Te Papa’s Bush City is currently graced by a good display of
sprays of the white, bell-like flowers of Jovellana sinclairii.
If you’re visiting, you can see them beside the waterfall, on
the lower track. Jovellana sinclairii is not a common plant in
the wild. You’re most likely to find this large herb beside
streams and other wet places. But it makes a good garden plant,
in damp, shaded areas. There is one other species of Jovellana
in New Zealand. The group of plants to which they belong (the
Calceolariaceae) otherwise occurs in South America. A recent
study using DNA to investigate the relationships of these plants
concluded that the ancestor of the New Zealand species had
arrived from South America within the last few million years.