Last spring, Te Papa’s Leon Perrie, Lara Shepherd and Bridget Hatton travelled to Whanganui to collect plant specimens from the garden of the late Ian and Jocelyn Bell. Many of the plants in the garden are rarely cultivated in New Zealand and were not represented in our botany collection. Research Scientist Lara Shepherd takes us behind the specimen-collecting scenes.

The Bell Garden

The Bell garden on Bastia Hill in Whanganui is well-known for its collection of exotic species, particularly from Australia and South Africa. It belongs to the estate of Ian and Jocelyn Bell, who were renowned horticulturalists. Ian developed the popular Safari Sunset cultivar of Leucadendron, which was bestowed the prestigious Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.

Jocelyn’s parents, Wally and Jean Stevens had also lived at the same site when the garden business was known as Stevens Bros. Wally was an expert nurseryman and collector of rare plants. Jean was known internationally for her iris breeding and registered nearly 400 iris hybrids over her lifetime. The Queen Mother, who had an interest in irises, visited the garden when she toured New Zealand in 1966.

Scarlet honey myrtle (Melaleuca fulgenssubsp. steedmanii) is from the south-west of Western Australia. Photo by Colin Ogle.

Showy honey myrtle (Melaleuca nesophila) only occurs naturally around Albany in Western Australia. Photo by Colin Ogle.

Blue sequins (Geissorhiza aspera) from South Africa were escaping from potted plants in the garden. Photo by Colin Ogle.

Mountain reedpipe (Tritoniopsis caffra) a South African species in the iris family. Photo by Colin Ogle.

Bowie’s wood-sorrel (Oxalis bowiei) is native to South Africa but has naturalised in Australia. It was self-establishing in several places in the Bell garden. Photo by Colin Ogle.

Pink bomarea (Bomarea edulis) is a South American vine related to Alstroemeria. The tubers are edible,  hence the species name ‘edulis’. Photo by Colin Ogle.

Rat’s tail (Babiana ringens) is a species bearing flowers close to the ground. In its native South Africa it is pollinated by birds, which perch on the flower stalk. Photo by Karen Wrigglesworth.

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The Collecting

Over the years, specimens of some of the plants from the Bell garden have been sent to herbaria in Rotorua and Lincoln but few had made it to Te Papa. Recently local Whanganui botanist Colin Ogle and the Bells’ niece Karen Wrigglesworth had been documenting the plants in the garden prior to the property being offered for sale.

Colin contacted Te Papa to see if we would be interested in obtaining specimens from the more uncommon species at the site.

Over two days, Leon, Lara, and Bridget, with Colin and Karen’s help, collected specimens from 136 plants in the garden.

Our collecting involved locating plants to collect, photographing them, pressing them and recording their collection information in a spreadsheet.

Lara pressing a specimen under the carport at the Bell garden. Photo by Leon Perrie

The work didn’t end when we got back to the motel at night! Leon and Bridget changing the newspaper in the plant presses to facilitate specimen drying. Photo by Lara Shepherd

Newspaper used to begin drying plants on the first day was dried overnight in our motel room for reuse with specimens collected on day two. Photo by Lara Shepherd

Leon packing our full plant presses into the vehicle. Photo by Lara Shepherd

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Some of the plants were rather challenging to pick and/or press, particularly those with very large or spiky leaves.

Fascicularia bicolor formed a dense, spiky swathe. Photo by Lara Shepherd

The finished herbaraium sheet of Fascicularia bicolor.

How is this going to fit on an A3-sized herbarium sheet? Leon collects a leaf from Strelitzia nicolai. Photo by Lara Shepherd

Strelitzia nicolai herbarium sheet one

Strelitzia nicolai herbarium sheet 2

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During our trip, we also met the Whanganui Botanical Group and demonstrated how we collect specimens for the herbarium.

Colin also later collected additional specimens of species that did not flower until after our visit. It is useful to include flowers because they are often important for identification.

Post-collection

Once the dried plants were brought back to Te Papa there was still much work to be done. They needed to be mounted on card (done by our marvellous herbarium volunteers), imaged, and then added to our database.

These are now available on Collections Online.

Goldencup St. John’s Wort (Hypericum patulaum) is native to China. The vibrant colour of the flowers has been retained in the dried specimen.

Fuchsia triphylla. This species is native to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The pink tropical hydrangea (Dombeya burgessiae) is from Africa where various parts of it are used for food, medicine and fibre.

Fuchsia paniculata is native to Mexico and Panama.

Fire heath (Erica cerinthoides) is native to South Africa.

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With exotic plant species now far outnumbering native species in New Zealand, these herbarium specimens further the documentation of our cultivated botanical heritage. It is always useful to keep an eye on what is in gardens, as this is now where new weeds mostly originate.