NEW ZEALAND—EGBERT H. WALKER 343 
pine (Pinus radiata). At first this phenomenon caused much alarm 
lest the native flora should be wiped out. When Darwin’s ideas on 
evolution through natural selection first came to people’s attention, 
much speculation arose in New Zealand as to whether new species 
and varieties would arise capable of overcoming the native flora. 
Observations, however, do not show evolution of new entities, nor 
have the fears of the extermination of native species been realized. 
Although there have been profound changes in the vegetation, there 
is no known record of the extinction of any species. If the full record 
of the New Zealand flora at the time of the white man’s first arrival 
were known, we might, however, be able to record today some extinct 
species. ‘The record of the existence and distribution of New Zealand 
plants is by no means complete even today. Local extermination has 
occurred in many places. For example, the antiscorbutic, Lepidium 
oleraceum (Cruciferae), which Captain Cook found abundant and 
which supplied his urgent need, is now rare, thanks to the depreda- 
tions of appreciative sheep. ‘The traveler will see and be shown many 
examples of formerly common but now rare plant species and the 
efforts being made to protect them. ‘They usually show maintenance 
vigor when man’s introduced grazing animals, sheep, goats, and 
rabbits, are eliminated. (See pl. 8, fig. 1, and pl. 9, fig. 2.) But at 
the same time aggressiveness is not confined to the introduced flora. 
Often when man has changed the natural habitats, indigenous species 
have been the invading weeds rather than vigorous exotics. The 
most notable of these are the manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) 
(pl. 5, fig. 2) and the bracken (Pteridiwm acquilinum var. esculentum), 
already described. 
Indeed, the introduced flora is well worth the traveler’s attention. 
BOTANICAL STUDY AND RESEARCH 
Scientific interest in New Zealand plants began with the first 
explorers. The noted botanists Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Daniel C. 
Solander accompanied Capt. James Cook on his first voyage to New 
Zealand in 1769. Most other expeditions that came here in the early 
days also made scientific observations and collections. We even owe 
some scientific knowledge to the early whaling voyages that preceded 
the settlement of New Zealand. The settlers were for the most part 
of a class which was alert and inclined to make observations, and many 
people recorded what they saw and sent collections to the European 
scientists. Officials and missionaries gleaned rareties from the 
countryside as they went about on business and mission trips. The 
nomenclature of New Zealand botany is full of memorials to their work, 
as Haastia (Compositae) for Sir Julius von Haast and Colensoa 
(Campanulaceae) for Rev. William Colenso. Scientists with various 
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