Dr Ines Schönberger gave us an enlightening and fascinating talk about the Herbarium where Bernadette Hunt, one of our members, volunteers on a regular basis and is involved in digitalising the plants. The purpose of the Herbarium is to preserve plants and specimens, either dried or in spirit, to enable scientists and botanists to record and document climate change, pollution and how the plant arrived in New Zealand. There are 3,500 herbariums around the world. The Christchurch Botanic Gardens trees and shrubs Herbarium was started by John Armstrong, a nurseryman, who had special permission and controls in place to bring in plants and specimens from around the world. Bernadette is going to organise a trip for us to visit the Herbarium in the future so watch this space. | 