Illustrations of the New Zealand Flora

1914

Special Collections QK 463 I946

Wellington: John Mackay, Government Printer

Thomas Frederic Cheeseman (1845-1923) began botanising soon after his arrival in New Zealand in 1854. He discovered many ‘new’ species, some of which he sent to Joseph Hooker. This Government-commissioned work features 268 native species drawn in 251 plates by Matilda Smith of the Royal Herbarium at Kew. Metrosideros parkinsonii or Parkinson’s rata is in the same genus as pohutakawa and can be found in the northwest of the South Island and on the Barrier Islands in the north. Named after Cook’s botanical artist, Sydney Parkinson, the rata flowers are a bright red.