Taxonomic notes on the New Zealand flora: lectotypification of fern and lycophyte type specimens previously identified as holotypes

On 5 May 1768 Lieutenant James Cook was chosen by the Admiralty to take command of a Royal Society expedition funded by George III on the ship Endeavour , the purpose being to sail to a suitable point (Tahiti) in the Southern Pacific from which to observe the transit of Venus across the Sun on 3 June 1769. It was thought that, by observing the transit from different points on Earth, it would be possible to determine the distance of the Earth from both Venus and the Sun. The Royal Society asked that Joseph Banks (then a young Fellow aged 25) and a group of seven be allowed to join. Among them were two artists, Alexander Buchan and Sydney Parkinson, who were employed to draw views and specimens of natural historical interest, and Daniel Carl Solander a distinguished Swedish natural historian. Banks’s enthusiasm ensured that the voyage was exceptionally well equipped to handle natural historical discoveries. Having observed the transit of Venus, Cook was secretly under orders from the Admiralty then to sail to 40° south in search of the supposed Great Southern Continent; if not encountered, he was then to head due west to find the east coast of New Zealand. Following these instructions, Cook arrived at New Zealand on 6 October 1769. He then initiated the first detailed geographical survey of New Zealand, and Banks and Solander began putting together their rich collections of New Zealand flora; Cook also observed the transit of Mercury in Mercury Bay. On his second voyage in 1772 Cook went further south, entered the Antarctic circle twice (to 71° 10' S) and ruled out the existence of a Great Southern Continent, and first defined Antarctica as we know it. He returned to London in 1775 to be promoted to Captain and elected to the Royal Society. Banks went on to be elected President in 1778, a post which he held for nearly 42 years. Three other ties between Cook and the Royal Society include the naming of the Society Islands after his sponsors, the testing of a new chronometer for them, and a report to the Society on scurvy, which was to have great consequences for the future health of seamen. The Royal Society was thus instrumental in making possible Cook’s voyages, the outcome of which was a set of pioneering geographical, botanical, geological and anthropological descriptions of New Zealand. Here we trace some aspects of the subsequent interactions between New Zealand and the Royal Society by outlining the careers of relevant Fellows, namely (a) those foreign-born Fellows (30 identified) who spent parts of their careers in New Zealand, and (b) those New Zealand-born scientists (34) who have been elected Fellows for their work, whether carried out in New Zealand or elsewhere.

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Type specimens of Streptaxidae from Henry C. Burnup in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

African Invertebrates ◽

10.3897/afrinvertebr.61.58085 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 61 (2) ◽

pp. 107-117

Author(s):

Rodrigo B. Salvador ◽

Jonathan D. Ablett

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

South African ◽

Land Snail ◽

Land Snails ◽

Type Specimens ◽

Small Collection

A small collection containing thirty-nine lots of South African Streptaxidae land snails is housed in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (NMNZ). This material previously belonged to British/South African malacologist Henry C. Burnup, who either donated it to, or exchanged it with New Zealand-based Swiss malacologist Henry Suter, whose land snail collection was eventually acquired by the NMNZ. The lots contain type specimens of eight taxa (species and subspecies) and are presented herein in the form of an annotated and illustrated catalogue.

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The key roles of seed banks in plant biodiversity management in New Zealand

NZGA: Research and Practice Series ◽

10.33584/rps.14.2008.3184 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

pp. 5-11

Author(s):

W.M. Williams

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Introduced Species ◽

Intrinsic Value ◽

Seed Banks ◽

Indigenous Species ◽

Plant Biodiversity ◽

Biodiversity Management ◽

Recent Initiative ◽

New Zealand Flora ◽

Pasture Plants

The New Zealand flora is a mixture of indigenous and introduced species. The indigenous species have a high intrinsic value while the introduced species include all of the crop and pasture plants upon which the export-led economy depends. New Zealand must maintain both of these important sources of biodiversity in balance. Seed banks are useful tools for biodiversity management. In New Zealand, a seed bank for indigenous species has been a very recent initiative. By contrast, seed banks for introduced species have been established for over 70 years. The reasons for this discrepancy are discussed. For the economic species, conserved genetic diversity is used to enhance productivity and the environment. Large advances can be gained from species that are not used as economic plants. The gene-pool of white clover has been expanded by the use of minor species conserved as seeds in the Margot Forde Germplasm Centre. Keywords: Seed banks, biodiversity conservation, New Zealand flora

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Managers of Australasian Herbarium Collections (MAHC): A MARK of Curation Excellence

Biodiversity Information Science and Standards ◽

10.3897/biss.2.26283 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

pp. e26283

Author(s):

Peter Jobson ◽

Joanne Birch ◽

Gillian Brown ◽

Jeremy J. Bruhl ◽

Lyn Cave ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Early Career ◽

Disaster Mitigation ◽

Digital Data ◽

Management Policy ◽

Collections Management ◽

Type Specimens ◽

Phone Calls ◽

Vascular Type ◽

Herbarium Collections

Managers of Australasian Herbarium Collections (MAHC) is a sub-committee of the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (CHAH) and provides advice and recommendations pertaining to the management of herbarium collections. It was formed in 2009 based initially on Australian herbaria, and later incorporated New Zealand herbaria. MAHC currently has 18 member institutions representing both government funded, and university based herbaria, and includes both the largest (National Herbarium of Victoria - MEL) and smallest collections (Macquarie University - MQU) in the region. The group meets in person annually, and holds regular conference phone calls throughout the year. MAHC has proved itself to be a very cohesive committee, despite time, sizing, staffing, and funding differences. It prides itself in being inclusive, cooperative, collegiate, collaborative and supportive. It has a strong mentor approach toward early career collections managers or those new to collections management. The group has a healthy forward planning outlook, developing, promoting and implementing collections management policy, recommendations, guidelines and standards. This cohesion has resulted in a toolkit of resources that are freely available and strives for a unified world class best practice herbarium curation. Some of these universally agreed tools include templates, biosecurity documents, disaster mitigation and preparation for Nagoya Protocol implementation for Australia and New Zealand. MAHC supports new international initiatives and manages the day to day running of programmes such as the Global Plants Initiative project imaging all vascular type specimens housed in Australasia. MAHC collaborates with CHAH and the data sub-committee, HISCOM (Herbarium Information Systems Committee), for continued improvements in sharing digital data and specimens via the Australasian Virtual Herbarium (AVH https://avh.chah.org.au/) and Atlas of Living Australia (ALA https://www.ala.org.au/) services. This talk will use examples to highlight the effectiveness and success of a unified group in: developing standard practice in curation, incorporating improved curation procedures, and its ability to be agile, responding to incidents at an international level.

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