One in 13 of New Zealand's native plants is now threatened with extinction. Six species are already extinct - like the moa and the huia, they are gone forever. Even the popular kakabeak (Clianthus puniceus) is in a serious plight, with just one plant left in the wild. Another 24 species are known in the wild from fewer than 200 plants. This beautifully illustrated book combines precise botanical descriptions with lavish illustrations in describing the 189 species defined by conservation scientists as Extinct or Threatened, using the New Zealand Threat Classification System. Each description contains information on how to identify the plant in question, the specific threats it faces, and its current distribution. Threatened Plants of New Zealand is designed to be an essential tool in the fight against extinction, as well as a stunning showcase of the spectacular flora of a country in which new plant species are still being routinely recognised, 240 years after the first specimens were brought to the attention of the world's scientific community. This book is an initiative of the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network: www.nzpcn.org.nz.

Author Biography

Peter de Lange is a threatened plant scientist with the department of conservation in New Zealand, focusing on taxonomy, genetics, ecology, and threat classification systems. Peter Heenan is a plant taxonomist with Landcare Research in Christchurch, New Zealand, and has served on the New Zealand Threatened Plant Panel since 1999. David Norton is a botanist and ecologist who heads the Rural Ecology Research Group in the New Zealand School of Forestry at the University of Canterbury. Jeremy Rolfe is a botanical photographer who has worked for New Zealand's department of conservation since its inception in 1987, working mainly on interpreting the natural sciences to the public. John Sawyer is a plant ecologist who has worked for the department of conservation in New Zealand for 16 years, focusing on the conservation of threatened plants.