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Warning

This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

Various Flowers

As early as 1916 the kowhai was suggested as a national emblem; but although this claim has often been revived it has never been widely accepted. The clematis and manuka flowers have also had their advocates, but these have not made much headway against the fern leaf. Among the birds, the huia, tui, and bellbird have been suggested, and New Zealand's only reptile, the tuatara has also received some support.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

  • New Zealand Gazettes, 1869, p. 556
  • 1874, p. 122
  • Enclosures to Governor's Despatches G. 28/3 (MSS), (1867), National Archives
  • Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives, A. 1 (1908), A. 2 (1909)
  • Triumphant Tour of the New Zealand Footballers, 1905, Dixon, G. H. (1906).
Co-creator
Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.