RARE NATIVE PLANTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 190, 13 July 1936, Page 2

RARE NATIVE PLANTS

STEPS FOR PRESENTATION. SPECIAL COMMITTEE FORMED. Realising the • need for immediate action, the New Zealand Alpine and Rock Garden Society (Inc.) recently set up a special plant preservation committee charged with the duty of taking whatever steps arc necessary to preserve in nature or under cultivation in public parks and gardens throughout New Zealand such native plants as have become rare, or arc in danger of extinction. That the New Zealand flora is unique no less for its variety, distinctiveness, and unpretentious beauty than for the light it has thrown upon many important scientific problems is common knowledge, says a statement issued by the society. The onward march of settlement has inevitably necessitated the destruction of vast areas of primeval forest; while numerous and extensive fires, the ravages of imported game, and the depredations wrought by thoughtless picnickers and others who satisfy a whim of the moment by plucking up ferns and other plants which, drooping or wilted, they usually discard an hour or two later, have done irreparable damage to a priceless heritage involving plants as yet unknown or only imperfectly known, their lessons to science untold and their economic possibilities unexplored. The Native Plant Protection Act has lessened the menace of human depredation, but is impotent to protect plants from fire, deer, chamois, goats, rabbits and pigs, the ravages of which, as the late Dr. Cockayne has repeatedly stressed, our native flora is not adapted to withstand. Reports received from foresters, botanical experts, and experienced sportsmen, all lament this appalling destruction of plant life from these causes. The special committee recently established by the society commenced by communicating immediately with botanists and other experts in all parts of the country. soliciting information and co-operation in determining both the extent and the causes of the destruction, as well as advice as to what steps they deemed it advisable to take in respect to the rarest species. Everywhere the committee was assured of hearty co-operation in achieving their laudable objective. From the replies received, a formidable list of plants in danger of extinction was compiled. After a thorough process of elimination of such species as were bound to have become rare only in certain districts, or were not considered worthy of cultivation for whatever reason, committee compiled its first list of 37 species as being those in greatest need of protection. After 18 months’ activity much additional information has been collected and many other plants are definitely known to be rare. In response to the committee s requests many cuttings, seeds, and plants were received from various parts of the Dominion, mostly from private gardens where they were known to exist, and, after careful propagation and labelling, over 300 plants were distributed free of cost to approximately thirty public parks anU gardens throughout the country. Field work has been profoundly complicated, however, by the fact that very little is known ot some of the rare species with which the committee has had to deal. Hybridism, too, lias presented its difficulties and it is only by the receipt of expert advice and by careful experiments that these problems can be solved. At present tour “species” are being tested for possible hybridity, an undertaking that may take years to accomplish, but these practical experiments will undoubtedly prove valuable to the botanical world at large. Then again rare plants can be collected only by expert collectors who understand when and under what conditions it is wise to transplant very rare plants. Records are being kept which describe species in detail, name the authority tor classifying as rare, give the coments of each expert consulted, mention seeds and cuttings received, and give information concerning their propagation and distribution. None of the individual members benefit from the distribution, and, beyond the interest they take in the activities, no special inducement is offered to botanists, experts and others who assist.