Dr Leon Perrie examines a fern in New Caledonia. Photo/ supplied
Dr Leon Perrie examines a fern in New Caledonia. Photo/ supplied
Gardeners puzzled and annoyed by name changes for their favourite plants get an explanation in a Whanganui talk next week.
The latest Nature Talks is at 7.30pm in Whanganui's Davis Lecture Theatre on April 17. It's free, and hosted by the Whanganui Museum Botanical Group.
In it fern expert LeonPerrie will explain how DNA analysis and other new techniques are causing the scientific names of some plants to be changed. Azaleas, for example, become rhododendrons. Hebes become veronicas.
Dr Perrie will use two ferns whose names have changed as examples. In one case he agrees with the change, in the other he doesn't.
He'll also talk about ferns in general, and about the way New Zealand's threatened plant species are trending - are they holding their own, or disappearing?
Dr Perrie is a botanical curator and researcher at Te Papa Tongarewa/The Museum of New Zealand, and has a Ph.D from Massey University. His research is focused on this country's ferns, and how they relate to species overseas.
