22 December 2011
Thousands of votes were cast in the annual competition for New Zealand’s favourite native plant run by the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network (NZPCN).
With over 2350 species to choose from, New Zealander's picked
Kauri as our second favourite native plant this year. The Bamboo
Rush was elected the winner, providing awareness for this declining
species and it's shrinking wetland habitat.
Both Kauri and Bamboo Rush received several hundred votes: the
giant of the forest was pipped at the pose with Bamboo rush
receiving approximately 10% more votes than kauri.
The top three plant species:
1. Bamboo Rush (Sporadanthus ferrugineus)
2. Kauri (Agathis australis)
3. NZ calceolaria (Jovellana sinclairii)
The reasons people voted for kauri included the following
examples:
"Like an old grandfather clock that in some odd way seems to be
older than time itself the kauri is ancient and majestic" -
Alistair
"Kauri is an extreme plant. It can grow extremely big, extremely
old and is extremely beautiful. It also has extreme effects on its
environment that allows a suite of allied and unusual species to
grow with it" - Bruce
"The majestic presence of Tane Mahuta in the Waipoua Forest is
an iconic image for Northland and NZ, standing for over 2,000 years
and watching over our growth. I like that Kauri change over time,
growing shoulder to shoulder with others for the first 20 years of
its life, then begins to change and stand out from the crowd." -
Sue
"Its majesty, its place in the forest community, its beauty and
its mana make it stand head and shoulders above the rest (no pun
intended!). Plus we need to amp up the PR around this tree to help
save it from evil PTA!" - Rachel
The plight against kauri dieback was common amongst the motives
for voting for kauri.
For more information visit www.nzpcn.org.nz