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Story: European discovery of New Zealand

Drawing of Pittosporum tenuifolium

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Drawing of <em>Pittosporum tenuifolium</em>

As Banks and Solander collected plants, the artist on Cook’s first voyage, Sydney Parkinson, made sketches and wrote notes. Subsequently coloured engravings such as this were prepared on the basis of Parkinson’s sketches. These sketches and Banks' specimens formed the foundation of New Zealand botany.

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Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Reference: B.038595

Permission of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

John Wilson, European discovery of New Zealand – Cook’s achievement, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/1428/drawing-of-pittosporum-tenuifolium (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by John Wilson, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 May 2016.