Journal Number 89
December 2003

ORIGINAL PAPERS

A Personal Tribute to Bob Goodger
By Bruce Irwin, Tauranga

Native Orchid Group members will regret the death on 9 August 2003 of Bob Goodger, who together with his wife Beryl, took a very active interest in studying and photographing New Zealand native orchids.

Bob was a man of many parts. His interests included harriers, coaching athletics, painting, woodcarving and participating in Search and Rescue; but to me his skill as a photographer and his familiarity with local native orchids stood out. I shared many of the Goodgers' orchid excursions.

In 1983 Bob showed me a sketch he had made of a most curious Pterostylis; so curious in fact that I thought Bob had lost control over his pencil. The Goodgers both assured me that the dozen or so flowers they had seen were all very similar, so it was unlikely they were freaks. A small expedition with Bob and Beryl to Ohakune in November 1984 proved that the plants existed and that Bob's drawing was indeed accurate. Having established that the strange Pterostylis existed, there seemed no need to rush things. In any case there were other orchids, closer to Tauranga, demanding our attention.

Several years passed before we returned to the site. But where was the colony? A few P. aff. montana were evident but the mystery Pterostylis had vanished: so too had the small depression they had occupied. Debris from road widening must have been dumped on the main colony.

Several times since, I have searched in the hope that seedlings might have survived, always without success. Also I rather expected to find flowers in other suitable habitats in the same general area. Perhaps Bob's mystery orchid will be rediscovered elsewhere in New Zealand. Whatever the circumstances, if it is found to be a valid species, I suggest that it be named "Pterostylis goodgerii". Bob deserves such recognition.

 
"Pterostylis goodgerii"
Drawings by Bruce Irwin

From Left to Right:
- Labellum - Labellum and Column - Side and front Views - Leaf