DNA exposes ferns in international plant trade

AMERICAN scientists have used DNA to identify fake ferns.

DNA testing of garden ferns sold at some American plant nurseries has found that plants marketed as American natives may actually be exotic species from other parts of the globe.

The finding relied on a new technique called “DNA barcoding” that  uses small snippets of DNA to distinguish between species, in much the same way that a supermarket scanner uses the black lines in a barcode to identify cans of soup or boxes of cereal.

A team of North Carolina researchers suspected a fern might not be what the labels said it was.

When they pasted the DNA sequence of three of the plant’s genes into an online database, they discovered that what had been labeled as Wright’s lip fern (Cheilanthes wrightii), an American native popular in rock gardens and xeriscapes, was in fact a bristle cloak fern (C. distans), a relative from Australia.

Treemendous School Makeover

ALBANY School is one of four to win Treemendous School Makeovers having its grounds enhanced with a native tree garden.

Bucklands Beach Primary School (East Auckland), St Joseph’s School (New Plymouth) and East Taieri School (Dunedin) were also selected by the Mazda Foundation and Project Crimson Trust joint initiative from 94 schools.

“We’ve completed eight school makeovers,” says Mazda Foundation chairman Andrew Clearwater. “Many schools are now viewing environmental education as an important part of the curriculum and are  using their makeover areas as outdoor classrooms.”

Albany School’s grove, originally ‘out of bounds’ for students, is now transformed with seating, landscaping and mature native trees to attract native birds and insects, after teachers discussed the idea for five years before being able to put their plan into action.

View: www.projectcrimson.org.nz and www.mazdafoundation.org.nz

‘Camellia Ark’ shares rare plants

EG WATERHOUSE National Camellia Gardens - home to Australia’s largest and most diverse collection of camellias - is sharing rare camellia specimens with public gardens as part of its ‘Camellia Ark’ project.

The project is propagating some of the gardens rarer and most beautiful specimens to ensure the ongoing viability of the plants.

The ark contains 107 plants of 40 different varieties and this is set to grow to up to 75 different varieties.

Camellia growing in Australia reached its peak in the mid 19th century with the boom ending in the late 1880s.

Sydney’s leading nursery at the time listed 160 varieties in 1883 which had dropped off to 53 in 1891 and to 16 in 1916.

The Australian and New Zealand Camellia Research Society (ANZCRS) was established with five members in 1952 of which one was Professor EG Waterhouse, after whom the gardens are named.

The national camellia gardens has a collection of some 1150 camellias including 850 different varieties, a number of which are rare cultivars not found anywhere else in Australia with varieties originally cultivated in Europe, Japan, China and the United States.