Aciphylla aurea emerging from the snow. Photo by John Barkla, via iNaturalist CC-BY.

Speargrasses are some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most distinctive plants and an iconic feature of many of Te Waipounamu’s non-forested habitats, especially when flowering. Te Papa Research Scientist Lara Shepherd and Botany Curator Leon Perrie analysed DNA from speargrasses to examine how genetic diversity is partitioned across Te Waipounamu SouthRead more

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Aside from ferns, my main research interest is the group of trees known as Pseudopanax, for which I collaborate with Lara Shepherd from the Allan Wilson Centre. Pseudopanax includes the lancewoods and five-fingers. Several of the species are popular in cultivation, including fierce lancewood (Pseudopanax ferox). This species is soRead more

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