Future Events

Natural history of New Zealand flowers

Speaker: Phil Garnock-Jones.

New Zealand flowers are often described as small, plain, and simple, but our flowers have some unusual features too and there is substantial flower variation within large clades like Veronica sect. Hebe, Myosotis, and Pittosporum. Phil will show and talk about some of the flowers he studied and photographed for his book "He Puāwai – a Natural History of New Zealand Flowers" (2025), such as hutu (Ascarina lucida), hangehange (Geniostoma ligustrifolium) and tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa). He will also include some Otago examples and some flowers studied by Otago botanists.

Dalmore Reserve - A Native Bush Walk

Flanked by suburban homes and Aquinas College, Dalmore Reserve is 6.2ha of DCC owned land that is steep, south facing and has only one official entrance. In the lower reaches of the reserve, native-dominated broadleaved forest has naturally regenerated; whilst the top area has been replanted with natives in two stages. Dalmore Reserve has quite an interesting restoration history, as well as rather a lot of invasive ‘weeds’ encroaching from the neighbouring properties. Join members of Wild Dalmore Reserve, a small group of neighbours who enjoy working to restore the native vegetation of the site through planting as well as chemical-free weeding to facilitate natural native forest regeneration. Please note, this is a steep site, the ground is uneven and likely to be slippery. Meet at the entrance to the reserve, 20 Allenby Avenue, Liberton. Contact: Maureen Howard 021 206 3593, mo4planet@gmail.com for more information

Baylis lecture. Interesting discoveries of a botanical  kind.

Speaker: Jennifer Bannister, Research Associate, Department of Botany. This lecture will cover a variety of topics including a lot about leaves, fossil and present day. Jennifer will also talk about fossil fungi, fossil flowers and living lichens.

This will be held in the Benham Seminar Room (same as all our other talks) and there will be drinks and nibbles before the talk.

Devils Bridge, North Otago.

Devils Bridge is a limestone ridge just inland from Oamaru. It is undercut by a stream. The stream has been damned creating a large reservoir on the northern side which is surrounded by a planted area that has been covenanted. A few old broadleaf (Griselinia littoralis) trees exist within coarse talus rolled off a second connecting limestone ridge and some outcrop with a rock art site is also present. Swamp nettle (Urtica perconfusa) occurs around the waterline. On the southern side, the stream emerges into a gully enclosing a fragment of natural forest that contains a stand of large, old kowhais (Sophora microphylla) together with cabbage tree (Cordyline australis) and broadleaf (Griselinia littoralis). The understorey vegetation consists of various ferns and herbaceous species that are tolerant of the underlying limestone substrate. Such forest remnants are very rare coastal North Otago as most of the land has been developed for agriculture. We plant to visit both these Covenants and possibly a third, in this geologically interesting landscape.

We will meet at the Botany Department carpark at 8.00 am and travel to Weston (just south of Oamaru) and then on to Devils Bridge. Bring lunch, warm clothing, rain gear and suitable footwear. Distance from Dunedin to Weston is approximately 120 km with a travel time of 1 and a half hours. Suggested carpool contribution $48. Contact David Lyttle (email djl1yttle@gmail.com Ph (03) 454 5470).

Ferns of Leith Saddle.

John Steel has compiled a key to the ferns of Dunedin, and we are going to field-test it along the Leith Saddle track. Come armed with hand-lenses and cameras. (18km round trip, suggested contribution to driver: $4). Contact Lydia Turley 0210623602

Gardens of Tokyo: a botanical perspective 東京の庭園：植物学の視点から.

Speaker: Paul Guy. When 5-6 cherry blossom flowers open on designated trees across Japan the news hits the evening prime time bulletin. From late March to late April the cherry blossom front is mapped as it sweeps northwards through the archipelago. There is serious discussion: is this year’s cherry blossom front ahead or behind last year’s? Some of these trees have been venerated for hundreds of years but you will be surprised how they are treated day to day.

The gardens of Tokyo range from pencil-thin strips of green on concrete landings to large public gardens confiscated during bloody battles that destroyed the shoganate and restored the Emperor. The gardens use many familiar species from the celebrated cherry blossom to my favourite the ginkgo. The latter survived the Permian mass extinction and saw the dinosaurs come and go. There are a few surprises too. There are many plant diseases which have not made it to New Zealand so Tokyo gardens are useful sentinels for pathogens we don’t want here

Water Words: a plant perspective.

Speaker: Peter Johnson. Plants have taken me to watery places, and to words, names, terms, epithets, origins, and so on. Hydrocotyle hydrophila: how watery is that?  Water has been taking me to brooks, burns, becks, desmids, diatoms, didymo, drizzle, droplets, drains, Drepanocladus, and Donatia.

And by way of a preview: a scene you might see from a bridge when playing Pooh-sticks, and wonder about. What might the streamers of filamentous algae tell us about stream flow, sinuosity, sediments, swirls, sliding windows, eddies, and erosion? Explanations from the greenery.

McNallys Track.

McNallys track, Milton is a 7km walk up the hills behind Milton (300m of elevation gain). The track traverses over farmland and through small bush remnants which we will explore before continuing to a good lunch spot at the high point with great views. Come prepared for muddy wet feet and steep slippery tracks. Bring a lunch and water bottle. Meet at the Botany Department for carpooling at 9am. Return time 3pm. Drive is ~100km round trip (suggested carpool contribution $20pp). Contact Gretchen Brownstein 021 065 8497