Precious native plant back from brink

PRIZED: Minister for Conservation Maggie Barry shares a moment with visiting youngsters from Ngati Kohatu and Ngati Hinehika iwi at yesterday's ceremony. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

A rare and tasty white-flowered plant has been nursed from the brink of extinction at Scion in Rotorua and delivered home to the East Coast.

In a ceremony at the crown research institute yesterday 100 white ngutukaka plants were gifted back to Ngati Kohatu and Ngati Hinehika iwi to be planted on their ancestral land at Te Reinga marae at Wairoa.

The white variant of the usually red ngutukaka, more commonly known as kakabeak, was last seen growing in the wild in the 1950s at Tiniroto cliffs near Wairoa and was considered extinct. A chance discovery of a bag of seeds stored in someone's garden shed led to the discovery of the native plant. Through genetic testing, the plant's origins have been traced back to the Wairoa region.

Minister for Conservation Maggie Barry yesterday shared her tips on the best way to propagate the plant, also known as clianthus. She said the plant was full of nectar and prized to birds and insects, snails and slugs and had "passed to the dark side, driven to extinction by animals that liked to eat it".

"It was a combination of the skills of Scion, the wairua of the plant and the aroha of the iwi that the plant is with us today - very few species can recover from this - once they are gone, they are gone forever."

Researcher Karen Te Kani, who led the project at Scion's nursery, said the project's success was due to "a lot of luck" and "a real labour of love". The seeds were difficult to germinate. She had lost hope when they remained dormant in a seed tray for months, until she dug them up, soaked them in hot water and resowed them.

The white ngutukaka is special to East Coast iwi. The delicate plant, in the image of a kaka beak, was one of very few ancient plants cultivated for its beauty. It can be seen adorned on panels inside marae and the red one was worn only by high-ranking chiefs. The precious taonga became established around New Zealand because it travelled the country when taken to marae and gifted as koha.

Scion general manager of forest science Brian Richardson said over the last four years Scion had been working with iwi, the Department of Conservation, Landcare Research and the Ngutukaka Recovery Group to preserve the rare native plants, safeguarding their survival for future generations. He hoped the occasion signified a significant step toward a continuing relationship with tangata whenua and "one step to restoration of the world of Tane".

A block of land surrounding Te Reinga marae at Wairoa has been fenced off to keep pests out in preparation for the plants.