| Brief Description |
Recorded as "Fungi, Daclylanthus" when it was donated, referring to the wood rose, the remains of subterranean parasitic flowering plant Dactylanthus taylorii. It was donated by H G Harper, grandson of Reverend Richard Taylor, after whom Dactylanthus taylorii was named. This "rose" is of extrordinary size: 25 cm across (most are 5 to 10 cm across, at most 15); several parasitic plant experts who have seen this photo do not think this is a specimen of Dactylanthus at all, based on the complex branching ridges where it attaches to the wood, and suggest it could be a root or even branch parasite from the tropics that found its way into Taylor's possession and was mistakenly identified as a NZ wood rose when donated in 1917. This specimen need to have thin wood sections sent off to specialists for identification at least to family level.
|
