NEXT MEETING:
MEETING: Monday 2 November 2026 at 7:30 pm. At St Alban’s Community Centre, 1049 Colombo Street, Christchurch (parking available at 126 Caledonian Road, see https://www.sacc.org.nz/). Speaker: Sarah Wyse. Topic: A higher-elevtion Pinus Hybrid: Forestry and risks.
Sarah is a Senior Lecturer in Forest Ecology at the School of Forestry, University of Canterbury. Sarah teaches courses on forest biology, forest ecology, and environmental forestry in the Forestry Science degree programme. Her research interests are seed ecology and conservation, restoration ecology, and the spread and impacts of wilding conifers.
Sarah will present to the Botanical Society her work on Pinus radiata x attenuata hybrids. Pinus radiata × attenuata is a hybrid taxon that has been trialled for forestry suitability in New Zealand. The taxon performs favourably compared to Pinus radiata at higher elevation sites due to its greater cold tolerance, and as such is now beginning to be planted by the forestry industry at higher elevation sites that are typically unsuitable for P. radiata afforestation. It has been assumed that the likelihood of invasive spread by P. radiata × attenuata from areas of afforestation is low. Sarah’s research shows that seeds of Pinus radiata x attenuata hybrids are viable and present some spread risk.
Sarah’s other research interests include the seed storage behaviour of New Zealand flora. Communities around New Zealand are embarking on seed banking projects as a back up to in-situ and ex-situ plant conservation work. The work done by Sarah and her team shows that about 80 percent of New Zealand’s woody plant species can be successfully preserved using conventional seed banking, in which seeds are dried and frozen for long-term storage. However, seed from some plants – particularly New Zealand’s tall forest trees, with large bird-dispersed seeds – can’t be successfully conserved in this way.
NEXT FIELD TRIP:
FIELD TRIP: Saturday 7 November 2026. Steephead Conservation area, Le Bons Bay
This visit is a long day out. The drive of 110 kilometers takes a good two hours there and back on winding roads. In the past couple of years the Department of Conservation have fenced the conservation land, established a legal easement over the farmland, and shot out the deer. Once there, you will walk through tall secondary podocarp-hardwood forest, wind-sheared coastal forest, and a copse of nikau growing on the edge of a tiny stream that falls abruptly over a high cliff to the sea.
Voting: it will be election day – make sure you cast an advanced vote!
Where to meet: Meet at 8.15 am to carpool from the Halswell Bowling Green carpark, 301 Halswell Road. Alternatively, meet at 9 am in the carpark behind the cafe in Little River.
Suitability: Steep, untracked bush with fences to climb over.
What to bring: Your lunch, thermos/drink bottle, warm jacket, woolly hat, sunhat. Wear boots.
Cost: Suggested petrol reimbursement of $25 to drivers if you get a ride with someone else (calculated from $1/km, 4 to a car).
iNaturalist: Public land, iNaturalist observations are welcome.
Trip leader/s: Please contact Alice at 027-366-1246 if you intend to come along so you can be kept informed should the trip be cancelled.
Covid-19 Notice: Canterbury Botanical Society committee encourages members to take measures to reduce transmission risk of Covid-19 (and other respiratory illnesses) at Bot Soc events. Face coverings/masks and normal Covid-19 precautions (e.g. physical distancing where possible) are welcomed. Please do not attend Bot Soc meetings or field trips if you have Covid or any cold/flu symptoms.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
CAMP: November 12-16 (Show Weekend). Westport.
MEETING: Monday 7 December 2026. Liadan Dickie (MSc Student, University of Canterbury). Liadan was awarded a Botanical Society Student Grant in 2025 and will speak about her MSc thesis research.
FIELD TRIP: Saturday 12 December 2026. Alpine Trip
ABOUT CANTERBURY BOTANICAL SOCIETY MEETINGS & FIELD TRIPS
The Society holds monthly evening meetings, usually on the first Monday of each month. Meetings start at 7.30 pm. We organise a speaker and follow the meeting with an informal supper and chat.
All members participating in Canterbury Botanical Society activities must abide by our Health and Safety Policy and Member Health and Safety Guide.
Field trips are usually held on the Saturday following the evening meeting. Trips in the winter months are to places closer to Christchurch, while in the warmer months we take advantage of the longer daylight hours to venture further afield.
In November, we usually have a 3-day spring camp held over Show Weekend (Canterbury Anniversary weekend). We sometimes also have a summer camp in January or February. We book affordable accommodation and make daily excursions from this point.
Occasionally we hold workshops on specific topics.
The AGM is usually held the week after King’s Birthday weekend. After the AGM we have a speaker, followed by a shared supper or lunch.
Information for speakers
The meeting room has a data projector (and cable) but you need to bring your own laptop or advise the meeting organiser that they need to bring one. Please check that your laptop is able to connect to an external projector.
