Ttreasure trove’ of information on NZ plant life

Botanical enthusiasts now have a ‘treasure trove’ of information on New Zealand plant life at their fingertips, with the journals of the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch Botanical Societies now digitised and freely available online.

The results of thousands of hours of botanical survey and field observations by New Zealand’s amateur and professional botanists are now accessible to anyone on the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network’s (NZPCN) website.

The regional botanical societies were founded to provide a forum for botanists to meet and learn about New Zealand’s unique and globally important plant life. The Wellington society was the first to be established in 1938. Since then botanists have been meeting regularly all over New Zealand to undertake field trips and to talk about plants.

“These digitised journals are a remarkable resource for anyone interested in our native flora,” said Network President Philippa Crisp. “People will be able to make use of the knowledge gained over years of field work by some of our most experienced botanical experts.”

The on-line, searchable resource includes papers by WRB Oliver (former Director of the Dominion Museum) and the legendary field botanist A.P. (Tony) Druce. Entries range from the academic to the quaint, such as the observation by Mrs W. W. Samson of Wellington in 1941 about Lagenophora – a small native daisy - that, “Indeed they seem to be the friendliest of flowers.

The digitisation project was funded by the Terrestrial and Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (TFBIS) Programme, which is supported by government to help achieve the goals of the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy. It is administered by the Department of Conservation.

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