New Zealand Alpine Flora

[Toole]

Great pics Steve.

Dave - interesting to read of the  problems you are having with gorse in New Zealand.  It has also been introduced to Vancouver Island, BC and is a terrible pest there too - in fact I hear groups of local volunteers periodically take forays out to try to get rid of it - hmm.  Guess, as you point out, there is a good side to it - attracts bees and helps prevent soil erosion.  Think we used to call it Broom and I thought it originated in the British Isles (Scotland)?  Fran

Hello Fran
Broom ,(Cytisus scoparius), unfortunately has been introduced here as well and is classed as a pest also.
Both were probably introduced from the UK by the early settlers.

I'm not a supporter of either at all.

Cheers Dave.

[cohan]

Nice views and plants, Steve- that Ranunculus is quite striking!

[Hoy]

Have to agree with Cohan, the Mount Cook Lily is magic! But so are a lot of the other NZ plants too

Fran, I read somewhere that NZ has more divaricate plants than other countries but it is not clear why as you can find similar climate and soil other places. Divarication is not restricted to one or two genera either but exists in many plant families. Maybe it has something to do with extinct browsing megafauna?

[Jandals]

Hi Trond - I think you are right about the megafauna browsing . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moa . As well as divarication in many genera there is juvenile foliage in others . This juvenile foliage is not as yummy as the mature foliage and generally the juvenile foliage lasts until the species reaches 4-5m and is well clear of moa browsing .

Fran - The broom we have here is a bad weed as Dave has mentioned but I have also seen it in Washington state . It is not as bad a weed there as it is here but may do so given time

Tim - As you have spotted , the Hooker Valley and Mt.Cook lilies have a lot to do with Cook . The mountain - named after Cook , Ranunculus lyallii - named after the ships botanist and the specimens were sent back to Hooker at Kew .
I never tire of our scenery , flora or fauna and I feel privileged to call it home .

Cohan - Thanks bud . I think our buttercups have the best flowers of our alpine plants but overrall NZ alpine flowers struggle to compete with the flora from the rest of the world .

[cohan]

Steve, I haven't focussed specifically on the flower power of NZ Alpines, but they are absolutely top notch for cool factor- and while pretty flowers are great, I'd happily grow some very cool plants with just okay flowers I doubt many of your alpines are hardy enough for here, though!

[Toole]

Visited the city's feature park ,(Queens Park),this morning .

Near the main entrance, Brachyglottis huntii was in full bloom --a highly aromatic plant ,(like a number of the Genus in NZ ),i was pleased to see a number of youngsters had been planted out as a few of the mature trees are looking a bit scraggly.

It's a great year for the NZ Cabbage Tree ,Cordyline australis ---Flowers emit a strong scent of Jasmine --lovely  

My main reason for visiting was in the hope that a number of natives in the Subantarctic Garden would be in bloom.I wasn't disappointed....However i had a short stop on the way,to visit the Tuatara enclosure,where one of inhabitants was out warming his/her self ,(maybe a male because of the defined spines along it's back  ).

A short walk through the building and out onto the path and a view of the megaherbs.Its' a small garden with a boardwalk through the middle.  

A single plant of Bulbinella rossii and a mass of Anisotome lyallii.

Cheers Dave.

[Toole]

Steve showed a pic about a month ago of his Anisotome latifolia's flowering --they are in bloom down here now.

The strong growths of Acaena magellanica. Edit--- Should be Acaena minor antarctica.

Creeping Lobelia angulata.

Stilbocarpa polaris ,(i think i saw one of these at Steve's place last month).

Carex trifida --i often use this when landscaping for clients---it's so tough and i love the dark flowering heads.

The highlight was Myosotis capitata ---a number were showing the effects of what i presume is their dislike of high air temp /high humidity.Stunning plants all the same.

Wasn't too sure on this Aciphylla .. looks like Aciphylla dieffenbachii to me  

Hopefully i have identified all the plants correctly .

I also visited the native rock garden where the various mainland Aciphylla's were in bloom and going ballistic .... I'll post a few pics of that garden tomorrow.

Cheers Dave.

[cohan]

What a lot of great plants! the trees are very impressive- Cordyline spp here are only  houseplants, usually languishing in poorly lit corners or temporary summer bedding/basket plants for a bit of texture...

The Anisotome latifolia with the lilac flowers is great!
That is an Aciphylla?? (the maybe dieffenbachii) I had no idea there were species that look like this- I expect them to look more like Yuccas! A quick google showed me there are at least a couple of these softer plants that show their family connection!

[Hoy]

Corydalis Cordyline of course! isn't hardy outside here in winter either, however I grow 3 specimens in pots! I would love to have them in the garden all year though! I have never tried Brachyglottis huntii but B 'Sunshine' survives most winters. MY favorites in this great bouquet of pretty plants are Bulbinella rossii and Anisotome latifolia!

[Jandals]

Nice Dave . They have a really good native section there . The Aciphylla dieffenbachii is what you think it is . The Acaena maybe A.minor antarctica . Was out at the beach today - 28C and the dog really needed a bath . She had not seen waves before but she is now a surfer dog .

[Toole]

Thanks all.

Steve
Yip you are correct the Acaena is A.minor antarctica  .I'll make an edit above.

Was hot here too today.

Cheers Dave.

[Toole]

That is an Aciphylla?? (the maybe dieffenbachii) I had no idea there were species that look like this- I expect them to look more like Yuccas! A quick google showed me there are at least a couple of these softer plants that show their family connection!

It doesn't end there Cohan .
There's even a Celmisia ,(C.lyallii), that resembles an Aciphylla when not in bloom --it has the common name of 'false spaniard' .....

Cheers Dave.

[cohan]

Those Celmisias really do seem to have all the bases covered foliarly, don't they?

[McDonough]

Many thanks Dave and Jandals, for the continuing saga of New Zealand alpine flora. I've been mostly lurking when I haven't had sufficient time to respond properly, but the alpine scenery and incredible plants shown here are truly exciting and educational, many NZ plants seem pure whimsy as they're so different and intriguing (Aciphylla, for example).

Clematis afoliata surprises me, very different than one's normal connotation of the genus.  The alpine mats and buns of Pimelia (prostrata and pulvinaris) are exquisite, as is Myosotis uniflora.  Love the trees too, Brachyglottis is a new genus to me, attractive.  

The plant on the recent batch of photos that most resonates is Bulbinella rossii, wish I could grow that beauty, but all indications are it's not reliably hardy in colder climates.  The Bulbinella has me thinking about the unusual distribution of the genus, split between South Africa and New Zealand.  The ones posted on Pacific Bulb Society wiki galleries show beautiful plants from South Africa, but these more sparse and narrow leaves species have a somewhat different look than B. rossii, the latter with foliage that is broad and as much of the show as the flowers.
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Bulbinella

[Toole]

Thanks for the kind comments Mark
It's educational for me as well as i don't know everything and it's been terrific going out in the field with other folk having a lot of fun and learning from them.

To visit the Subantartic Islands is on my bucket list --just gotta get over my fear of water and convince Hilda she should come as well as i think it will be cheaper in the long run than her flying to Sydney on a shopping frenzy....

Cheers Dave.