Unknown]]> Solanum tuberosum) skin infected with blight – Phytophthera infestans. This fungal organism (shown here as a light green tendril) turns potatoes to mush and was responsible for the Great Famine which devastated Ireland in the mid-19th century.]]> Robert Brendel]]> Salvia officinalis or common sage has been used for centuries to flavour food and as a medicinal remedy. It has been used in the past to ‘ward off evil’ and the Plague; as a cure for snakebites; a diuretic; a treatment for asthma; to stop bleeding; and more recently has ‘shown promise in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease’ (Perry, et al. 2005). Sage flowers are edible and come in the late spring and through the summer months.]]> Robert Brendel]]> Marchantia polymorpha (umbrella liverwort) grows worldwide. It is dioecious which means that the plant has separate male and female parts and this model depicts the female reproductive organ which can grow up to 10 centimetres in length; the ‘spokes’ of the umbrella-like structure house the egg-producing organs. The University of Cambridge hosts a website exclusively devoted to the liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha.]]> Robert Brendel]]> Pennantia baylisiana, the rarest tree in the world. This plant was discovered by Baylis while on a field trip on Great Island, part of Three Kings, 64 kms north of Cape Maria van Dieman, in 1963.]]> Murray Webb]]> University of Otago Magazine]]> University of Otago]]> Mary Winifred Betts]]> Elizabeth J. Batham and D. W. McArthur]]> Unknown]]> New Zealand Garden Journal, 2003). In 1997, she was made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, with her citation reading: ‘pioneer in the field of university botanic research’.]]> Unknown]]> Otago Daily Times]]> The Indigenous Grasses of New Zealand.]]> John Buchanan]]> Endeavour on the first Pacific expedition of 1768 to 1771. On his return to England, Solander helped Banks collate what is now known as Banks’ Florilegium. While at Teoneroa (Poverty Bay) he and Banks gathered almost 60 plant species, including the now familiar trees and shrubs: karaka, ngaio, kowhai (Sophora tetraptera), koromiko, and flax (Phormium tenax). An important part of Solander’s legacy is his manuscripts, 20 of which are in the British Museum. This copy is from his unpublished Primitiae Florae Novae Zelandiae [1770], the first documented list of the flora of New Zealand. Solander used Linnaeus’ binomial classification system (the Latin two-word tags) to classify the plants.]]> Daniel Solander]]> Botany Department]]> Botany Department]]> Botany Department]]> Botanical Society of Otago]]> Botany Department]]> Otago Daily Times]]> Otago Daily Times]]> (Aseroe rubra).]]> Unknown]]> Otago Daily Times]]> Otago Daily Times]]> Otago Daily Times]]> Lactarius hauroko ined.) is produced by a fungus that grows on the roots of southern beech (Nothofagus) trees. The mushroom is distinctive because it produces a milky latex on the gills and cap when damaged. The fungus benefits trees growth by enhancing phosphate nutrition.]]> Botany Department]]> Unknown]]> Latuca sativa) developing in culture.]]> Botany Department]]> Unknown]]> Botany Department]]>