NATURALISTS’ HELD CLUB

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22422, 17 November 1934, Page 7

NATURALISTS’ HELD CLUB

ANNUAL REPORT The following is the annual report of the Dunedin Naturalists’ Field Club for presentation at, the annual meeting on Monday:— In spite of much inclement weather the past year has been as full of interest as ever. The excursions and indoor meetings have been .particularly well attended and much, interest has been shown in the activities of the various branches. During the year 10 new members have been elected, the membership now showing a total of 90 local members and 12 country members.

When the programme for the year was drawn up arrangements were. made for two whole-day excursions and 16 half-day outings. Sixteen indoor, meetings were arranged for, two being • heid in conjunction with the Otago Institute. With a few alterations the excursions and lectures have been carried out, according to the programme. Unfortunately, the whole day meeting set aside for ft trip to Waitati and Goat Island, under the leadership of Mr Skinner, had to be abandoned on account of rain, as also had the excursions, to Tomahawk Lagoon and Woodhaugh Gardens. An outing of a novel nature was a visit to Mr Black’s aviaries at Anderson’s Bay. There , are 12 country members on the roll, six .of whom receive fortnightly, through the medium of one of the newspapers, the reports of excursions and indoor lectures, ' ' ’• LIBRARY.

The library consists of some 19 books and pamphlets. The-latest addition is Checseman’s. Manual, presented by Mrs Shacklock. Through the kindness of Dr Mullin, the Field Club has a drawer in the library of the Medical School in which to 'keep the books. The demand for any of these books has been small. , MYCOLOGY. The season has not been a particularly good one for fungi, but a fair amount of work has been done. On all outings a sharp look-out has been kept for specimens. In . the neighbourhood of Duddingstone Bush members had a fine opportunity of seeing the basket fungus (Clathrus cibarius) in all its stages. The small committee appointed by the club had a field day up Bethune’s Gully in the middle of winter, and collected a number of small specimens. Their aim is to add to the list already drawn up both new specimens and new habitats. BOTANY. Botanical studies formed au important part in the programme and, the excursions to various localities in the Dunedin district afforded good material for the studies of local native flora. At the first outing of the season an unsuccessful attempt was made 'to locate Celmisia pro-repens, which was discovered on the slopes of Flagstaff towards Whare Flat in 1931. An interesting find that day was the little native lily, Herpolirioh Novae-Zelandiae, bearing fruits. At Morrison’s Creek the native plants which have grown since the flood in 1929 were noted. On an excursion to Tomahawk arranged for the study of coastal vegetation and plant associations the rare buttercup, Ranunculus recens, was found. An interesting outing was held at Hie Town' Belt, 'where it was pleasing u> note that in certain places' Dianella' intermedia, which was reported to have disappeared from that locality many years ago, was still flourishing. Interest in the study of ferns has also been well maintained. Whilst, prominence has been given to the study of native floia, other subjects of general interest have been considered. Visits have been made to several private gardens for the purpose ■ of studying 1 introduced flowers, shrubs and - trees. A very interesting afternoon was spent at the 1 propagating houses in the Botanic Gardens. At the indoor meetings interesting lectures have been given dealing with such subjects as ’‘ Wild Flowers, of Foreign Countries,”.' “ Weeds,” “ The Vegetation of the Auckland Islands,” "The Alpine Vegetation and Riant Association of Some of the Mountainous Country cf New Zealand,” and “ The Uses to Which Maoris : Applied Native Plants.’’ GEOLOGY. • . The activities of the geological section were this year more restricted than usual. Of the two outdoor excursions, one was not - held on account of rough weather and ■' only one indoor meeting of a geological nature' was held. The indoor meeting was arranged in conjunction with the Otago Institute, and dealt with the diatomaceous deposits .of the Oamaru district. The outdoor excursion was to Black Head, where observations were made of the physiographic features which formed the Head and the characters of the rock which composed it. ORNITHOLOGY. ; The bird life of the district dpcs not show any marked change from year -to year, but it is very satisfactory to be in a position to state definitely that practically all the native species which are now found in the district are holding their own in spite of the depredations of the introduced vermin. Fantails are the only species about which any doubt as to maintenance of their numbers may be expressed. In the case of some other species it can be definitely stated that there has been an increase in numbers during the last;few years. „ ENTYMOLOGY. Insect collecting is not as popular with the members, of the Field Club as it might be. Possibly this is due largely to so many outings taking place at a season when insects are scarce and to the fact that moth collecting is mostly a night occupation. Starting in May, Mr Howes carried on moth collecting through the winter months up to date, and a list he has compiled shows _ that Dunedin and the surrounding district is prolific in this class of insect life. The list does not include the butterflies and the large numbers of microlepidoptcra. This spring has been a good one for collecting. MARINE LIFE. The tides on our excursions this year were not suitable for the study of seaweeds and other forms of marine life, but Miss Edith Howes gave a very interesting address at one of the indoor meetings.. Interest in a fresh study has been created by a useful key to the identification of the commoner sea shells, compiled by Mr Niven.