Rare gift given to the Botanical Gardens has been gratefully received.
Rare white kakabeak plants (ngutukaka) were gifted to the Botanical Gardens by the Te Reinga Marae Trust Board during a ceremony at the weekend.
Ngutukaka is New Zealand’s most widely recognised endangered plant. A variant of the red Kakabeak once grew at the Tiniroto cliffs near Wairoa but had not
been seen in the wild since the 1950s.
Crown research institute Scion propagated ngutukaka plants from seeds and passed them on to East Coast iwi Ngati Kohatu and Ngati Hine Hika to be planted back on their ancestral lands.
The Te Reinga Marae Trust Board has taken a lead role in the conservation of the kowhai ngutukaka and fenced off land at the marae to provide a safe area for the plants.
Project spokesperson Paul Grant says their objective is to plant as many as possible, with 150 plants donated to Morere Hot Springs, 130 to Rongowhakaata as well as five gifted to the Botanical Gardens.
