Auckland Botanic gardens

We grow wild plants from both NZ and elsewhere in the world which are threatened with extinction. We also have collections of cultivars which are now uncommon or no longer in cultivation. Growing these plants enables us to provide plant material for research, education, cultivation and perhaps reintroduction to the wild or back into commercial horticulture.

Native Plants

We work in partnership with other agencies, such as the Department of Conservation (DOC), to assist with the recovery of native plants in the Auckland region by:

• Growing nationally and regionally threatened plants for return to the wild, particularly when only one or a few plants are left in the wild (e.g. shore spurge Euphorbia glauca)
• Managing groups of plants as seed orchards e.g. kakabeak (Clianthus puniceus) so seed can be collected whenever it is needed for reintroduction projects
• Collecting seed for the NZ seed bank
• Researching threatened plants e.g. pollination, pest & disease or propagation requirements
• Showcasing threatened plants so you can get up close and learn more about them
• Providing a place for training people for surveying threatened plants in the wild
• Growing over 60,000 native plants a year to restore native ecosystems Auckland wide.

Threatened Plants from Overseas

Some plants in our collections were collected from the wild overseas. If these are threatened in their country of origin it is important we keep them should anything happen to that species in its home range. One exotic threatened species growing here is Camellia nitidissima a beautiful yellow flowered camellia from southern Guangxi in China.

Cultivar Conservation

Ornamental plant production is driven by gardening trends some great garden plants not ‘in-fashion’ have disappeared from the trade. If developed in NZ these plants are part of our cultural heritage. Others may contain useful traits for future plant breeding.

Cultivars will be conserved here if:

• they are a plant we want to promote as suitable for Auckland
• they are useful breeding stock for a plant we are likely to breed
• it is bred in NZ