Overview
New Zealand has seven known species of extinct vascular plants as a result of a change in land use, browsing animals, and over-collection:
- Lepidium amissum (Brassicaceae)
- Lepidium obtusatum (Brassicaceae)
- Logania depressa (Loganiaceae)
- Myosotis laingii (Boraginaceae)
- Myosotis traversii var. cinerascens (Boraginaceae)
- Stellaria elatinoides (Caryophyllaceae)
- Trilepidea adamsii (Loranthaceae)
Te Papa has specimens of all seven of these species represented in its herbarium collection (WELT). These can be seen in the below "Related Objects" images.
The book Threatened Plants of New Zealand is an excellent resource on threatened and extinct plants. On the off-chance that you think you see any of the below species in the wild, take a photo and publish it on inaturalist (https://inaturalist.nz/).
References
David Norton, Peter B. Heenan, and Peter J. de Lange. 2010. Threatened Plants of New Zealand. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.
Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley. 2018. Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. Department of Conservation, Wellington.