NEW ZEALAND BOTANICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER NUMBER 107 March 2012 New Zealand Botanical Society President: Anthony Wright Secretary/Treasurer: Ewen Cameron Committee: Bruce Clarkson, Colin Webb, Carol West Address: c/- Canterbury Museum Rolleston Avenue CHRISTCHURCH 8013 Subscriptions The 2012 ordinary and institutional subscriptions are $25 (reduced to $18 if paid by the due date on the subscription invoice). The 2012 student subscription, available to full-time students, is $12 (reduced to $9 if paid by the due date on the subscription invoice). Back issues of the Newsletter are available at $7.00 each. Since 1986 the Newsletter has appeared quarterly in March, June, September and December. New subscriptions are always welcome and these, together with back issue orders, should be sent to the Secretary/Treasurer (address above). Subscriptions are due by 28 February each year for that calendar year. Existing subscribers are sent an invoice with the December Newsletter for the next years subscription which offers a reduction if this is paid by the due date. If you are in arrears with your subscription a reminder notice comes attached to each issue of the Newsletter. Deadline for next issue The deadline for the June 2012 issue is 25 May 2012. Please post contributions to: Lara Shepherd Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa P.O. Box 467 Wellington Send email contributions to [email protected]. Files are preferably in MS Word, as an open text document (Open Office document with suffix “.odt”) or saved as RTF or ASCII. Macintosh files can also be accepted. Graphics can be sent as TIF JPG, or BMP files; please do not embed images into documents. Alternatively photos or line drawings can be posted and will be returned if required. Drawings and photos make an article more readable so please include them if possible. Cover Illustration Lagenifera strangulata Colenso drawn by Cathy Jones from a specimen collected in the Lower Branch Valley, Wairau catchment, South Marlborough on 16 February 2012. a. ray floret with immature achene, b. disc floret, c. semi-mature achene, d. adaxial leaf surface, e. abaxial leaf surface. NEW ZEALAND BOTANICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER NUMBER 107 March 2012 ISSN 0112-6865 (Print) 2230-3502 (Online) CONTENTS News New Zealand Botanical Society News Financial statement for year ended: 31 December 2011 .............................................. 2 Regional Botanical Society News Auckland Botanical Society........................................................................................... 3 Rotorua Botancial Group............................................................................................... 3 Wellington Botanical Society......................................................................................... 4 Nelson Botancial Society .............................................................................................. 7 Canterbury Botancial Society...................................................................................... 10 Other Botanical Societies............................................................................................ 10 Announcements Call for nominations for Alan Mere Award 2012.......................................................... 10 Call for suggestions for Loder Cup nomination 2012 ................................................. 10 New Zealand threatened indigenous vascular plant relisting – a call for submissions 11 Notes and Reports Abbreviated annual report of Te Papa’s herbarium, WELT, 2010/2011 ..................... 12 Request for Usnea ..................................................................................................... 13 Pimelea news.............................................................................................................. 13 Threatened plant garden update................................................................................. 19 Theses Recent theses from the Univeristy of Otago, Department of Botany (2010-211)........ 20 Biography/Bibliography Biographical sketch – Charles-François Lavaud (1798-1878) .................................... 21 Publications Book review: Plants of Puketi Forest by Marion MacKay............................................ 22 Publications received .................................................................................................. 23 NEWS New Zealand Botanical Society News Financial Statement for year ended: 31 December 2011 2011 INCOME Bequests $0 Donations $304.78 Interest $26.11 Sale of Back issues $14.00 Grant from DOC for lichen project TFBIS 227 (part 2 of 4) $0.00 2010 Subscriptions $0.00 2011 Subscriptions $3,985.00 2012 Subscriptions received in advance $428.00 Total Income $4,757.89 EXPENSES Printing costs $1,654.06 Postage costs $1,078.80 Bank fees $0.00 Calligraphy costs (Allan Mere) $104.25 Lichen Project TFBIS 227 $0.00 Total Expenses $2,837.11 Total income $4,757.89 Less total expenses $2,837.11 Net surplus $1,920.78 ASSETS Cash in bank - current account $5,972.68 Cash in bank - Achiever Savings $2,008.18 Total Assets $7,980.86 LIABILITIES Printing costs $434.50 Postage costs $0.00 Part payment of cheque dishonour recovered $0.00 Total Liabilities $434.50 Total Assets $7,980.86 Less Total Liabilities $434.50 Net assets $7,546.36 Represented by Retained earnings c/fwd from previous year $5,625.58 Profit for year $1,920.78 TOTAL FUNDS AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2011 $7,546.36 Note: Liabilities is the costs for printing Newsletter 106 (December 2011) 2 Ewen Cameron, Secretary/Treasurer NZBS Regional Botanical Society News Auckland Botanical Society Christmas Outing On a fine day a picnic trip down the Mahurangi River from Warkworth to Scotts Landing near the Mahurangi Heads, on the restored scow, Jane Gifford, was a very pleasant experience. The several scenic reserves lining the river were pointed out, as were some of the historic ruins and landmarks. The tide allowed only an hour or so ashore at Scotts Landing, but that gave time to check out the old boarding house and orchard there, and a walk uphill revealed tawapou (Planchonella costata) with green fruit, Calystegia tuguriorum in full flower, and the dainty fern, Doodia mollis. January South Island Camp Our biennial South Island camp was held at Arthur’s Pass, with the Outdoor Education Centre as our base for eight days. There were reports that it was pouring with rain back at home, but we were fortunate to experience good weather for the whole trip and with the expert leadership of our South Island friend, Cathy Jones, we explored the botanical delights of the mountains. The many flowering and fruiting plants of the pen-wiper (Notothlaspi rosulata) growing on the screes of the Cheeseman ski field, and swards of the beautiful Ranunculus lyallii at Temple Basin, left all with lasting memories. Anniversary Weekend Camp Mayor Island was the venue for the long weekend camp, and it lived up to its reputation as a special botanical destination. From the comfortable camp at Opo Bay, we explored the crater and the beaches, and as always we were struck by the large leaf sizes of several of the plants. Even more surprising, in a gully leading down from the crater rim, were the enormous trees of mangeao (Litsea calicaris) and wineberry (Aristotelia serrata) growing there, the latter reaching a height of 33 metres. Special plants for the weekend were Senecio banksii, Sonchus kirkii, and restoration plantings of Hibiscus richardsonii. February Field Trip Our first regular trip for 2012 was full of botanical interest and fine scenery. Jacky’s Peak is a prominent bush-clad hill at Little Huia, owned by the Turner family. The bush is diverse and in good condition, with Hebe bishopiana present on rock outcrops. The track to Destruction Gully (Makaka Bay) on the Manukau Harbour traverses splendid second-growth kanuka/conifer forest and scrubland, in which Sophora fulvida, Helichrysum lanceolatum, Corokia buddleioides, Pittosporum ellipticum, Toronia toru and Leionema nudum were prominent. FUTURE EVENTS 7 March AGM. Sarah Wise: Lucy Cranwell Award recipient 17 March Awhitu dune lakes Auckland Botanical Society, PO Box 26391, Epsom, Auckland 1344 President: Mike Wilcox Secretary: Kristy Hall [email protected] Rotorua Botanical Group December Field Trip: Paeroa Water Reserve It rained hard overnight and enroute to Paeroa, but after a little dithering it cleared to a fine day. As everything was wet, we moved slowly along the weedy roadside from the gate to the dam, recording several species previously overlooked including Gladious daleneii, in flower, and Ottelia ovalifera. The surrounding vegetation was tall kanuka forest with a riparian fringe of mahoe, wineberry and coprosmas. From the dam, the old tramway continued through kanuka forest with a good variety of regenerating species. Near the stream a long discussion about the differences between lowland and thin bark totara terminated in the realisation that the adjacent tree was a kanuka. After lunch we proceeded up the right fork of the tramway close to the stream through a rich piece of lowland forest of puriri, kohekohe, hinau, mahoe, pigeonwood and the odd kahikatea and rimu. At one 3 point it was useful to see Tmesipteris lanceolata alongside T. elongata on the same tree. One of the highlights was a re-visit to a Nematoceras "Kaimai" site where now only two or three plants from hundreds of flowers had successfully seeded. The tramway terminated (with coal and a steel rail) at a small waterfall. This proved a challenge