Kakabeak
Flowers on a kakabeak shrub (Clianthus maximus), an endemic New Zealand legume. This specimen has been cultivated from one of the exceptionally rare wild plants growing in Maungataniwha Forest, northern Hawke's Bay.
Kakabeak is at a very serious risk of extinction. Their red flowers resemble the beak of the kākā, an endemic New Zealand forest parrot. Only 153 mature plants are known from the wild, all occurring in remote parts of eastern North Island where they are threatened by introduced browsing animals (goats, deer, rabbits, and hares), diseases, and natural senescence. Many populations are also threatened by fire, weed control operations, natural succession, and the unstable, erosion prone nature of the habitats in which they remain.
Native honeyeaters (tui and bellbird) love to drink from the flowers. Although the species is widely grown as a garden plant in New Zealand, the cultivated lines are descended from only a few plants and therefore lack genetic diversity. This specimen was cultivated by members of the Forest Lifeforce Restoration Trust from seed collected from a wild plant in Hawke's Bay's remote Waiau River valley, Maungataniwha Forest. This gives it genetics different to most cultivated specimens. We were lucky enough to be given a few specimens whilst staying in the area for a geological field trip, looking for dinosaur fossils in the area. It's a colourful reminder of a great field trip to a lovely and remote part of New Zealand.
Check out www.forestlifeforce.org.nz/ to learn about their work, and www.forestlifeforce.org.nz/kakabeak.html to learn about their kakabeak work...and next time you go to the supermarket buy Tasti museli bars! Their owner, Simon Hall, is the driving force, and prime funder, behind the trust's awesome conservation work!
Kakabeak
Flowers on a kakabeak shrub (Clianthus maximus), an endemic New Zealand legume. This specimen has been cultivated from one of the exceptionally rare wild plants growing in Maungataniwha Forest, northern Hawke's Bay.
Kakabeak is at a very serious risk of extinction. Their red flowers resemble the beak of the kākā, an endemic New Zealand forest parrot. Only 153 mature plants are known from the wild, all occurring in remote parts of eastern North Island where they are threatened by introduced browsing animals (goats, deer, rabbits, and hares), diseases, and natural senescence. Many populations are also threatened by fire, weed control operations, natural succession, and the unstable, erosion prone nature of the habitats in which they remain.
Native honeyeaters (tui and bellbird) love to drink from the flowers. Although the species is widely grown as a garden plant in New Zealand, the cultivated lines are descended from only a few plants and therefore lack genetic diversity. This specimen was cultivated by members of the Forest Lifeforce Restoration Trust from seed collected from a wild plant in Hawke's Bay's remote Waiau River valley, Maungataniwha Forest. This gives it genetics different to most cultivated specimens. We were lucky enough to be given a few specimens whilst staying in the area for a geological field trip, looking for dinosaur fossils in the area. It's a colourful reminder of a great field trip to a lovely and remote part of New Zealand.
Check out www.forestlifeforce.org.nz/ to learn about their work, and www.forestlifeforce.org.nz/kakabeak.html to learn about their kakabeak work...and next time you go to the supermarket buy Tasti museli bars! Their owner, Simon Hall, is the driving force, and prime funder, behind the trust's awesome conservation work!