Showing all 10 results
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Tōtara: A Natural and Cultural History
Artist/Author: Simpson, Philip$83.00 Add to cartThe ‘mighty tōtara’ is one of New Zealand’s most extraordinary trees. Among the biggest and oldest trees in the New Zealand forest, the heart of Maori carving and culture, trailing no. 8 wire as fence posts on settler farms, clambered up in the Pureora protests of the 1980s: the story of New Zealand can be told through tōtara. Simpson tells that story like nobody else could. In words and pictures, through waka and leaves, farmers and carvers, he takes us deep inside the trees: their botany and evolution, their role in Maori life and lore, their uses by Pakeha, and their current status in New Zealand’s environment and culture. By doing so, Simpson illuminates the natural world and the story of Maori and Pakeha in this country. New Zealand’s largest trees, the kauri Tane Mahuta and the tōtara Pouakani, are both thought to be around 1000 years old. They were here before humans were and their relatives will probably be here when we are gone. Tōtara has been central to life in New Zealand for thousands of years. Tōtara: A Natural and Cultural History tells a great tree’s story, and that is New Zealand’s story too.
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New Zealand Seaweeds: An Illustrated Guide
Artist/Author: Nelson, Wendy.$78.00 Add to cartThis book is the first photographic identification guide to New Zealand’s unique marine algae, by the country’s pre-eminent seaweed expert Wendy Nelson. Across three main sections covering green, brown and red algae, approximately 150 genera and 250 key species are described. Each species entry includes up-to-date information on nomenclature, type locality, morphology, habitat, distribution and notes on identification and key characteristics. The guide contains around 500 photographs, with each entry illustrated by either underwater or coastal photographs and supplemented by herbarium scans, microscopic photographs or reproductions of celebrated botanical artist Nancy Adams’ paintings from the original “Seaweeds of New Zealand: an illustrated guide”. Informative introductory chapters and breakout boxes introduce New Zealand’s seaweeds, giving an overview of the country’s aquatic flora and its unique features, information about the coastal environment, macroalgal ecology, distribution and introduced/invasive species, plus material on the uses of macroalgae (particularly in New Zealand by Maori) and the widespread commercial applications of these diverse plants.
An essential, all-new reference for professional and recreational users. -
An illustrated guide to common grasses, sedges and rushes of New Zealand.
Artist/Author: Champion, Paul et al.$65.00 Add to cartFeatures include an easy-to-follow format, with keys for each category (grass, sedge, rush) to aid identification, excellent colour photographs throughout, and a fully illustrated colour glossary.
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New Zealand’s native trees: a comprehensive illustrated encyclopedia.
Artist/Author: Dawson, John and Bob Lucas.$150.00 Add to cartNew Zealand’s Native Trees is a landmark book that describes and generously illustrates more than 250 species. This comprehensive reference begins with the magnificent conifers and iconic tree ferns, and gives full treatment to the numerous flowering species, including the distinctive southern beeches, the often-overlooked coprosmas and the curious tree daisies. The text for each species describes every botanical feature in detail, along with habitat, ecology and key relationships with other plants and animals. More than 2000 superb photographs illustrate fascinating close details along with wider views of specimens and habitats. It is a beautiful and essential reference for every New Zealand home, school and library.
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Illustrated guide to common weeds of New Zealand.
Artist/Author: Popay, Ian et al.$60.00 Add to cartAimed at a wide audience, with colour photographs and simple text, this popular and indispensable guide to the identification of weeds in New Zealand is now in its third edition. The 2010 edition is bigger and better, with over 600 species and more than 1500 stunning new photographs which provide an excellent aid to identification. Each plant receives a general introduction, and is then described in detail; the usefulness or toxicity of the plant is also addressed and derivation of botanical names is given. Plants are listed by both botanical and common names, and indexes enable easy searching, but for those unfamiliar with a plant there is a section to help identify a plant from information about flower colour and size, the kind of plant it is and where it occurs. The text has been updated to accommodate changes to the legislation governing pest plants.
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Threatened plants of New Zealand.
Artist/Author: De Lange, Peter et al.$100.00 Add to cartProviding the first full, comprehensive list of officially classified threatened New Zealand plants – 186 threatened and 6 extinct native vascular plants – this ready reference contains the distinguishing features of each plant, the specific threat it faces, and its current distribution, enabling the user to identify threatened vascular plants by providing clear, technical botanical descriptions, notes, and full-colour visuals. This handy guide was designed not only as an essential tool in the fight against extinction but also as a stunning showcase of the spectacular flora of New Zealand.
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Plants that poison: a New Zealand guide.
Artist/Author: Connor, Henry and John Fountain.$30.00 Add to cartWritten by a leading authority on poisonous plants and an expert in human poisonings, Plants that poison: a New Zealand guide is a guide to a selection of plants and mushrooms with toxic properties that can be found in New Zealand – in back yards, public gardens, school playgrounds, on roadsides and in waste ground. With a particular focus on plants that are of concern for children, the emphasis is on safety through education, to help you understand the risks so that you can avoid them. There is advice on what to do if you think you or your child has eaten something poisonous, and a section on toxic mechanisms – how the poisons act on the human body, the signs and symptoms of poisoning, and the treatment likely to be necessary. Enlivened with historical background and interesting folklore, and comprehensively illustrated with colour photographs to aid identification, this book provides a practical and measured response to demand for information about poisonous plants in New Zealand.
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Know Your New Zealand Trees
Artist/Author: Metcalf, Lawrie.$30.00 Add to cartAn introduction to over 80 of New Zealand’s best-known trees. The text includes key facts on shape and appearance, foliage, blossom and fruit details to enable indentification. Each entry is accompanied by a succinct data panel and colour photograph.
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Pohutukawa and Rata: New Zealand’s iron-hearted trees.
Artist/Author: Simpson, Philip.$60.00 Add to cartThis book is a celebrations of pohutukawa and rata, as well as a passionate call for their preservation. Full of fascinating research, it explores their evolution and development, their role in Maori mythology, their language and spiritual life, their value to Pakeha and their many surprising uses. Generously illustrated.
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An illustrated guide to New Zealand Hebes.
Artist/Author: Bayly, Michael and Alison Kellow.$100.00 Add to cartHebes are remarkable for their ecological diversity, inhabiting wild places from coastal rocks to the high alps and taking many varied and striking forms. This book is a comprehensive guide to the identification, classification and biology of Hebes. Each species is described in detail, with distribution maps, a page of full-colour photographs and information on recognition, variation, flowering time, chromosome number, botanical nomenclature and etymology.
