Future Events
Talks are held at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research in the Main Seminar room, 764 Cumberland Street, Dunedin. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open. Zoom links for the talks are sent to members, join the BSO here.
Trips leave from the Department of Botany car park.
Kuriiti Creek, Hampden.
Saturday 11th of February 2023, 09:00 AM (2 months from now)
Contact: Gretchen Brownstein | brownsteing@landcareresearch.co.nz
This trip is to a privately owned bush block above Hampden on Kuriiti Creek. This 36ha block was recently purchased and the new family is keen to figure out what is present so they can look after it. Kuriiti creek runs through middle of the block, with the steep slopes containing a mix kanuka and broadleaf/podocarp forest. The understory is damp, with potential for interesting ferns, mosses, and lichens.
Grade: the edges of the kanuka bush are accessible from the road. To access the stream and broadleaf/podocarp require a walk down a steep and very rough track. Good walking shoes and willingness to climb back up a 100m hill a must! Contact Gretchen Brownstein brownsteingATlandcareresearch.co.nz. Bring water and lunch. Meet at Botany Dept car park 9am. Return time: 3pm 80km / 1hr drive time each way.
Tūhura Otago Museum.
Wednesday 15th of February 2023, 05:20 PM (2 months from now)
Contact: Gretchen Brownstein | brownsteing@landcareresearch.co.nz
Come join us for a botanical trip through Tūhura Otago Museum on Wednesday evening. We will get to spend some time after hours with the museum’s gardener for a private look around Tūhura Tropical Forest which features over 70 mostly tropical plant species, plus butterflies and birds. Smaller groups (10 at a time) will get a further behind-the-scenes look at Otago Museum’s dry collections store which holds internationally significant collections of birds, marine mammals, invertebrates, and a small botanical collection which the museum staff is working to digitize and eventually make available online. Meet at Otago Museum foyer at 5:20pm.
Contact Gretchen Brownstein brownsteingATlandcareresearch.co.nz to RSVP. Space is limited to 30 people, so a lottery may come into play.
Tūhura Tropical Forest has been featured in recent programmes from Radio New Zealand (www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ourchangingworld/audio/2018810238/caring-for-the-forest) and has been a frequent news maker in the Otago Daily Times since the space opened in 2007.
The coastal sand dunes of Otago.
Wednesday 8th of March 2023, 05:20 PM (3 months from now)
Contact: Gretchen Brownstein | brownsteing@landcareresearch.co.nz
Speaker: Teresa Konlechner. Sand dunes are an important feature of the Otago coast. However, the sand dunes of Otago have experienced considerable modification over the last 100 years. Human-induced destabilisation followed by stabilisation by exotic and invasive plants have altered geomorphic processes and the indigenous flora of the dunes. This talk provides an overview of past modification to Otago’s dunes. It outlines the state of knowledge regarding the indigenous flora of Otago sand dune habitats and identifies priorities for conservation and restoration of these now uncommon sand dune species.
All day field trip to Rock and Pillar Range.
Saturday 11th of March 2023, 08:00 AM (3 months from now)
Contact: John Barkla | mjbarkla@xtra.co.nz | 027 423 7917
We will travel to just north of Middlemarch to a carpark at the foot of the Rock and Pillar Range. From here the poled route of the Glencreag track is followed first through regenerating shrubland, then tall tussockland, and finally alpine cushionfield and rockland. Big Hut (1320 m above sea level) will provide a base for further exploration of the local botanical treasures. The return will be back the same way.
This is a steep and arduous trip of c. 1000 m height gain. Participants need to have good fitness and be capable of walking for 3 hrs or more uphill and equivalent downhill. Be prepared for all weather conditions in an exposed alpine environment. The vehicle round trip is approximately 170 km. Depart Botany Department carpark at 8 am. Expected return approx. 6 pm.
Members night.
Wednesday 12th of April 2023, 05:20 PM (4 months from now)
Contact: Angela Brandt | brandta@landcareresearch.co.nz
Members are invited to bring items of botanical interest to the monthly meeting and talk about them. Items may be short slide shows, books, photographs, plants or any plant related object that has a story attached. You are invited to get in touch with Angela Brandt (brandta@landcareresearch.co.nz) or Stella Fish (sls.fish@outlook.com), who are organising the meeting, to chat about what you’re thinking of bringing or to let them know you want to present a slide show.
Burns Reserve – one of Dunedin’s hidden gems!
Saturday 15th of April 2023, 09:00 AM (4 months from now)
Contact: Robyn Bridges | 021 235 8997
The 87 hectares of coastal podocarp forest which makes up this reserve, lies on the flanks of Signal Hill high above Ravensbourne, Maia, Burkes and St Leonards. Though established in 1907 by residents concerned at the amount of deforestation on the West Harbour Hills, the Reserve had, until recently, been largely forgotten. Its flora includes good specimens of the original podocarp forest and a fabulous swath of Easter Orchid, Earina autumnalis and Earina mucronata, growing on a prominent rocky outcrop. The views of Taiaroa Head to Taieri Mouth are spectacular.
Meet Botany Department carpark 9am Saturday 15th April 2023. Rain date Sunday 16th April 2023.