus forms roundish structures known as “pelotons”. Some orchids are very flexible and may use a variety of fungi species while other are species-specific and will only germinate if the correct fungus is present in the soil.

Cross section of the root of the grass-leaved greenhood orchid (Pterostylis graminea) with pelotons (red arrow). Photo & Copy Rights: Jonathan Frericks

To artificially infect orchid seeds with its fungal partner, first the pelotons need to be dissected out of the roots of an adult plant and cultured in a special agar medium. Within a couple of days, several fungi will grow in the plate and sub-cultures need to be set aside to obtain pure cultures of each fungus.

Plates with fungi isolated from the root system of the large bird orchid (Simpliglottis valida), a species native to Australia which has naturally spread to New Zealand. Photo & Copy Rights: Jonathan Frericks

After the fungus has been isolated and identified by analysing its DNA, seeds can be put in contact with the fungus to promote infection and seed germination. After about three months, if the correct fungal species has been used and the infection has successfully taken place, tiny small green leaves will appear in the plate. At this stage the seedlings are less dependent on the fungus and can produce their own food.

Plate with seedlings of a terrestrial orchid growing at Kings Park and Botanic Garden (Perth, Australia). Photo & Copy Rights: Jonathan Frericks.

Jonathan Frericks, MSc student at Victoria University of Wellington, has travelled to Australia to learn these techniques from scientists at Kings Park and Botanic Garden (Perth). His trip to Perth was funded by a grant from the Australian Orchid Foundation. As part of his thesis, Jonathan will isolate and identify the fungal partner of a selected group of native terrestrial orchids and, in collaboration with Otari Wilton’s Bush, cultivate a subset of them. Jonathan’s project will gather information vital to implement seed germination methods for conservation purposes and understand orchid-fungal interactions in our native orchids.

By Carlos A. Lehnebach | Posted in Biodiversity, Orchids, Plants | Also tagged Biodiveristy, New Zealand, Orchids, research | Comments (1)

Is this the world’s biggest nettle leaf?

18 January 2013 – 11.05am

Whilst recently chasing seabirds on Titi Island we came across tree nettles (ongaonga, Urtica ferox) with super-sized leaves. The largest leaf we measured was 28 cm long, much longer than the maximum leaf length of 18 cm given for this species in the Flora of New Zealand. Perhaps the abundant seabird droppings on this island provide these nitrogen-loving plants with the fertiliser to reach such giant proportions.

Te Papa curator Colin Miskelly checks out a giant ongaonga leaf. Photo credit: Lara Shepherd

Ongaonga leaf – note the ruler starts at 500 mm. Photo credit: Colin Miskelly

Tree nettle only occurs in New Zealand and it packs a nasty punch, as anyone who has brushed into one can attest. The stinging hairs are hollow and inject a number of toxins into the skin when touched. The stings often cause a burning sensation, swelling and numbness, symptoms which can last several days. Tree nettle is known to have killed at least one person, as well as dogs and livestock. Not surprisingly we weren’t keen to test whether the large leaves on Titi Island have a worse sting than normal sized leaves!

However, not everyone avoids tree nettle – it is the favourite food for caterpillars of the New Zealand red admiral butterfly! The caterpillars roll themselves in the leaves to protect themselves from predators.

By Lara Shepherd | Posted in Biodiversity, Plants | Also tagged ongaonga, sting, Titi Island, tree nettle, Urtica ferox | Comments (0)

Wild plants in town – a homage

17 January 2013 – 4.04pm

Plants can grow in what appear to be the strangest places. This can be frustrating for property owners (e.g., grass in the gutter; footpaths cracked by pohutukawa roots).

But our view of plants is often from our own animal-centric perspective; unlike our zoological kin, an individual plant doesn’t have the option of moving to a better spot. Wherever a seed or spore falls is going to be the home of that plant for the rest of its life; that is, of course, if it even germinates at all. Grow, wherever you end up, or perish.

Consider these observations that have been extracted, with permission, from a ‘zine’ (a zine is a self published, inexpensively produced publication with a small circulation) published by “jMj”:

Growing wild in Wellington

my homage to plants that take root as they choose in our city

jMj 2012

I love the way plants grow
all over the place.
Weeds, I read once,
are ‘plants out of place’.
But, who’s to say?
Who’s to say?
Image © to and courtesy of jMj.

Breaker Bay
Taupata.
High on the
just find yourself a place
and grow achiever list.
At times flat across the ground
shaped by the wind.
Here
All spritely
In the gutter.
Image © to and courtesy of jMj.

Epuni Street
My first flat was here.
This is so Epuni Street for me,
this dear, bright, hopeful flower
at the mouth
of a dark damp cave.
Image © to and courtesy of jMj.

Epuni Street
Aerial roots
a source of
endless fascination for me.
What am I taking in
from the air
just by
being in it.
Image © to and courtesy of jMj.

Pohutukawa are

not native to this region.

They say.

Tell that to the pohutukawa.

Above Strathmore.
6” Coastal battery
on the Hills above Strathmore
70th Heavy Battery
Guns. Not much beside remains.
Taupata -
6” too?
Image © to and courtesy of jMj.

Queen’s Wharf
You can look at the boats
and the buildings
the planes coming in and out
and the sculptures.
And then down, ankle height, here’s this fern, shining
from light rain.
Image © to and courtesy of jMj.

What do you see in the plants in these images? Are they ‘battlers’ to be admired for making what they can of a bad situation? Or are they a reminder that plants would quickly envelop our urban world if we stopped pushing them back?

Thanks very much to jMj for sharing these observations and the colour photos – the zine itself is in black and white.

If you’d like to share with Te Papa’s blog your own images of plants growing in unusual places, here’s my email.

Finally, if you haven’t already seen, here’s a lancewood that went straight to the top (and please excuse the pejorative title).

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Art, Biodiversity, Photography, Plants | Also tagged Wellington, zine | Comments (7)

Wellington Botanical Society Bulletin 2012

5 December 2012 – 3.44pm

The botanically-inclined may find something of interest in the just-published Wellington Botanical Society Bulletin. Number 54 includes:

the uses of some common native plants.
notes on the propagation of native plants.
accounts of the diatoms and bryophytes recorded during the 2011 bioblitz on Mana Island.
the use of names in botany.
detailed accounts of the Owhiro Stream area and Makara Foreshore Reserve.

Mänuka, Leptospermum scoparium. One of many native plants put to many uses. Captain Cook used it with rimu to make beer.

The Bulletin is distributed free to the Society’s members, or available for separate purchase.

Website of the Wellington Botanical Society.

Articles from earlier numbers are freely downloadable from this website.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Biodiversity, Plants | Also tagged botanical society, botany | Comments (0)

New Caledonian plants

26 October 2012 – 2.37pm

Below are photos of some of the botanical/landscape highlights from the recent expedition to New Caledonia that I participated in. But first, a bit of background:

New Zealand and New Caledonia both sit on the (largely) submerged continent Zealandia, which separated from Australia and the rest of Gondwana some 60-80 million years ago.

Wikipedia’s page on Zealandia.

Both New Caledonia and New Zealand are regarded as biodiversity hotspots. However, New Caledonia, despite a land area less than 10% of New Zealand’s, has far more species of indigenous vascular plants (very approximately 3300 cf. c. 2500). This probably reflects New Caledonia’s tropical setting; tropical areas generally have more species than temperate areas.

Endemism, where organisms are restricted to a particular area, is high for both New Caledonia and New Zealand, at about 75-80% amongst indigenous seed plants.

A large portion of New Zealand’s indigenous plants are found in its alpine zone. New Caledonia has no alpine zone, but it does have very different rock types which support very different plant communities.

Amborella trichopoda is a rather unprepossessing shrub to look at. In fact, with its leaves often smothered by bryophytes, it’s rather scungy. However, it fascinates botanists because it is the most distantly related of all living flowering plants, at least according to some evolutionary analyses. It is only found in New Caledonia. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Wikepedia’s page on Amborella trichopoda.

By contrast, Parasititaxus usta is freakily striking, indeed alien-like. Also only found in New Caledonia, it is the world’s only parasitic conifer, and has no need for green chlorophyll. It belongs to the podocarp family, along with the likes of New Zealand’s rimu and totara. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Wikepedia’s page on Parasititaxus usta.

New Caledonia is renowned for its abundance of araucarians: Araucaria and Agathis. They seem to be nearly everywhere. In this picture is, I believe, Araucaria montana, near the summit of Mont Do and surrounded by Nothofagus/beech. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

I’ve seen a lot of New Zealand’s magnificent kauri, Agathis australis, so it was fascinating to see some of the diversity of Agathis in New Caledonia. Many New Caledonian Agathis also appear to be known as kauri (or kaori). The Agathis species on Mount Panie, known as Dayu Biik (not pictured), is subject to dieback similar to that being experienced by the New Zealand kauri. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

The New Zealand kauri dieback website.

Pictures of New Caledonia Agathis from the Endemia website.

Even some of the other plants look like araucarians. These Araucariaceae mimics are: at left, the cedar Neocallitropsis pancheri, in the Cupressaceae, and; at right, a species of Dacrydium, with male cones, in the Podocarpaceae, and a reasonably close relative of New Zealand’s rimu! Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

The Nothofagus, or southern beeches, in New Caledonia belong to a tropical sub-group, and do not look anything like the species in New Zealand. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Short, shrubby vegetation, called maquis, dominates large areas, especially in the south on the serpentine soils. This is Dzumac. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Dracophyllum verticillatum in flower in the maquis vegetation beside the road up Mont Do. Dracophyllum species only occur in New Caledonia, Australia, and New Zealand. Thanks to Phil Garnock-Jones for the species identification. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Juan embracing the Lilliputian conifer ‘trees’ of the maquis vegetation. These are Neocallitropsis pancheri, at Montagne Des Sources. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

As I knelt to collect a fern, I was stunned to find myself surrounded by pitcher plants, Nepenthes vieillardii. The ‘pitchers’ are traps for catching insects. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

The large areas covered by Melaleuca trees are very reminiscent of Australia. But they are also testament to one of the major threats to New Caledonia’s vegetation – fire. The fern Dicranopteris linearis flourishes amongst the Melaleuca regeneration. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

New Caledonia has a higher GDP per capita than New Zealand, principally due to nickel and copper mining. Mining operations are widely evident. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Another threat to New Caledonia’s vegetation is browsing by introduced deer and pigs. Conservation International are trialling using the amount of browse on the fern Orthiopteris firma to monitor the effectiveness of animal control projects. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Biodiversity, Field trips, Pacific, Plants | Also tagged landscapes, New Caledonia, vegetation, Zealandia | Comments (1)

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.

By Heidi Meudt | Posted in Plantago, Plants | Also tagged botanical illustration, botany, morphology, new species, New Zealand, Plantago, plantain, taxonomy | Comments (2)

Transit of Venus Botany

6 June 2012 – 9.43am

Today is the transit of Venus, when that planet passes in front of the sun. Hopefully the bad weather blanketing much of New Zealand doesn’t preclude at least some people from observing the event.

Observing the transit was one of Captain Cook’s primary objectives for the Endeavour expedition, and this was done in Tahiti in 1769. But the expedition had other aims as well, including exploration and discovery.

The botanists on board the Endeavour, led by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, collected plant specimens wherever the ship put to shore.

At noon this Friday (8th June 2012), Steve Cafferty from the Natural History Museum, London, will talk about the botanical discoveries made during Cook’s first voyage. Plant specimens collected from New Zealand by Banks and Solander will be on display.

More details.

Silver fern, Cyathea dealbata. Collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, 1769, New Zealand. Te Papa.

Additionally, Te Papa Research Fellow Patrick Brownsey has just published an article about Banks and Solander’s collecting in New Zealand. The article is free to download from the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand until 31st July 2012.

Abstract of the article.

Te Papa holds over 500 specimens collected by Banks and Solander during the Endeavour expedition. High-resolution images of most of them are freely available from Te Papa’s Collections Online Website.

Collections Online.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Biodiversity, Events, Plants | Also tagged botany, Captain James Cook, Daniel Solander, Endeavour, Joseph Banks, New Zealand, transit of Venus | Comments (1)

Talk: mapping NZ’s plants

23 March 2012 – 8.59am

Next Tuesday night (27th March), I’m giving a talk at Wellington’s Otari Wilton’s Bush about how (and why) maps are generated from dried plant specimens in collections like those of Te Papa. I’ll also introduce some of the new internet tools that are making distribution information about New Zealand’s plants more readily available.

Details: 7.30pm, 27th March 2012, Otari Wilton’s Bush Information Centre, 160 Wilton Road.

Hooker’s spleenwort fern (Asplenium hookerianum) and its distribution in New Zealand based on specimens in Te Papa’s collection.

For those interested, but unable to attend, these are some of the useful internet resources:

NZ Plant Name Database

NZ Plant Conservation Network

Te Papa’s Collections Online

NZ Virtual Herbarium

NZ eFlora

I intend to finish the talk with some discussion of the ‘weedy’ native plants present in Wellington.

Find out more about Te Papa’s plant collections.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Plants | Also tagged collections, distribution, maps, New Zealand, specimens | Comments (0)

Te Papa's Blog

Tag Archives: Plants

How to learn ferns

The small and the weedy: Foxton field trip

Helping to save our rare and endangered orchids

Is this the world’s biggest nettle leaf?

Wild plants in town – a homage

Wellington Botanical Society Bulletin 2012

New Caledonian plants

A new native plantain, Plantago udicola

Transit of Venus Botany

Talk: mapping NZ’s plants

Pages

Recent posts

Categories

Search blog

Join the discussion

Follow us by email

Other blogs

Use of images

Te Papa Links

Te Papa Home - Fingerprint

Te Papa Homepage - Text

What's on

Plan your visit

Education

Collections

Shop

Venues

Follow “Te Papa's Blog”