Bush carpentry

Over the weekend, we had the great privilege of ascending Mt Percy/Taraoneone; a maunga on Wairarapa’s eastern coastline which is home to the sole population of one of our most endangered plants – the golden-flowered tree daisy, Brachyglottis pentacopa.

As we moved through the upper parts of Taraoneone with B. pentacopa‘s protector-in-chief, Trevor Thompson, we noticed that a kanuka tree was partially leaning on a mature specimen of B. pentacopa, which was also in seed.

In the rare instance that one can help mitigate one of the multitude of threats that species like B.pentacopa face, research trips should not be confined solely to looking; especially when one of your party comes prepared with a pruning saw (in this case, Trevor). Accordingly, Logan, Trevor and I set to dismantling the fallen kanuka that was gradually moving towards a state of collapse that was likely to take out one of only c. 80 plants left in the wild.

Clearly, the fact that the events of the day are appearing here indicates that we managed to shift the offending kanuka with no effect on the B. pentacopa. When you’re dealing with 1% (or more) of the world population of a given species, you take your time.

The image below shows the effect that the kanuka had already had on this plant, although we were more concerned about inevitable future damage of a more dramatic nature. All of which adds up to a small gesture in comparison with the consistent efforts and attention that Trevor has extended to many of Wairarapa’s rare plants and environments for decades.

With the exception of the closeup of unfurling flowers, the photos included within this journal article are provided by David Straight. As with all other images on the O2 Landscapes website, ownership resides with the photographer, and these images may not be used or reproduced without the consent of both David and O2 Landscapes.