Native Plant Information
We have made these cards for all of the plants that we regularly talk about on bushwalks, or when doing restoration plantings. They are full interesting information and fun facts. We are trying to lift the veil of ‘green-blindness’ for our tamariki. This means that instead of seeing everything as just ‘green plants’, they start to be able to differentiate between different species. We hope that they will start to understand that each plant has a unique place in our ecosystem and provides food and habitat to different species of birds, lizards, and invertebrates.
We love getting tamariki using their senses to identify plants, so we’ve mentioned some of the edible species, and the way that some plants feel or smell. We have also tried to give you tips on how to identify plants using their leaves, bark, flowers, fruit, or seeds. Please take care to correctly identify any plants that you eat, as some plants can make you very unwell.
We have mentioned ways that many plants were used traditionally by Māori or by early European settlers. Of course, many of these plants are still used regularly for these purposes, particularly in rongoā Māori.
Our information has been gathered over the years from storytelling in the forest, internet sources, articles, and books. We have tried to fact check and make sure it is accurate, however, if you see something that you think we need to change, please let us know! Also, let us know if we have missed a plant that you feel should be included.
If you love these kinds of facts and want more, we highly recommend Andrew Crowe’s books, ‘Which Native Tree?’ ‘Which Native Forest Plant?’ and ‘Which Native Fern?’. We love these books and carry them with us when exploring the forest. They are fantastic!
