Natural history collections are an important record of Earth’s biodiversity and are used to examine a range of scientific questions in areas from biodiversity monitoring to biosecurity, the impacts of climate change and public health. To be most useful, collections should be all-encompassing – representing all life on Earth. However,Read more
Botany Curator Leon Perrie and Science Researcher Lara Shepherd are working with David Glenny from the Bioeconomy Science Institute to investigate the relationships among Aciphylla, also known as taramea, speargrasses, or Spaniards. Here they introduce a newly described species. It’s relatively easy to suspect something might be a different species,Read more
Te Papa Botany Curator Heidi Meudt has published a new comprehensive study on the pollen of southern hemisphere forget-me-nots (Myosotis, Boraginaceae). The new study is the third and final publication detailing the morphology of forget-me-not pollen using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The first two studies, published in 2016 and 2020,Read more
Botany curator Leon Perrie and researcher Lara Shepherd recently visited the Allan Herbarium in Lincoln to examine its speargrass/taramea (Aciphylla) specimens as part of their ongoing taxonomic research into these plants. The herbarium’s historical specimens offer valuable insights that enhance our recent collections, particularly around morphological diversity and species distributions.Read more
Recording the distributions of weeds both in Wellington and further afield is an ongoing interest for Te Papa’s Botany Curator Leon Perrie and Researcher Lara Shepherd. Together they have added hundreds of weed specimens to Te Papa’s herbarium since the Covid lockdown. One recent weed collecting trip to Upper Hutt demonstrated how the use of common names can lead to confusion.Read more
In March, Te Papa’s Leon Perrie, Bridget Hatton, Julia Wilson-Davey, and Lara Shepherd travelled to inland Hawke’s Bay to collect plant specimens from Puahanui Bush, a rare lowland forest remnant.Read more
Polynesians arrived at and lived on Motu Maha Auckland Islands in the 13th or 14th century, but it wasn’t until 1806 that the first European ship reached the archipelago. Since then, several botanists have visited Motu Maha as part of scientific expeditions, increasing our understanding of the flora. In herRead more
Where can you find harakeke outside Aotearoa? What species of forget-me-not live on Banks Peninsula?* Answering these questions is now a lot easier because our herbarium’s botanical specimen data – 250,000 records about plants, with information about what they are, where they’re from and lots more – have been released on the world’s biggest database of living things, GBIF. Kaitūhono Hora Raraunga | Digital Channels Outreach Manager Lucy Schrader tells you about making it happen.Read more
Three species of Aotearoa New Zealand forget-me-nots (Myosotis, Boraginaceae) have been described in a paper by Te Papa Botany Curator Heidi Meudt and her colleague, Jessie Prebble (Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research). Each of these species is endemic to the South Island but has a restricted geographic distribution. Meet the new species below and find out how to recognise them in the field. All three species have also been beautifully illustrated by Bobbi Angell.Read more
Three Te Papa botanists recently visited Norfolk Island together with colleagues from the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Their purpose was to collect ferns for research. Curator of Botany Leon Perrie introduces the significance of Norfolk Island’s ferns. Our research programme investigating the relationships and naming of Aotearoa New Zealand’s fernsRead more
The large-leaved Aciphylla speargrasses or taramea are difficult plants to collect. Their rigid leaves are tipped in a sharp point and the bracts on their flower spikes are similarly ferocious. These defences are thought to have evolved to avoid browsing by moa, but they also work against botanists! Consequently, speargrasses are under‑represented in plant collections (herbaria). Te Papa Research Scientist Lara Shepherd and Botany Curator Leon Perrie describe how they approached sampling speargrasses on their recent collecting trip.Read more
![Veronica, collected Dec 1922 by HL Darton, [Cultivated] Lawrence, New Zealand. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (SP115152). Note in Petrie's handwriting states, "Veronica hartiana sp. nov. D.P. Mr. Hart has worked out the history of this species. It certainly came from the Chatham Is. and was first grown by a solicitor in Timaru to whom it was sent by Mr. Cox. 8.1.1923."](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tepapa.govt.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MA_I730588.3744x5616.jpg?fit=367%2C550&ssl=1)
During our recent Botany Blitz where we were cracking open boxes that have been patiently waiting to be processed and databased, we catalogued many specimens, learned new things about our collections, and discovered many fascinating stories along the way. Botany Curator Heidi Meudt talks about delving into a folder ofRead more
Recently the Botany team at Te Papa dedicated a week to curating several boxes of plant specimens – we called it the Botany Blitz! Our aim was to crack open boxes that have been patiently waiting – months, years, or in some cases decades – to be processed and databased. During our Blitz, we catalogued many specimens, learned new things about our collections, and discovered many fascinating stories along the way. Botany Curator Heidi Meudt processed one of the boxes from the botanist Thomas Kirk.Read more
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.Read more
What if we all had to work from home for an extended period? Many of the Natural History staff could research and write papers from home, but what about the people whose jobs normally involved handling specimens every day?Read more
