Case Studies | Felicity Jones and Mark Smith

A beautiful book for those drawn to plants and their stories - In 1829, London physician Dr Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward sealed a plant inside a glass case—an experiment that reshaped the global movement of plants, transforming gardens, ecosystems, and lives.

Through photographs and essays, Case Studies traces this legacy, pairing striking contemporary images of cased plants—photographed in New Zealand and the United Kingdom—with reflections on the cultural, ecological, and political impacts of botanical exchange. Across six essays by Gregory O’Brien, Dame Anne Salmond, Luke Keogh, Mark Carine, Markman Ellis, and Huhana Smith, the book explores the scientific ambition of plant transfer alongside its lasting consequences, from invasive species to the marginalisation of Indigenous knowledge.

Giving space to mātauranga Māori, tino rangatiratanga, and ongoing conservation work, Case Studies is both a record of movement and a meditation on the values that continue to shape the land beneath our feet.