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Overview
Nancy Adams was one of New Zealand’s most prolific botanists, and a talented artist. She produced a vast number of botanical illustrations, which were included in widely-distributed and well-regarded books about New Zealand flora. One of these books is New Zealand Native Trees, a field guide published across two books as part of the ‘Mobil New Zealand Nature Series’.
In her introduction to New Zealand Native Trees (1), Adams provides beautiful and comprehensive descriptions of the three types of New Zealand forest - podocarp-mixed broafleaf, kauri, and beech - suggesting which species of tree may be found there and on which level of the forest they might grow. She also describes the growth of native trees in areas other than the forest, on farmland, riparian areas and coasts, writing:
To make a study of native trees does not mean an excursion to remote and untouched areas of forest. Throughout New Zealand there are many large and small patches and pockets of native vegetation where a number of different trees may be seen.
The 35 species described in this book are illustrated with their own watercolour plates which depict the fully grown tree, the young tree, a branch of adult foliage, and an enlargement of the tree’s reproductive structure (i.e the fruit or seed cones). These helpful visual guides are accompanied by rich and engaging text describing the trees’ appearance, reproductive patterns, and habitat preferences. These descriptions evoke both the precise scientific accuracy and the warm, often whimsical accessibility that was also the hallmark of Adams’ illustrative style.
In her description of the northern rata, she writes:
"NORTHERN RATA is a lofty forest tree mostly overtopping the surrounding trees. It grows to a height of 30m (100 ft). The northern rata usually begins life as a perching seedling high in the branches of other forest trees. Roots descend from the young rata down the trunk of the host (often a rimu), to reach the ground. In time these roots become thick and woody, eventually uniting to form a massive trunk inside of which is the decaying trunk of the host- ancient rata trees are often hollow. The foliage of rata is dark green, the leaves are small and leathery with rounded indented tips and dotted with glands on the undersides. The flowers are a mass of bright red stamens borne in sprays on the tips of the branches. The small capsules split to release the fine, woody seeds. Northern rata is found in forest in the North Island and in the northern areas of the South Island to Westland."