He Puāwai: A Natural History of New Zealand Flowers

Author Philip Garnock-Jones
Rights Available World excl. NZ

Aotearoa has at least 2,200 native species of flowering plants that have evolved here in unique conditions – the absence of long-tongued bees, and the presence of nectar-feeding birds and many pollinating flies. Eighty-five percent of these flowers grow nowhere else on earth. This has made New Zealand a natural laboratory for studies of flower biology and flower evolution.

This book is a natural history of New Zealand flowers focusing on 100 native species to represent the range of flower phenomena of Aotearoa – familiar iconic flowers of kōwhai, mānuka and pōhutukawa alongside small and rarely-noticed, but nevertheless important and interesting, flowers. There are oddities too, like the water-pollinated flowers of eelgrass, bat-pollinated blossoms of kiekie, and the world’s smallest flowers, Wolffia.

Each flower has a story that describes its structure and explains its functions alongside dual photographs that enable the reader (with the glasses to be included in the book) to view the flowers miraculously in 3D.

About the Author
Philip Garnock-Jones is a botanist, emeritus professor and former chair of botany at Victoria University Wellington. He is an internationally renowned expert on botanical evolution and the author of numerous scientific articles for local and international journals.