Native flowers seen close-up in Whanganui talk

The flowers of the native rewarewa (Knightia excelsa) are among New Zealand's most dramatic. Photo / supplied

Whanganui people will be treated to a really close-up look at some of New Zealand's native flowers in this month's Nature Talk.

Distinguished botanist Phil Garnock-Jones gives the illustrated talk Native Flowers: Up Close and Personal on June 19.

It's in the Davis Lecture Theatre at Whanganui Regional Museum at 7.30pm. It's free, but a koha will be appreciated.

The talk should interest photographers as well as trampers, gardeners and botanists. In Garnock-Jones' slides people will be able to see New Zealand native flowers the way insects see them.

The speaker is writing a book about the flowers - and since his retirement from Victoria University he has been photographing them in simulated ultraviolet light.

He'll talk about the peculiarities of New Zealand native flowers, and the methods they use to attract the right pollinators and to prevent self pollination.

An Emeritus Professor, Garnock-Jones has studied plants all his life and written many scientific papers. He's a specialist in New Zealand veronicas, the plant family we call hebes.