HONOUR FOR BOTANIST

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 83, 31 December 1937, Page 8

HONOUR FOR BOTANIST

Loder Cup for 1937 Awarded Auckland Museum The Loder Cup, which is offered annually to "lovers of Nature in New Zealand to encourage the protection and cultivation of the incomparable flora of the Dc—iinion," has been awarded for 1937 to the Auckland Institute and Museum, in assqciation with its botanist, ( Miss Lucy M. Cranwell. The cup was presented by the late Gerald W. Loder (afterwards Lord Wakehurst), in 1926, and until 1934 was awarded to the winner of an open competition for New Zealand plants at specified flower shows. Winners of the trophy in the present conditions of award have been; — 1934 — Lord Bledisloe. 1935 — Trustees of R. C. Bruce, Hunterville (in association with the name of Robert Cunningham Bruce). 1936 — J. Scott Thomson and G. Simpson (jointly), Dunedin. 1937 — Auckland Institute and Museum (in .association with the name of its botanist, Miss Luck M. Cranwell). The museum holds temporary displays of native flowers and paintings and competitions for the best decorative designs based on New Zealand flora. The Native Flower Show, a memorial to the work of Mr T. F. Cheeseman, which was first opened in 1932, and has been held annually since, attracted an attendance in Septembey, 1937, of 10.449. Permanent displays illustrate the classification of the plant kingdom, plant nutrition, • medicinal, and uses of plants by the Maoris. The native plant table has been kept covered witn fresh speciments of flowers and berries, for seven years. Eighty public lectures on native plants have been given by the botanist since 1931. At three Arbor Day talks the attendance of children has been 1100 or 1200 each year (Otahuhu 1934, 1936, 1937). In addition,- other members of the staff lecture regularly on Arboi Day. Life-histories of native trees have been illustrated for the travelling school cases, and material for talks is lent freely to school teachers. Some 160 popular articles on native plants have been contributed by the botanist to newspapers, and a few of these, written in collaboration with Professor A. Wall, have been printed in booklet form.