Thirty years ago (Pole, 1994), I suggested all of New Zealand’s current flora may have arrived over the sea, by long-distance dispersal. …
New Zealand paleobotany
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New Zealand paleobotany
The Lost Forest of the Ashley River, Canterbury, New Zealand
by Mike Poleby Mike PoleA gem in the heart of Christchurch is Riccarton Bush (sometimes called Deans Bush). It’s a patch of original kahikatea forest, just a …
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New Zealand paleobotany
Phyllocladus fossils from the Miocene of New Zealand, and Cretaceous Protophyllocladus
by Mike Poleby Mike PoleA rare plant fossil in the Miocene Manuherikia Group of New Zealand, is Phyllocladus (the Celery Pine). This is a strange conifer which, instead …
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FireNew Zealand paleobotanyNew Zealand plant fossils
Miocene Rain and Fire Forests of Bannockburn
by Mike Poleby Mike PoleCanungra is the perfect place to stop for a snack on the drive up to O’Reilly’s/Lamington National Park in southeastern Queensland. On …
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New Zealand paleobotanyNew Zealand plant fossils
New Zealand’s Rata and Pohutakawa – riders of the Miocene storms?
by Mike Poleby Mike PoleThere is a Maori legend than when one of their ancestral canoes (the Te Arawa) approached New Zealand after traveling from its …
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New Zealand paleobotanyNew Zealand plant fossils
Miocene Nothofagus in New Zealand’s Manuherikia Group
by Mike Poleby Mike PolePerhaps the most surprising thing about Nothofagus leaf fossils in New Zealand is – not finding them. Nothofagus is another name for the southern …
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New Zealand paleobotanyNew Zealand plant fossils
Interdistributary drifters – a Miocene bay in New Zealand
by Mike Poleby Mike PoleOne of the more evocative Miocene fossils you might pick up near Bannockburn, New Zealand, are she-oak ‘cones’ (see the featured image). …
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New Zealand paleobotanyNew Zealand plant fossils
Blue Lake, St Bathans – the most biodiverse Miocene fossil plant locality
by Mike Poleby Mike PoleThe biodiversity of Blue Lake, at St Bathans, New Zealand, is precisely zero. It is an artificial lake partly filling a hole …
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New Zealand paleobotanyNew Zealand plant fossils
Giant Pea Pod fossils in New Zealand’s Miocene
by Mike Poleby Mike PolePea pod fossils in New Zealand were first found by Aline Holden, a pioneer of New Zealand plant fossil research. She found …
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New Zealand paleobotanyNew Zealand plant fossils
Hoop Pine fossils – dry rainforest in New Zealand’s Miocene
by Mike Poleby Mike PoleIn a little patch of shale, continually flaking onto the road near Bannockburn (central South Island, New Zealand), there are the unmistakable fossils …
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