Rarer than the kakapo

Forest and Bird, Issue 265, 1 August 1992, Page 5

Rarer than the kakapo

THE MARLBOROUGH chalk cress (Cheesemania sp.), a plant believed to have been extinct for the last 15 years, has been rediscovered. In a search earlier this year, staff from the Department of Conservation found 45 chalk cress clinging to steep bluffs on private land in the Chalk Range in eastern Marlborough. Previous searches to the north and south by Forest and Bird and DoC staff over the past three years had failed to locate the cress. The Chalk Range and sites in the nearby Isolated Hill Scenic Reserve were the only known locations of the cress which was first discovered by DSIR scientists in 1953. There are seven known species of Cheesemania. One is restricted to Tasmania while the rest are endemic to the ~ South Island. This particular species is unusual in appearance with leaves that come back to a single point on a large root which extends from the

ground. The plant is highly palatable, and introduced browsing animals such as goats, possums, sheep and hares were thought to have eaten the plant to extinction by the 1970s. Ecologist Shannel Courtney of Nelson, whose hunch that the cress was still surviving led to the search, said plants such as the chalk cress were an important part of New Zealand’s distinctive natural character. "Plants are often overlooked in our efforts to save endangered species because they don’t engender the same human empathy as rare animals," he said. DoC staff have since returned to the range to collect seed from flowering plants. These have been successfully propagated in an effort to ensure the survival of the species. DoC will also look at ways in which the habitat of the plant can be protected. The plant is even rarer than the kakapo and 1s critically endangered.