Flora Novae-Zelandiae

Preface (J.D. Hooker)

Editor’s note: This is the brief introduction (5 pages) that Hooker wrote when he began the publication of the Flora Novae-Zelandiae in 1852. I have referred to it as the 'preface' to distinguish it from the much longer 'Introductory Essay' that appeared when the work was complete. The original footnotes are shown [in brackets]. Hyperlinks in the text will take you to other information on this site about the person, etc referred to: use your browser’s "Back" button to return to this page.

Introduction to the Flora Of New Zealand

I have long felt earnestly desirous of promoting a love and knowledge of the Science of Botany in those English Colonies which it has been my good fortune to visit; and the present work offers me in part an opportunity of doing so; for though it was called for by professed Botanists, and is therefore more scientific than a popular Flora should be, I have added to the technical characters such English descriptions as will enable the resident to name his plants, and I have written these in the simplest language that can be applied to Botany. To make my object clearer, I shall, before commencing, explain the nature and character of this work, and, addressing myself more especially to the Colonist, point out what is the course lie should pursue in commencing the study of Botany.

I have endeavoured to give, in ‘The Flora of New Zealand,’ accurate descriptions of all the Flowering Plants and Ferns, natives of the three islands, with their localities, and some general information respecting them. The Mosses, Hepaticae, Lichens, Fungi, etc., are so numerous, and objects of so special a study, that they cannot all be described. As the greater proportion of them are common to other countries, and published in other works, few, except new species, will be characterized or figured here; but all will be introduced with references, their habitats, and additional information where necessary.

The state of botanical science demands Latin descriptions of the plants: this is all that Botanists require; but I have invariably added, in English, as much as will enable the Colonist to identify them, provided he knows the rudiments of Botany. Although England holds so many more Colonies than any other nation, of none has a Flora been published: I know from experience how great a desideratum this is, and I have heard the want deplored in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, especially. The Great Exhibition of 1851 has forcibly shown this, the vegetable productions of our Colonies being almost invariably so badly named, that the often valuable information given with them, and collected at great cost and trouble, is, in most cases of novelty, useless in England.

It will be my endeavour to remedy this defect, as far as New Zealand is concerned; but I fear there are difficulties at the outset, which will deter many from taking advantage of my attempt. In the first place, it is impossible to write Botanical descriptions which a person ignorant of Botany can understand; although it is supposed by many unacquainted with science, that this can and should be done. Such persons would allow that it requires a special study, and the knowledge of various technical terms, to determine a latitude, or measure a mountain; and they regard the proficient in these matters as profoundly learned: they forget that no more science is required in following practically the operations of the astronomer or surveyor, than in naming plants by artificial systems. Both are nevertheless very useful operations, involving a certain amount of application, and the acquirement of some technical knowledge; and are equally capable of being turned to good account upon every occasion, though their exercise demands no high effort of the mind, and their pursuit does not make a man scientific. On the other hand, to assign to plants their positions in the Natural System requires an infinitely higher exercise of the faculties; and is one which, if it does not rank with the profound abstractions of the astronomer and mathematician, demands more study and experience than is usually supposed. If, however, I have not been able to write down to the capacity of those unacquainted with the nature of plants, and who will not take the trouble to gain this knowledge, I have at least endeavoured to avoid all unnecessary technicalities and repetitions, and to give, as briefly as possible, such information as will identify a plant.

I would strongly recommend the beginner first to acquire the scientific names of a few conspicuous New Zealand plants, either through some friend, or by aid of the native names (whose imperfection I extremely regret), or by the figures, or the notes appended to the descriptions; and to observe which of them are European. Then let him take any elementary work, and refer these plants to their Natural Orders, of which the characters should be studied carefully, and a complete knowledge acquired of the relations and uses of each part. Take, for instance, “Puawhananga,” the first plant in this book: it is well known, and impossible to be mistaken: it belongs to an English Natural Order a description of which will be found in Dr. Lindley’s ‘School Botany,’ and should be studied with the plant. By repeating this operation several times the student will insensibly acquire a knowledge of the New Zealand Flora, for the study of one leads to the determination of many.

I have not given the characters of the Natural Orders, as a knowledge of them belongs rather to the grammar of Botany, and they are not necessary for scientific Botanists ; but I shall append to the Introduction an English Synopsis of the New Zealand ones. In the meanwhile, the beginner should possess himself of Dr. Lindley’s ‘Vegetable Kingdom*;” [* A very thick octavo volume, with admirable woodcuts, and full descriptions, written in the simplest language, of all the Natural Orders, their relations, uses, distribution, etc. The price is 30s., that of the ‘School Botany,’ 5s. 6d., and that of the ‘Elements of Botany,’ 12s. It is much to be desired that these and similar works be added to colonial schools and public libraries. Dr. Balfour’s ‘Manual’ costs 12s. 6d.] and, to master the rudiments of the science, also of his ‘School Botany’ and Elements of Botany,’ or Dr. Balfour’s ‘Manual;’ works that will afford him every facility for acquiring a thorough elementary knowledge of the subject. One prominent but unavoidable drawback will appear common to the three latter books—their being illustrated by numerous woodcuts of English, and not of New Zealand plants: this objection is, however, more apparent than real, for a garden will supply many of the deficiencies, and the task of seeking for allied wild plants in lieu of the others will prove very instructive.

It remains to say something of the plan I have followed, and to explain some common abbreviations which look puzzling. The arrangement is according to the Natural System. A Latin description of the genus is given, for the use of Botanists: the letters immediately following the generic name indicate the author who first proposed it. Of these “DC.” is very common, and stands for the late A. P. De Candolle, all eminent Genevese Professor of Botany, who was the author of the first eight volumes of the only good general work on Systematic Botany which was ever carried out on the Natural System, and which is now being continued by his son Alphonse, and other authors. “Br.’’ indicates Mr Robert Brown, the greatest botanist of this or any other age, and who is known wherever science is appreciated: he is Keeper of the Botanical Collections in the British Museum and accompanied Captain Flinders’s voyage of survey to Australia in 1801. “L.” or “Linn.” always stands for Linnaeus, and “Juss.” for Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, who is regarded as the systematizer of the Natural Orders of plants. To the Latin generic character succeeds a popular English description, containing only so much technical matter as shall enable the New Zealand student to determine to which genus his plant belongs. What accompanies this is intended to convey some idea of the importance of the genus, relatively to the New Zealand Flora, and to the Vegetable Kingdom in general; containing also general information concerning its distribution, the origin of its name (which frequently helps to impress it on the memory), and often more abstruse matter, intended only for the proficient in Botany.

Under the Genera, the species are arranged and first in Latin*, [* Except in the case of some plants, so very common, that the botanist for whom the Latin descriptions are intended, requires none.] with quotations of a limited number of the authors who have previously described each. Of these the following are the most important. Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Solander visited the Northern Island during Cook’s first voyage, and made magnificent collections, which, with a series of drawings and manuscripts, are now deposited in the British Museum: they published no general account of their discoveries, but descriptions of many were contributed to various authors. The two Forsters (father and son) accompanied Cook’s second voyage and the plants they collected were briefly and described by Dr. Sparrmann, in a work called ‘Forster’s Prodromus.’ M. A. Richard published a work in Paris, from the materials collected during Admiral D’Urville’s in 1827. In 1837 the late Mr. Allan Cunningham (Colonial Botanist at Sydney), having visited the Bay of Islands and adjacent coasts (as his brother Richard had also previously done), drew up a ‘Prodromus Flora Novae Zelandiae,’ containing the names of all the plants then known to inhabit the islands, and descriptions of many: this was published by fragments in the ‘Companion to the Botanical Magazine,’ and ‘Annals of Natural History of London,’ about the year 1839. “DC. Prodr.” refers to De Candolle’s `Prodromus,’ the great work alluded to above as designed to describe all known plants. M. Raoul’s ‘Choix des Plantes’ is a beautifully illustrated book on the new plants brought by himself from the Bay of Islands and Banks’ Peninsula, in 1843. These, and the ‘Flora Antarctica,’ which comprises all the plants of Lord Auckland’s Group and Campbell’s Island (collected during Sir James Ross’s Antarctic Voyage in 1839–43), are the principal works referred to. I have, as far as possible, avoided quoting pages, etc., except where there is some object for doing so; as in cases of doubt with regard to the identity of the plant described with the name quoted, or when the work in question contains a good figure, or matter worth consulting relative to the species. It is impossible to define what works should or should not be quoted, under the various species; but quotations in detail are often a waste of time and space, when appended to what ought to be a sufficient description.

Habitats follow the Latin character, and these, too, I have curtailed as much as possible. We are very far from having even a tolerable knowledge of the distribution of species in New Zealand; and of about six to seven hundred flowering plants, fully two-thirds have been gathered by five or six collectors, and one-half by twenty or thirty; for the number of small collections that have been formed at a few places is very great. Of plants which are evidently common throughout the islands, I mention the discoverers only: these are generally Banks and Solander, or Forster. I name the more recent collectors only when they are discoverers, or detectors of rare plants in new or remarkable localities. Amongst these, Mr. Bidwill, and the Rev. William Colenso, stand prominently forward; as do Drs. Sinclair, Dieffenbach, and Lyall; but it must not be supposed that because their names appear comparatively seldom, they made small collections; they have, on the contrary, contributed most of the common plants, as well as many new and rare ones. One very important consideration, namely, elevation above the sea, is never alluded to in these habitats; and it is a serious desideratum[.] I would recommend the plan of carefully determining elevations by the temperature of boiling water, as amply sufficient for all botanical purposes*. [* These should be calculated from the mean height of the barometer at the level of the sea, for the month; it is seldom sufficient to assume that element, or to take the mean annual height for it.] This is an entirely new and most interesting field for investigation with reference to the New Zealand Flora, and will amply repay investigation. Of Alpine plants I have very few indeed, and the lofty mountains of the Northern Island appear to be comparatively poor in species; for the collectors who have visited Tongariro, Mount Egmont, etc., all bring the same plants, which are also, in many cases, natives of the level of the sea much further south, as at Dusky Bay. It must be borne in mind, that though New Zealand is luxuriantly clothed with vegetation, it possesses remarkably few kinds of plants; the little island of Tasmania has nearly twice as many flowering plants, though fewer flowerless ones. These questions, relative to the geographical distribution of the genera and orders, will be treated of separately in the Introduction to this work. Such habitats as “Bay of Islands,” “Auckland,” “Canterbury,” must be taken as implying a radius of twenty to forty miles; and I am often perplexed by collectors sending as localities the names of insignificant hamlets or streams, which are not to be found in attainable maps and convey no meaning whatever: these are often attached to the plants but sometimes to scarce and local ones. Lastly, I have not found it necessary to quote my own collections, which were made at the Bay of Islands in 1841, and include 250 to 300 species of flowering plants. I have added the native name wherever I have one on what I suppose sufficiently good authority to render its recognition probable: but the differences of dialect, pronunciation, and spelling are so great, and have confused me so much that I have little hope of giving satisfaction to the New Zealand scholar, especially as I am not acquainted with the language; but if the publication of one such name out of five assists the student in the determination of a plant, I shall feel that the labour of collecting them has not been in vain.

All English of very variable length and importance concludes the account of each species. Where the genus contains only one species, a sufficient description will often be found under that of the genus; where many, the chief and diagnostic characters are generally sufficient. In many cases a few words answer the purpose of a long description, as, for example, with the first plant in the book, Clematis indivisa: supposing the student to have referred it to its proper genus, the size of the flowers will sufficiently identify its species; while to introduce a complete history of each plant would increase the work beyond all reasonable bounds, and serve no useful purpose.

In conclusion, let me assure those who have time and inclination to take up the study of Botany, that the difficulties are more apparent than real: and that he who overcomes them, relying on his own resources, will thereafter make more rapid progress than the tutored pupil. I would also recommend that the knowledge obtained, be fixed, accumulated and distributed, by forming and naming collections of dried plants, and depositing them in public and private colonial schools and libraries. During a residence of some years in our colonies and foreign possessions, I have observed that the residents are invariably anxious to acquire the names of the plants around them: they regret not having learnt the rudiments of Botany in their youth, and are most desirous that their children should be instructed in them; feeling that their practical knowledge, however accurate and extensive, is useless beyond their own sphere. On my return to England I was no less struck with the fact (which, as a juror, was prominently brought before me), that for want of a little botanical knowledge on the part of the exhibitors, large collections of vegetable produce, sent to the Great Exhibition, were rendered all but valueless:—and that, amongst these, the contributions of New Zealand were conspicuous.

Kew, April, 1852.

[BACK to top of page]

[RETURN to list of writings]

[Welcome] · [Biography] · [Writings] · [Collectors] · [Links] · [Archives] · [Sources] · [Search] · [Site info]