Action stations for Pukeiti plant-lovers

Visitors to Pukeiti can easily find more information on plants of interest thanks to an online ‘plant hunter’s station’ giving access to the iconic garden’s customised plant database.

The Pukeiti Plant Hunter’s Station has just gone online via www.trc.govt.nz/plant-hunters-station/. It has details on all the garden plants and many of the rainforest plants, and plots their locations on a Google map. There are photographs of many of the plants, and more are being added. All will eventually be illustrated.

“Users can search for a particular plant, or pan around the map to see where plants are, and click on individual ones for more details,” says Greg Rine, Regional Gardens Manager for the Taranaki Regional Council. “It’s a fantastic way to spread the word about what Pukeiti has to offer.”

Pukeiti’s new Rainforest Centre, currently taking shape on the site of the old gatehouse and due to open next year, will feature a public computer with access to the Plant Hunter’s Station. Visitors will be able to use it before their walk to check the location of a plant of particular interest, or after their their walk to find out more about an interesting plant they have seen.

The plant database is provided by IrisBG. Pukeiti is its first user in New Zealand but it will be expanded to include Hollard Gardens and Tupare, the other two heritage properties owned and managed by the Taranaki Regional Council on behalf of the people of the region.

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