Favourite Native Plant and Worst Weed Vote opens
Climbing broom (Carmichaelia kirkii)The 2013 Favourite Plant and Worst Weed Vote opened today. This annual vote has been run since 2002 and it never fails to attract votes from a wide range of local and international plant enthusiasts.
Based on comments by voters last year it seems one of the things Kiwis most value in native plants are traits we admire in ourselves. Our native plants are adaptable, resilient, complex and unique much like us. One voter’s comment from last year about climbing broom (Carmichaelia kirkii) neatly sums up the Kiwi attitude of quietly getting on with a job. “[This] rare plant spends most of its life in the shadow of bigger, taller plants, quietly climbing its way up until one day it flowers and shows its real beauty. Not a bad way to live life really.”
However, unlike New Zealand people, New Zealand plants are increasingly under threat. In a recently released assessment by the Department of Conservation over 11% of our native vascular plants were classified as ‘Threatened’ and nearly 30% classified as ‘At Risk’.
The Network holds Favourite Native Plant Vote to highlight the diverse and unique aspects of our native plants. Last year a new the Worst Weed category was added which also proved popular and probably somewhat therapeutic for the many New Zealanders who battle weeds regularly in their conservation projects, in gardens and on farms.
People are invited to vote via the Plant Conservation Network’s simple on-line system on www.nzpcn.org.nz. Voting closes at midnight on Sunday 29 December, with the results announced on Monday 30 December .
Posters promoting the vote can be downloaded by following the links below:
Posted: 08/12/2013