262 The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. [July 
importance, and the nvestigation of other questions of biological signific¬ 
ance. Of secondary importance are the identification of plants in response 
to inquiries, and the acquisition by exchange of specimens of foreign plants 
allied to native ones and throwing light on their origin and affinities. 
This work is mainly of a strictly scientific character, but with many known 
and also many unforeseen applications to the interests of practical life. 
Tt cannot, of course, be overtaken in a short time, but the need for an 
early start is obvious and urgent. 
Much has already been done in the investigation of the flowering-plants 
and ferns of New Zealand ; but in the great divisions of cryptogamic 
botany ranking below the ferns there is scope for a vast amount of 
research. In this wide field but little has been done by local workers 
to advance our knowledge. This is due to the complete absence of local 
collections within the Dominion, to the difficulty in procuring the litera¬ 
ture of the various divisions, to the difficulty in preserving specimens for 
future examination, and to radical changes in classification since the older 
standard works were written. It is in the working-up of this vast domain 
that a national herbarium is most sorely needed. 
I have described the herbarium we seem to^ need as a comprehensive 
one. It should be comprehensive in the sense that it would omit no 
section of vegetable life from its purview ; the Algae, the Fungi, the 
Lichens, and so on, would be as welcome to its inquiries as the most useful 
and attractive flowering-plants. It should be comprehensive also in the 
sense that it would aim at acquiring large suites of specimens of as many 
as possible of the species, varieties, and local forms, gathered from many 
diverse stations within the range of each. In this respect a great public 
institution would obviously possess enormous advantage over private 
workers. The possession of large series of specimens of the lower units 
of classification is necessary for their correct delimitation, and might well 
help in throwing light on the evolution of new plant-forms, for these appear 
first of all as varieties or local forms or races. It is in this direction that 
the intensive study of the native plants is likely to prove most fruitful.. 
The garden cultivation of local forms and of varieties should also be part 
of the task of a Director of Plant Research. 
Moreover, the plant population of this Dominion is undergoing rapid 
change. The host of foreign plants that enters it uninvited from all 
quarters of the globe goes on increasing year by year. The spread of 
settlement and the pastoral occupation of the rougher areas likewise go 
on apace, bringing many changes in their train. A good many native 
species are now greatly restricted in the number of individuals growing, 
and some may even be in danger of early extinction. In these circum¬ 
stances it is most desirable that suitable collections of the rarer native 
plants should be made before adverse changes have further reduced their 
numbers, and especially that species threatened with extinction should be 
grown under garden conditions and be protected in a state of nature by 
suitable plant-sanctuaries, like the valuable Ruapehu-Tongariro Reserve, 
where such can be provided. 
In view of what has been set forth above I gladly take the present 
opportunity to urge on the members of the New Zealand Institute the 
need for speedy public action in founding a comprehensive plant-museum 
for the Dominion. And I would beg the Board of Governors of the 
Institute to impress on the Government the duty which it owes to the 
people of New Zealand and to the scientific world in the matter of organized 
plant research. 
