Botany of the Waikato

Forest and Bird, Issue 305, 1 August 2002, Page 44

Botany of the Waikato

Compiled by Bruce Clarkson, Merilyn Merrett and Theresa Downs, 136pp, limpbound, Waikato Botanical Society, c/o Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, Hamilton 2002, RRP $35.00. To the travelling naturalist, the Waikato looks about as botanically fascinating as the Canterbury Plains. From the vast pine plantations in the south, to the rolling green farms with their predominately English trees, this is a working landscape with few reminders of its wilderness past. Yet, as this book reveals, there are fascinating corners to be visited, including forested mountains at the fringes, and remnant wetlands about the river itself. More than a dozen members of the recently reformed Waikato Botanical Society have contributed essays to this volume. Their interests include changes through time, and the development of farming, so weed species occur along with the botanical

peculiarities of limestone landscapes and mountain forests. The approach is scientific but the Latin is relieved by a generous allowance of interpretative colour

photographs. Because the essays become site specific, Botany of the Waikato would make a good guide to getting off the beaten track and exploring the region’s more interesting corners.