RARE SPECIES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 69, 18 September 1937, Page 10

RARE SPECIES

A SALVAGE SCHEME

ENDANGERED PLANTS

PRESERVATION SOCIETY

Any loss from the flora or' the avifauna of a country is a tragedy. New Zealand has sustained irreparable bird losses, as iii the loss of the huia. It is important to avoid any loss of a species in the vegetable life of New Zealand, which is quite as unique as its bird-life, and which is equally distinctive in the floral scheme which Nature gave to the primitive world. The white man has had thousands of years in which to war upon and to destroy the primitive vegetation of Europe, but he has had only about a huudred years in which to destroy New Zealand's primitives, bush and bird. So there is still a chance to save some species from destruction. A few people are trying to rescue what the majority would destroy, or would allow to die. BIRD AND PLANT. Salvage of vegetable species is much easier than salvage of bird species, and the rescuers in the former division can work to better advantage. Owing to the essential differences betweensa bird and a plant, the latter can be protected land fostered. A plant is a thing that will "stay put," and therefore need not be caught or caged. With great difficulty rare birds might be caught and transferred to another district, but, once liberated, their movements are in their own hands (or wings), and a cloud of doubt may at once settle on whether they survived, and, if so, where and how they survived. Many years ago Henry Ford, in U.S.A., tried to acclimatise certain birds ir> a district where they did not exist. The liberated birds disappeared, and Mr. Ford wrote in one of his books: "We will not try again; birds have a right to Iwe where they like." ' There is a good deal behind this Fordian philosophy Plants aiSO have a right to refuse to live where they don't like, but they are much more amenable than birds. So attempts to guarantee the survival of rare species of New Zealand plants start off with an initial advantage guaranteed by Nature herself. WILDERNESS HOME PRESERVED. Plants, unlike birds, do not need to be caught; and, when transplanted, stay where they are put. Unlike birds, plants can be propagated by means of cuttings. Plants can also be propagated by seed or by seedlings or by rooted pieces taken from established plants. By one or other of these means, it is generally possible, where a species is confined to a locality, to propagate that species at any other point in New Zealand, and to study its requirements and adaptability to various environments and cultures. A band of cooperating botanists and horticulturists may thus do excellent work in preserving a plant species from extinction, and in bringing it into cultivation without diminishing its chance of local survival in its one chosen home in the wilderness. It may riot be generally known that such a-band of co-operat-ing workers has been actively and unobtrusively busy for several years. DISTRIBUTION KNOWLEDGE GROWS. It is first necessary to ilnd... your, plant; next,' to determine whether it is rare. A plant deemed to be rare may, on further investigation, be found to be not rare. But when the New Zealand Native Plant Preservation Society, or any other investigator, disproves the rarity of a plant, the society or the individual is at the same time adding to knowledge. Such investigation is widening the geographical limits of that area which is defined in botanical publications under the head of "distribution." For instance, it may at one time be thought that the beautiful, largeleafed species of Nothopanax called laetum, though not rare, is confined to certain Northern districts; if so, knowledge of its distribution is increased when members of the Native Plant Preservation Society report to headquarters (as they have done recently) that the species laetum is present in the bush of parts of the Wanganui valley. Even after nigh a hundred years, there is so much observation work left undone that as a botanical paper goes to press its author is quite liable to hear from authentic sources that the distribution area of a species is much wider than.his paper.contemplates. REDUCING THE "RARE LIST." By a similar process of observation, a plant deemed to be rare may have to be removed from the "rare list" of the society. But knowledge is the gainer.' Also, as the list is reduced, effort can be concentrated on those species which appear to be, relatively, in greatest danger of extinction. The unpaid work of members of the New Zealand Native Plant Preservation Society has resulted in hundreds of cuttings and plants and parcels of seed being distributed free of cost to about thirty public parks and gardens throughout New Zealand; thus, not only are the plants being saved, but species previously known to only a few persons are becoming a topic of interest to many—a cultural and horticultural gain. The society emphasises that under its auspices "rare plants are collected only by expert collectprs who understand when and under what conditions it is wise to transplant very rare plants, and when it is desirable not to disturb the plant or its association at all . . .

In no instance do individual members of the society benefit from the distribution. ..."

Very careful records are kept, and thus the machinery exists both to do work and to record the knowledge gained. _ . ■