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Oct. 1948. Presidential Address Dr. E. Godley 1 FIELD CLUB RECORD Vol. 1 -No, !,. Oct. 1948. 4. + + 4. 4. + 4. +• +. 4. + 4. 4. 4. + + 4. 4.. 4 4. 4. + 4. 4. 4, + 4. 4. 4. + 4. Presidential Address Dr. E. Godley 1 Huia Camp Geology of Southland - J. J. Sumich / 13 Swanson Camp N. Z. Flax Industry - R. G. Robbins Rangitoto excursion Russell Camp . Ans so on The organ of the A. U. C. Field Club Edited by 'K. P. Lamb. '. Duplicated by' A, U, 0.,. • Duplicating Service, 4. 4- 4. 4-4. - 4- UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Auckland. TRENDS IN BOTANICAL RESEARCH IN HEW ZEALAND. Presidential Address to the Auckland University College Field Club 19148 By DP. o E. Godley. It is an honour-to be elected year President, an honour which involves the responsibility of a Presidential Address. I toyed with the idea of a travelogue talk about Italy and England, but discarded this in favour of something of a more serious nature, which I hope, ' however, will not savour too much of a university lecture. I intend to sketch the development of botanical researches in this country from the time of Banks and Solander to the present day. la this way we can find out what research has been done and we can also see what there still is to be done, and how Field Club could help in a small way in the necessary investigations-. One of Professor Chapman's proposals to this club two years ago was that it should undertake the compilation of a list of plants and locality records in the Auckland area. That this should be essential. (as it undoubtedly is), is significant in showing that in New Zealand the first step in botanical research is far from complete. This first step - in botany as in any other* science - is the classification and recording of the units with which one is working* In our case the units are the species, first of the native flora, and secondly of the introduced flora. Before the ecologist, the plant geographer, the evolutionist, or the plant chemist can begin work, the species which they use in their studies must be defined by a competent taxonomist, They cannot make much progress unless the taxonomic basis is a sound one, It may be of interest to trace briefly the expansion of taxonomic studies in New Zealand from the time of Banks and Solander to the present day* Sir Joseph Banks, a gentleman scientist, is said to have spent £10, 000 in equipping and financing the team of draughtsmen and servants. which he took with him on Captain Cook's first voyage of 1769-1771. Dr. Solander accompanied him. The result of this expedition was. a collect]. on of specimens from the East Coast of the North Island and the Sounds district Colander prepared descriptions of 350 species and over 200 plates. These were almost ready for the press but for various reasons were never published. In the next 60 years botanists of various nations visited the New Zealand coasts attached to exploring vessels. The Forsters (father ' and son) were attached as botanists to Cook's second voyage, They collected plants in Dusky Sound and Queen Charlotte Sound. Another collector was Archibald Menzies, surgeon on the "Discovery" under the command of Captain Vancouver, The French botanists D'Urville and Lesson travelled to New Zealand in 182/4 and 1827, and it is Interesting to note that an account of their collection was published under the auspices of the French Government* This is in great contrast to the attitude of the British Government of the day which was, little interested in New Zealand as a colony, let alone in its flora,. This publication by the French botanist Richard in 1832, was the first approach to a flora of Hew Zealand. It contained 380 species, some of which had already been described by the Forsters in a small publication. In the next 17 years the number of species recorded for New Zealand became almost trebled. This was due to. the work of various men. including the Cunningham brothers. Allan Cunningham, Government Botanist and Superintendent of the Sydney Botanic Gardens, published "A Specimen of the Islands of. New Zealand" containing 639 species. The French naval surgeon Raoul botanised at Akaroa and subsequently published • "Choix de Plantes de la Nouvelle Zelande", containing 950 species, T. C. Bidwell botanised in the Central Plateau of the North Island and in the mountains of Nelson. • 2 By 1839 it could be said that the plants growing in the coastal fringe of these islands were moderately well known, while the plants of the interior were almost unknown. There were no resident botanists and. the available floras were published in France or England. ' New Zealand plants were perhaps better known by the staff of European herbaria than by New' Zealanders. The time had come for a critical examination of all the work which had been done* There was much inefficient description, many synonyms, and a scattering of type specimens. The man who put New Zealand taxonomy on a sound basis was J. D. Hooker who visited New Zealand as botanist on board the "Erebus'1 in 1839. This ship and the "Terror" were taking part in an antarctic expedition* Hooker spent three months at the Bay of Islands where he contacted the Rev* W. Colenso and Dr. Andrew Sinclair. These two men (both residents of this country) continued to send specimens to Hooker at. Kew after he left New Zealand. In 1853 there appeared the first volume of "Flora Novae Zelandiae" by J. D. Hooker. This publication marked a turning point for botanical researches in this country* Although the flora mentioned little of our marvellous alpine flora, ('through lack of exploration), it contained a very careful, clear account of 1, 767 species of Phanerogams and Cryptogams, and ironed out the inaccuracies and discrepancies found in earlier writers, Botanists resident in New Zealand were now provided with a nucleus upon which they could go ahead and build up a complete account of the flora of New Zealand Of great value to future botanists of New Zealand was Hooker's Introductory Essay, He discusses the terms H species'* and '•varieties" and gives excellent advice to future colonial botanists as to the delimitation of these units. He is not content to leave his flora a list of plant descriptions, but extracts from it interesting information as to biogeographical relationships* He notes those groups which are endemic to this country, those groups which. are closely allied to Australian, to South American, and to Pacific plant types. He notes Variable genera and species which have different forms at different periods of life history. There are many hints in this essay for future research, but no New Zealand botanists until Cockayne had the vision to follow them up. One of Cockayne's first investigations was on the various life forms, of some of the species mentioned by Hooker* Hooker's great work was dedicated to the three men who had been foremost in collecting for him: Colenso, Sinclair and Lyall, He also mentions twelve other people who had sent him collections at Kew. We have here the ideal set-up for a big taxonomical work. A central, steady figure - Hooker - able to weigh up and evaluate material sent in by careful, ardent collectors. Without the collectors the work cannot be done. Throughout the history of taxonomic studies in New Zealand and elsewhere there have always been a great number of keen observers and collectors, many of whom have been forgotten, and these workers have contributed invaluable help in the form of specimens and records to the central taxonomists. It is interesting in this connection to read a letter written to me by - Cockayne while he was working up. material for his !?Vegetation of New Zealand"., It refers to his amateur botanist assistants. Ngaio, • Wellington. 28th Sept*, 19260 '•My Dear Gibbs, I have never seen Celmisia cordatifolia growing wild and probably you have seen it frequently. Please reply to the following questions on this same paper. (1) What is its distribution? (2; Have you ever studied it closely. enough to be pretty certain whether it is almost invariable or more or less. polymorphic? (3) Does Celmisia petiolata grow in close proximity to it? (U) Is there any likelihood of its be ins a hybrid and if so what are the parents? Yours most faithfully, L. Cockayne. 3, I have not been too well lately and my book is still far from finished. There is also so much constantly cropping up to make me lay the book aside. 15 In 1864 Hooker's second publication, -'Handbook of the Hew Zealand Flora, " appeared. In the nine years since' the 5?Flora of New Zealand" much new land had been explored, particularly in the South Island, and the new publication included some 935 flowering plants as compared with 731 in the earlier publication. Thus the nerve centre of New Zealand Botany remained at Kew 7 until; about 1864. In 1867 the New Zealand Institute was formed and /, the first volume of Transactions appeared in 1869. New Zealand > botanists now had a good published flora and a journal In which to publish their results. • Up till 1900 the researches were mainly exploratory and iaxonomical. Very little more could be done as the flora was yet only partly described. Haast, Colenso, Buchanan, Kirk, Sinclair and Petrie are all names which we associate with this period. After a period of enthusiastic collecting extending over thirty years it once again became necessary for someone to collect together and weigh up all the various new species which had been described and to incorporate them in a new flora.
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