About the Author

Philip Simpson is a botanist and author of Dancing Leaves: The Story of New Zealand’s Cabbage Tree, Ti Kouka (Canterbury University Press, 2000) and P?hutukawa and Rata: New Zealand’s Iron-hearted Trees (Te Papa Press, 2005). Both books won Montana Book Awards in the Environment category and Pohutukawa and Rata also won the Montana Medal for best non-fiction book. Simpson is unique in his ability to combine the scientific expertise of the trained botanist with a writer’s ability to understand the history of Maori and Pakeha interactions with the environment. He was awarded the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer’s Fellowship to work on Totara: A Natural and Cultural History. Born, raised and now living in Takaka, Philip studied botany at Canterbury University and UC Santa Barbara. He worked in soil conservation, environmental education, and ecology in the public service before becoming a botanical consultant and author. Philip lives on a rural, bush property with his wife, wine scientist Wendy Parr, and he is father to five adult children and grandfather to eight.