Knightia excelsa from New Zealand

‘[the] collection of plants was…grown so immensely large that it was necessary that some extraordinary care should be taken of them least they should spoil. 'Sir Joseph Banks

Knightia excelsa or rewarewa is an evergreen tree collected and named by Daniel Solander and Sir Joseph Banks in New Zealand, on Captain Cook's voyage to Australasia (1769 - 1771).

Daniel Solander came to Britain in 1760, on the advice of Carl Linnaeus his professor at the University of Uppsala. Solander was initially employed as an assistant at the British Museum before being engaged by Banks to sail with the Endeavour, 1768. Solander brought his own set of unique skills with him on the voyage. He had first-hand knowledge of the new methods of plant naming and classification devised by Linnaeus. Solander and Banks were able to name and accurately classify the plants they collected, using these new systems, even though the vast majority of the plants were new to them both.

Banks and Solander discovered many new species, among them exotic tree ferns. They also paid close attention to plants that might be grown for economic reasons, including New Zealand Flax, Phormium tenax, used by the indigenous population for clothing, and now a common garden plant in Europe.

Over 3,000 plant specimens were collected on the three-year voyage, including an estimated 1,000 or more new species, and re-examination of the collections has led to the description of further new species as recently as the 1980s.

Returning home in 1771, the adventurers were hailed as heroes - especially Banks, with his exciting accounts of Maori warriors and exotic animals. After the voyage Solander became Banks' assistant and librarian, even declining a professorship at St Petersburg University to remain in London.

Banks and Solander also worked closely with the artist Sydney Parkinson, who was on board the ship, instructing him in how they wished the plants to be drawn and which parts were to be depicted, urging him to capture the plants' forms while they were still fresh. To keep up with the pace of the two botanists, Parkinson resorted to making brief outline drawings of the plants, with specific areas partly coloured in so that they could be finished later.

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