Hugh Wilson

Hugh Dale Wilson (born 1945) is a New Zealand botanist. He has written and illustrated a number of books about New Zealand plants, and manages Hinewai Reserve on Banks Peninsula.

Early life and education

Hugh Wilson and his twin sister Hilary were born in Timaru in 1945, two of six children. His parents were both deeply religious, and his father, Malcolm Wilson, was a Presbyterian minister at Knox Church. The family moved to Christchurch in 1950, when Wilson was five years old. His parents were keen on the outdoors and camping and he attributes his love for birds to a family holiday to Stewart Island. Wilson attended Elmwood District (later Normal) School, where he began drawing birds at an early age. Planting New Zealand native plants in his St Albans backyard to attract birdlife sparked his interest in botany, as he found the plants themselves more interesting than birds.

Wilson returned to study botany, English, and philosophy at the University of Canterbury, where he also from an interest in Māori culture began to learn Te Reo Māori, and graduated in 1968. Afterwards he travelled widely, participating in two mountaineering and scientific expeditions in the Peruvian Andes, lecturing at botanic gardens in North America, and bicycling through Britain and Europe in 1983. The newsletter of the Maurice White Native Forest Trust, Pīpipi, is written and illustrated by hand and distributed to 2000 supporters only by paper mail. Wilson has not owned an automobile since the 1970s, preferring to cycle or take public transport, and for years made a seven-hour commute between Christchurch and Hinewai Reserve by bicycle. Wilson was the first recipient of the Koiata Botanical Trust's funding, and spent six years preparing a field guide to over 230 species of small-leaved shrubs of New Zealand. The book, completed in 1993, was illustrated by Tim Galloway and published by Manuka Press of Christchurch, which went on to republish Wilson's other field guides. Local government regulations required him to keep clearing gorse from pasture and from the edges of the property, but eventually forest regeneration began, vindicating his approach. but later living in a solar-powered cabin on the property. In 2010, he was interviewed for the feature-length documentary film Queen of the Sun. Wilson was the subject of the 2019 short documentary film Fools and Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest, by Jordan Osmond and Antoinette Wilson.

Honours and awards In 1987 Wilson was awarded the Loder Cup for his research on the flora of New Zealand. The Christchurch Press ranked him among the South Island's most influential figures.

Selected publications

Books The year of the hornbill : a volunteer’s service in Sarawak. Wellington: A.H. and A. W. Reed, 1966. Wildflowers of New Zealand. Christchurch: Bascands Ltd, 1974. Vegetation of Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand. Wellington: Department of Lands and Survey, 1976. Field guide : Wild Plants of Mount Cook National Park. Christchurch: Field Guide Publications, 1978 (second edition Christchurch: Manuka Press, 1996). Field guide : Stewart Island Plants. Christchurch: Field Guide Publications, 1982 (revised 1994 edition Christchurch: Manuka Press). Vegetation of Stewart Island, New Zealand. Supplement to the New Zealand Journal of Botany 25:1–131 (1987) Banks Ecological Region: Port Hills, Herbert and Akaroa Ecological Districts. Protected Natural Areas Programme Survey Report No. 21. Christchurch: Department of Conservation, 1993. Small-leaved Shrubs of New Zealand. Christchurch: Manuka Press, 1993. Illustrated by Tim Galloway. Naturalised vascular plants on Banks Peninsula. Christchurch: Canterbury Botanical Society special publication, 1999. Hinewai : the journal of a New Zealand naturalist. Christchurch: Shoal Bay Press, 2002. Food for tūī on Banks Peninsula : a botanical assessment. Christchurch: Dept. of Conservation, 2007. Banks Peninsula Track : a guide to the route, natural features and human history. Christchurch: Manuka Press, 1990 (10th edition 2008). Natural History of Banks Peninsula. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, 2009 (revised 2013). Plant Life on Banks Peninsula. Cromwell: Manuka Press, 2013. Hinewai Reflections (drawings and paintings). Christchurch: Quentin Wilson, 2026.

Articles Wilson, Hugh D. and Melissa A.S. Hutchison. (2023). "Colobanthus on Banks Peninsula: a case of less than perfect flowers or less than perfect botanists?" Canterbury Botanical Society Journal. 54: 55–61 Wilson, Hugh D. (2001). "Coprosma on Banks Peninsula". Canterbury Botanical Society Journal. 41: 53–63. Wilson, Hugh D. (2001). "Rare Plants and Banks Peninsula". Canterbury Botanical Society Journal. 35: 21–31. Wilson, Hugh D. (1996). "Mistletoes on Banks Peninsula". Canterbury Botanical Society Journal. 31: 14–24. McGlone, Matt S. and Hugh D. WIlson. (1996). "Holocene vegetation and climate of Stewart Island, New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 34(3): 369–388 Wilson, Hugh D. (1995). "Highest of all". Quarterly Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society of the United Kingdom. 63: 260–267. Wilson, Hugh D. (1994). "Regeneration of native forest on Hinewai Reserve, Banks Peninsula". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 32: 373–383. Wilson, Hugh D and P.J. Garnock-Jones. (1992). "Two new species names in Olearia (Asteraceae) from New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Botany 30: 365–368. Wilson, Hugh D. (1991). "Distribution maps of small-leaved shrubs in Canterbury and Westland". Canterbury Botanical Society Journal. 25: 3–81. Wilson, Hugh D. (1990). "The botany of Otanerito Station, Banks Peninsula". Canterbury Botanical Society Journal. 24: 14–26. Wilson, Hugh D. (1988). "The botany of Hinewai Reserve". Canterbury Botanical Society Journal. 22: 18–30. Wilson, Hugh D. (1985). "Highlights in a botanical study of Banks Peninsula". Canterbury Botanical Society Journal. 19: 9–12. Wilson, Hugh D and P.J. Garnock-Jones. (1983). "Taxonomic notes on Stewart Island Ranunculus including two new species". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 21: 341–345.