Joseph Hooker, Charles Knight, and the commissioning of New Zealand’s first popular flora: Hooker’s Handbook of the New Zealand Flora (1864-1867): Tuhinga 10

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Joseph Hooker, Charles Knight, and the commissioning of New Zealand’s first popular flora: Hooker’s Handbook of the New Zealand Flora (1864-1867): Tuhinga 10, Part 1

Joseph Hooker, Charles Knight, and the commissioning of New Zealand’s first popular flora: Hooker’s Handbook of the New Zealand Flora (1864-1867): Tuhinga 10, Part 2

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NameJoseph Hooker, Charles Knight, and the commissioning of New Zealand’s first popular flora: Hooker’s Handbook of the New Zealand Flora (1864-1867): Tuhinga 10

AuthorDr David Galloway

Publication date1998

Publication typeArticle

Overview

Tuhinga 10: 31 - 62

ABSTRACT: The Handbook of the New Zealand Flora (1864-1867) was commissioned from Joseph Hooker at Kew by the New Zealand Government at a cost of £600. The project was supported and closely monitored by Charles Knight, New Zealand's Auditor-General, who helped provide Hooker with the financial means for this major botanical undertaking. Begun in 1863, the work appeared in two volumes. The first, published in August 1864, dealt with the flowering plants and ferns, while the second volume (which appeared in 1867) covered bryophytes, algae, fungi and lichens, and provided a list of introduced plants as well as an index of Maori names for New Zealand plants. The circumstances leading to the production of the Handbook have not hitherto been published. The process is now documented from contemporary correspondence held in archives at Auckland, Kew (Royal Botanic Gardens), and Wellington.

KEYWORDS: Joseph Hooker, Charles Knight, Handbook of the New Zealand Flora, New Zealand botanical history.