What's On at Zealandia


 

Media release: Native parasitic plant seeds germinate in Wellington, providing hope for future

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New Zealand’s only fully parasitic plant has been successfully germinated at the Lions Ōtari Native Plant Conservation Laboratory in Wellington. The milestone germination was of rare seeds gifted from Ngāti Rereahu in the first translocation to involve all six Greater Wellington iwi.

Hairy-lobed hangehange

look closely and a small world appears

Ali McDonald 0 5674

Introducing hangehange (Geniostoma ligustrifolium) – this small, pale flower may seem all too easy to miss… but not for our native flies, who happen to be very attracted to pale green! 

Kōtukutuku flowers

the colour of efficiency

Ali McDonald 0 12426

Have you ever noticed how kōtukutuku - our native tree fuchsia (Fuchsia excorticata) - produces flowers of two different colours? This is because it colour-codes its petals to allow for maximum pollination efficiency.

Poisonous Plants of the Sanctuary

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Do you know your tutu from your supplejack?

You’d be wise not to eat any asparagus-like shoots in the bush if you’re not sure!

In 2014 tramper Matthew Pike found this out the hard way after adding what he thought was a supplejack sapling to his boil-up, only to find – when he woke up in hospital – that he’d seasoned his dinner with the notorious tutu: a poisonous plant full of the neurotoxin tutin. Matthew’s reaction was so severe that his convulsions dislocated his shoulder; he was lucky to survive.

World Wetlands Day – what can you do?

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Swamps, marshes, fens and bogs.  These are our wetland areas, crucial buffer zones at the boundaries between land and water. Wetlands act as giant sponges in the landscape, soaking up rainfall which helps prevent flooding during storms. They also help protect rivers and lakes from runoff from the land during heavy rain by trapping sediment that can choke a stream and absorbing surplus nutrients like nitrogen that can lead to the explosion of algal blooms.  Wetlands are a toxin sink, storing environmental pollutants as well as nitrogen and carbon in its wet, airless soil and in the deep roots of the plants that grow there.

Kohekohe: one of our quirkiest trees

Alfie Kākā 0 12459

Alfie: I’m inspired by Kerry Charles’ research on how planting for birds makes Wellingtonians happy, so I’m asking some of my favourite locals about which plants they’d recommend for Wellington gardens. First up, Joakim Liman, an award-winning Zealandia volunteer and the dedicated and enthusiastic manager of the volunteer Te Motu Kairangi – Miramar Ecological Restoration group, which is restoring the Miramar peninsula to its former glory.

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