Project to Save Rare Plant has Positive Spin-off for Native Bat.

Story By Julie Milne of www.maungatrust.org

Photo courtesy of Des Williams (Department of Conservation)

Maungatautari, the site of a large scale restoration project aiming to exclude all introduced predators from the mountain, may soon be home again to Dactylanthus Taylorii, an ancient and unique member of New Zealand's flora. Providing a safe haven for this rare plant could in turn save our native short tailed bat.

The restoration project and predator-proof fence proposed at Maungatautari would allow dactylanthus to prosper without any further management, says Department of Conservation scientist Dr. Avi Holzapfel. A healthy flowering population would provide an important food source for numerous native species on the mountain, including lizards and weta. Who knows, dactylanthus might eventually help bring back short-tailed bats to Maungatautari.

Very few bats - another ancient member of New Zealand's natural world and also endangered, now get a chance to encounter this rich source of food. Dactylanthus produces a huge amount of sweet nectar and this is the chief reward for its natural pollinator, the native short-tailed bat. The flowers are like a magnet to possums and rats and, in their presence, very few plants manage to set seeds. Thus, populations can not be rejuvenated and will eventually die of old age.

New Zealand's only fully parasitic flowering plant, dactylanthus grows underground, attached to the roots of a native host tree e.g. (pittosporum and pseudopanax) which are plentiful on Maungatautari. The plant is visible only in autumn during flowering time, when thumb-sized flowering shoots break through the soil surface. Its underground habit and shape of inflorescences are reflected in the Maori names: pua o te reinga (the flower of the underworld) and wae wae atua (the fingers or toes of the spirit).

Once common in the Waikato, dactylanthus is now confined to a handful of scattered populations, including Mt. Pirongia, where extensive possum management has allowed plants to flourish and set seeds. In the Taranaki plants are being caged to protect against possum damage. Field trials currently underway in the Waipapa, Tongariro and the Bay of Plenty regions will give us the knowledge required to re-establish dactylanthus on Maungatautari. In turn Maungatautari will become a focus for further studies on dactylanthus.

Maungatautari Trust Website: www.maungatrust.org