Past Events

Botanical "Show and tell" evening

Members are invited to bring along botanical items (for example, photographs and slides, plants, books, seeds anything botanical that you'd like to show others!) for a show and tell evening. At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.

Field trip to Kurinui, North Otago

Kurinui is a 750 ha privately-owned property between Hampden and Dunback. It includes a variety of habitats including forest, shrubland, scrub, and grassland, and several small streams and wetlands. The land is very dissected and is notable for the presence of large rock outcrops. All stock were removed from the property in 2003 to allow recovery and regeneration of native vegetation. Over time it is expected that most of the land will become covered in forest, as it would have been in pre-human times. We will spend the day exploring the property with the guidance of the owners, Scott and Dinah Dunavan.

An evening of Botanical Photography and AGM.

Following on from last years successful formula we have again lured renowned photographers Rod Morris, Peter Johnson and Kelvin Lloyd back to judge our second BSO photographic competition following a brief AGM. Entries will be on display, photographic tips given and prizes presented. It's not too late to enter. Entries close 31 March, 5 p.m. See BSO website or notice board for entry forms. At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.

Field trip to Mt Watkin

Mt Watkin is well known for its volcanic summit and associated rock glaciers but it is less well appreciated that the recently created Mt Watkin Scenic Reserve contains some of the best stands of dry matai-totara/ribbonwood forest in coastal Otago. This BSO trip will concentrate on some of the forest areas, and will include a visit to a magnificent cliff overlooking the Waikouaiti River. Participants should be reasonably fit as a degree of walking will be required to visit the most interesting sites. Alternative date in case of rain, Sunday 30. Leader Kelvin Lloyd ph 473 9566 (h) or 477 2096 (w).

Chatham Island Places & Plants

A talk by Dr Peter Johnson. Peter has been on the Chatham Islands Conservation Board since 1999. He's made numerous trips to the island group, each time seeking out a new corner to explore. Wetlands are a particular focus and Peter is busy preparing a handbook on those. He's also led two botanical tours there with strong support from Botsoc members. This talk may be the inspiration for your own visit! At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.

Free BSO BBQ!

BBQ to welcome new botany/ecology students and new BSO members. At the front lawn, Botany House Annex, Great King Street (across the road from the main Botany building). Sausage sandwiches and drinks provided free by the Botanical Society of Otago. All current and prospective BSO members welcome!

Cliff ecology

A talk by Prof. Ulf Molau. Prof. Molau is an Otago University William Evans Fellow from the Department of Environmental Science, Goteborg University, Sweden. Cliffs are perhaps best regarded as an azonal biome of its own, and the ecosystems depend much more on bedrock chemistry, weathering, and solar radiation than on air temperature. Cliff species tend to have wide distribution areas, but are notoriously rare and occur as permanently fragmented populations. At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.

The Peatland /Ice Age hypothesis, and a possible glacial pulse initiation trigger

NOTE special day. A talk by Professor Lars Franzén, Earth Sciences Centre, Göteborg University, Sweden. In early December, Prof Franzén, will be visiting southern NZ to sample peat bogs. He is an ecologist/geologist, and one of the two leading scientists advocating the idea that entrapment of carbon dioxide into peat in bogs is the main cause of ice ages. At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open. An end-of-year BSO dinner will follow this talk, at a restaurant to be decided. If you would like to go to dinner, email Robyn Bridges by 30 November 2007.

Trip to Pulpit Rock and the Painted Forest

A botanical day tramp for the medium to fit; a 6-7 hour return trip. Following a ridge track to the site of the old Green Hut and then upwards to Pulpit Rock where we will descend to the Painted Forest. A 75 ha pure stand of silver beech reaching an altitude of 700 m, west of the tallest peak. It is thought beech cover was widespread in the Silver Peaks which has been reduced by early fires. The origins of the name of this stunningly beautiful primeval patch of beech is a mystery. This is exposed country where conditions can change quickly, so bring appropriate clothing, footwear and food. Meet 8.30am Botany Department carpark.

A Very Merry Mere

A talk by the 2007 Allan Mere recipient Dr Peter Johnson. A celebration of the award will follow the talk. The Allan Mere was gifted by Dr Lucy Moore in 1982 to commemorate the botanist Dr HH Allan, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. The mere is made from pounamu. As the 2007 recipient of the Allan Mere award, and as a resident of Te Wai pounamu, I shall use this as a theme, linked with a 'mere' of my own creation, to describe some of the merry places and marvellous plants of my botanical wandering and wondering. At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open. Dinner will follow this talk, at a restaurant to be decided. If you would like to go to dinner, email Robyn Bridges by 12 November 2007.

Who gives a tussock? Geoff Baylis and the Hellaby Trust!

Professor Alan Mark will present the 6th Annual Geoff Baylis Lecture with a talk entitled "Who gives a tussock? Geoff Baylis and the Hellaby Trust!". Geoff Baylis was a Board member since the inception of the Hellaby Trust in 1959 and was Chairman for many years. Professor Mark has also been involved in many different ways since the Trust's inception. The Trust has supported approximately 360 projects over the years. NOTE SPECIAL VENUE: Archway 2 Lecture Theatre. Light refreshments will be served for BSO members in the University Staff Club from 5:15 p.m. Dinner will follow at 7:30 p.m. at Etrusco Pizzeria & Spaghetteria (The Savoy Building, 8A Moray Place, Dunedin), for a banquet-style meal for $25/person (or $30/person with dessert). If you would like to go to dinner, email Robyn Bridges as soon as possible and at the latest by 4 p.m., Tuesday 9 October 2007.

Field trip to Swampy Spur

Prof. Bastow Wilson will lead a trip to Swampy Spur. We'll start at Leith Saddle, walk up through bush to timberline and through subalpine scrub/grassland to the Swampy Spur raised/valley bog (see New Zealand Journal of Ecology 25, 39-52 (PDF)) and some fabulous lichens! Wear warm, windproof clothes and waterproof footwear. Trip leaves 8:30 am from Botany Carpark, returning mid afternoon. Rain date 13 October 2007.

The effects of marram grass invasion and eradications

Ten years of the dune restoration program, Doughboy Bay, Stewart Island. A Department of Botany lunchtime talk by Dr Mike Hilton, Geography Department, University of Otago. Note venue: Union Street Lecture Theatre (upstairs), Cnr Great King Street and Union Street (West).

The private life of NZ alpine plants

A talk by Mascha Bischoff. Mascha is a PhD student working on pollination of alpine plants. She splits time between New Zealand and Germany, and we're guaranteed of a beautifully presented exposé of alpine flora. More details to come about this talk, so keep an eye on this page. At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.

Weekend field trip to the Catlins

This trip will explore several coastal botanical locations over two days. Saturday will be spent around Papatowai with opportunities for a walk through the Tahakopa dune forest with its mixed podocarp and beech swamp forest, wet shrubland and pingao areas, or a shorter walk to the Picnic Point coastal cliffs. This will be followed by a look at Cannibal Bay and the rare dune slack vegetation near False Islet. Sunday will be based around Nugget Point/Roaring Bay with its huge botanical and wildlife diversity. Accommodation on Saturday night will be at Nugget Point Lighthouse Keepers house (numbers limited). Day trippers are welcome to join us on either day. To reserve accommodation or find out more contact John Barkla ph. 476 3686 (evenings) by Wednesday 12 September. Leave from Botany carpark at 9.00 am Saturday.