The herbarium – and its use for biosecurity

Ines Schönberger Landcare Research Allan Herbarium

A herbarium is a collection of preserved plant specimens

The Allan Herbarium: New Zealand’s largest collection of dried plant specimens

Over 640 000 plant specimens

Ancillary collections

specialises in plants (indigenous and exotic) of the New Zealand region and Pacific

largest collections from the Subantarctic Islands of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans

forms part of the New Zealand National Herbarium Network

New Zealand National Herbarium Network

Harry Howard Barton Allan (1882–1957)

History of the collection CHR 1 collected 13 Oct 1928

Veronica serpyllifolia (Plantaginaceae)

Documentation of the introduction and dispersal of new weeds

First record of Velvetleaf in NZ (from 1968)

First record of the 2016 infestation

Distribution Map of Abutilon theophrasti

When and How did they get here? First Record and Distribution of Chrysanthemoides monilifera Boneseed

Garden Escapes

Camellia seedlings

Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan balsam) On the move?

First Record from 1925 Paparoa Ranges

Rotala indica (Willd.) Koehne - a water plant closely associated with rice cultivation and a plant used for fish tanks growing "wild" in New Plymouth?

Illegally Imported Turbina corymbosa sold on TradeMe

Identified using DNA techniques: well identified reference material was acquired from BRI. Both, the sample in question and the identified reference material had identical DNA.

Accidentally Imported Chloris barbata (swollen fingergrass) grown from seed which was in soil collected from shipping container imported from Tonga

Assessment of the presence of Alopecurus myosuroides (Blackgrass) in New Zealand

Blackgrass in a Barley crop

CHR 616078 Allan Herbarium, Landcare Research, New Zealand Piptochaetium depressum (Steud.) Pena Hernández, Negritto, Ruiz, E. & C.M. Baeza Det.: K.A. Ford Date: Dec 2011 Det. Note: Conf. Carol Myriam Peña Hernández 16 Feb 2012 Country: New Zealand LD: Canterbury Land District Loc.: Camp Bay, Lyttelton Harbour, Banks Peninsula Alt.: 70 m a.s.l. Lat./Long.: -43.62335 S172.78381 E Hab.: Improved dryland grassland. Observed Spp.: Nassella trichotoma; Rytidosperma spp.; Bromus spp.; Lolium perenne; Vulpia spp.; Elymus solandri; Festuca spp.; Anthoxanthum odoratum; Trifolium spp.; Dactylis glomerata; Cynosurus spp.; Rushes; Austrostipa scabra Coll.: C Lusk, G Hurrell Date: 9 Dec 2011 Remarks: CD with high-resolution photos by C Lusk, G Hurrell.

New discoveries

Range Extension of Equisetum arvense (field horsetail)

CHR 640084 Allan Herbarium, Landcare Research, New Zealand Equisetum arvense L. Det.: Randall Milne Date: 22 Feb 2016 Det. Note: Conf.: I. Schönberger & D. Glenny, 23/02/2016 First record for Southland Country: New Zealand LD: Southland Land District Loc.: 9 Eyre Street, Athol NZTM: 1254072E 4950056N Hab.: Gravel drive and garden beside drive Coll.: Randall Milne Date: 22 Feb 2016 Remarks: Common throughout area of 50m² Other reference no.: Plant Identification Number: 2015/0301

First South Island Record of Dysphania ambrosioides (American wormseed, Epazote, Mexican tea)

CHR 640087 Allan Herbarium, Landcare Research, New Zealand Dysphania ambrosioides (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants Det.: H. Maule Date: 24 Feb 2016 Country: New Zealand LD: Marlborough Land District Loc.: Marlborough Stock Sale Yards, State Highway 1, Riverlands, south of Blenheim Lat./Long.: -41°-32.394´ S 174°1.689´ E Hab.: Amongst the common Fathen in a pen Coll.: Rob Simons Date: Feb 2016 Other reference no.: Plant Identification Number: 2015/0304

Resource for plant identification

“Is this plant the rare wetland endemic species Hypericum rubicundulum?”

“… or is it the similar looking but introduced and weedy Hypericum humifusum?”

Abutilon grandifolium (Massey University, Palmerston North)

CHR 640122 Allan Herbarium, Landcare Research, New Zealand Abutilon grandifolium (Willd.) Sweet Det.: I. Schönberger Date: 12 Apr 2016 Det. Note: Conf.: P.B. Heenan, 12/04/2016 8-12 carpels. Long, simple spreading hair on branches and stems Country: New Zealand LD: Wellington Land District Loc.: Massey University, Palmerston North Coll.: Neil Mickleson Date: 8 Apr 2016 Other reference no.: Plant Identification Number: 2015/0415

Stem hairs of Abutilon. A A. grandifolium; B A. theophrasti

A. grandiflorum is an occasional garden escape. The form of stem hairs allows this sp. to be identified even from sterile material

The following services are offered • Plant Identification • Plant Information • Biostatus / Presence / Distribution in New

Zealand • Nomenclatural check • Accessioning (= vouchering) specimens

Sending plants for identification Plant Identification and Information Service Landcare Research PO Box 96040 LINCOLN 7640 Ph (03) 321 9797

Please provide email address we can send the ID report to

The information we require about your plant specimens

The locality of collection (grid reference) Habitat Habit (e.g. low shrub scrambling along

the ground, 10-m conical tree, climber) Biostatus (e.g. cultivated material, wild) Name of the collector and date of

collection

What we can’t do

• Identification of plant parts without distinguishing features (e.g. roots)

• establish the origin of an introduced weed and it’s taxonomy and nomenclature

• Give advice how to kill a problem weed

Developing tools and resources

• Databases • Digitisation • Interactive keys • eFlora

Databases Allan Herbarium Specimen Database

c. 240 000 records Records data from specimens

Plant Names Database

Scientific names of New Zealand plants Seed plants, ferns, mosses, lichens, liverworts

and freshwater algae over 47 000 records

Abutilon theophrasti in the Specimen Database

Digitisation Since late 2012 the Allan Herbarium is one of the partner herbaria of the Global Plants Initiative Herbscanner and the HerbScan frame and Aptus Camera (including desk, Lamp stand)

Projects: Type specimens of vascular plants Armstrong Collection New Adventives Threatened plants

New Zealand interactive keys

Australasian liverwort and hornwort genera Grasses NPPA/Weeds key Cultivated pines (SCION) Coprosma Flowering plant genera Native orchids (also available as smartphone App) Cotoneaster

Available (chronological order):

eFlora

Weed science research is greatly enhanced when substantiated by voucher specimens available for study by contemporaries and scientists in the decades and centuries to come. Much of what we know about the distributions of plant species is based upon label data on voucher specimens in herbarium collections, and there is enormous potential for using herbarium specimens and associated data to elucidate much about distributions, patterns of dispersal, and origins and relationships of weeds. We encourage weed scientists to work more closely with herbarium botanists, to support herbarium collections, and to document their research by depositing properly prepared voucher specimens in publicly accessible herbaria.