Overview
In December 2020, Research Scientist Heidi Meudt and Collection Manager Antony Kusabs made botanical collections on Whanokao in the East Cape of the North Island, with permission from Ngāti Porou and Te Whānau ā Apanui. They were joined by Graeme Atkins (Ngāti Porou, Department of Conservation) and Wiremu Wharepapa (Te Whānau ā Apanui).
One population of a native Myosotis species was located (Myosotis forsteri). A herbarium specimen and leaf samples for DNA research were collected to help address key research questions as part of Te Papa's Myosotis research program. A second native Myosotis species that had been last collected on Whanokao in the 1970s (Myosotis amabilis) was searched for but not found.
Other indigenous and naturalised species were also collected as part of general Te Papa collection development to improve our knowledge of what grows where in New Zealand.
Most of the collection records and photos of plants we collected on this trip can be seen here (scroll down to "Related Objects" below).