Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Alpines => Topic started by: t00lie on February 02, 2010, 09:16:05 AM
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[quote author=David Lyttle
Dave,
Here are a couple of scenic shots (to show you the way).
1. Looking up Gorge Creek into the heart of the Eyre Mountains.
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Last Sunday I managed to get a bit higher than David and his friends reached previously .
I wasn't alone --i came across this fella ---sorry for the poor image --i only had a second to take the pic on a tele setting before he got a whiff of me and bolted .
Hummock Peak framed .
Hummock Peak wider view.
Found many large cushions of Aciphylla spedenii --this one had over 30 rosettes.
Saw Ranunculus scrithalis but none in flower.
In all an eventful outing -- I won't go into the whole story however at one stage i lost control of my new camera in its carry bag and it rolled, picking up speed 30+ metres down a steep slope before flying out of sight - my initial reaction was 'well that was a damn silly thing to let happen --i'll never find it --it will be an insurance claim for sure'---i then realized my cell phone and truck keys * were on board ...... :'( :'( :'(
Panicked really set in however when i thought of Hildas reaction in having to travel 2.5 hours up the road with the spare set * :o
Luckily i found the bag some 40 minutes later caught up in a large Aciphylla and a check showed no damage.
I put this episode down to being very tired from all the exertions of the week before up country and as David has mentioned it's quite a climb and very steep bony country. ::)
Cheers Dave.
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We appreciate your lovely shots EVEN MORE after hearing your tale, Dave ... similar things have happened to some of our guests when we have been leading wildflower walks in the Dolomites and the potential consequences inspire panic in seemingly well-balanced people. Luckily we have always found lost car keys, cameras, vital spectacles and passport carrying rucksacks before instigating contingency plans.
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Wild and wonderful shots and so pleased your story ended happily - love the Chamois scene :)
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Shame no one had a gun to take out the Chamois! Is there nothing that didn't get introduced?
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very lucky to recover the bag!
the Aciphylla is wonderful! how large are the rosettes? very like yuccas...
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Shame no one had a gun to take out the Chamois! Is there nothing that didn't get introduced?
We don't have pandas or polar bears Simon. I know a few grizzlies though. ;D
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I wasn't alone --i came across this fella ---sorry for the poor image --i only had a second to take the pic on a tele setting before he got a whiff of me and bolted .
You must have forgotten the deodorant Dave. In your company I've never noticed the smell as being all that bad. ;D
A pretty scary place by the look of those rocks. Maybe you were lucky to avoid broken ankles or legs. I hope you've been able to catch up on sleep since.
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A pretty scary place by the look of those rocks. Maybe you were lucky to avoid broken ankles or legs. I hope you've been able to catch up on sleep since.
I'd have to agree with that, Lesley.... seems Dave was risking more than his camera.
What scenery, though! A wonderful place to be shown to us.... THANK YOU!
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Dave,
Your chamois is dwarfed by Aciphylla ' Lomond '. In your photo of Hummock Peak is the Gorge Burn on the left. I trying to figure out where you got to.
I have posted a picture of the Gorge Burn from the bottom ( for those wanting to go there). Its a bit complicated explaining exactly where we went; our route was up the second big spur coming down from the left.
We did not have any dramas like Dave - it was just a long way!
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Hello David
You are correct ---Gorge Burn is to the left of my Hummock Peak shots.
I went up the side of the third spur :P and had a poke around the large scree patch (see horizontal line) where i found hundreds of Stellaria roughii --i then worked my way to the left and reached the unnamed peak (see vertical line).
Cohan
The Aciphylla can reach over a metre and half in size --the individual rosettes maybe 25cm x 25cm -their tips are just as sharp as yuccas. :o
Simon
In my younger days i would have certainly 'bagged' the Chamois--the only 'shooting' i do now a days is of plants ,scenery and companions. :D
Rightio
I managed another trip last Saturday back into Fiordland --still a bit of snow around --the Ranunculus were mostly over lower down --- higher up a number were just starting to open --sorry if some of you are sick of R. buchananii pics -- however it has been such a wonderful season for the weeds. ;)
Also found a small plant of a nice form of Celmisia linearis.
Cheers dave.
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Oh for weeds like those, Dave? :D :D :D :D
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The Ranunculus buchananii - Is that what we call a Cliff hanger? Stop that dribbling Cliff.
I like your nice pun Dave. If you shoot too many of the last, what friends will you have left among the trail of bodies?
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Stop that dribbling Cliff.
Is it visible on the avatar, Lesley ... you have excellent vision? :D
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Stop that dribbling Cliff.
Is it visible on the avatar, Lesley ... you have excellent vision? :D
VISIBLE? Good grief, what with this thread and the South American R. semiverticillatus, it's dripping out of all our monitors...... get a bucket, for pity's sake! ;)
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Dave's effort in getting up to the ridge crest above Gorge Creek is fairly impressive. We basically ran out of time lower down; we were able to look down onto the top basin but were a couple of hundred metres below the ridge crest. I know how much Dave enjoys scrambling around on steep unstable screes so I guess all the adrenalin might have helped him up. The bottom of the second creek did not look particularly appealing when I looked down into it but the first creek was even less appealing.
Mt Burns where the Ranunculus buchananii grows (as Ian Y can attest) is by comparison a bit of a doddle. This why not many people have ever seen Ranunculus scrithalis.
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the South American R. verticillatus,
Where's that one Maggi?
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In this MAGNIFICENT thread, Lesley!
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4963.15
You won't be able to resist looking at EVERY lovely image. :D
R. SEMIverticillatus of course!
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Oh God Cliff, thanks for shoving me in that direction. I don't know how I came to miss the thread as I believed I was notified about all new threads (though have totally missed Galanthus threads since 2008, leading me to believe no-one was bothered any more! :o)
Of course my R. semiverticillatus is quite as big as that (she said boastfully) but the damed thing has never flowered. :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
And yes, SEMI. R. verticillatis is a NZ species but can't for a moment compare.....
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Sorry for the typo.... I think its a Freudian slip.... nothing "semi" about it is there, it is truly the full jing bang! Wonderful pictures!
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A gentle stroll up country yesterday found a number of gems in flower--its a smashing season for berries --Coprosma ,Pentachondra ---and of course, its Gentian time.
Hebe propinqua
My feathered friend
Gentian bellidifolia.
Grouping of Aciphylla aurea
Cheers dave.
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I'm pretty sure its feb already but everyone still seems to be using the Jan fieldtrips thread.... edit by maggi.... I've made a new thread now!
.....so here are some pics from my trip to the Nevis Range in Central Otago.
Nevis range with Dracophyllum uniflorum in the foreground.
Lycopodium fastigiatum a clubmoss
Celmisia verbascifolia, The Nevis is a great place for Celmisia but this year was not great for flowering as far as I could tell from my brief visit to the Range.
Celmisia hybrid probably between C. lyallii and densifolia I also saw hybrids between C semicordata stricta and lyallii and stricta and another smaller species (so called C. linearis)
Pentachondra pumila is really nice if you look closely
Gentiana bellidifolia late summer is the time to see Gentians everywhere flowering in the mountains here.
Euphrasia zelandica pretty but actually a parasite.
there are more photos which I will try and put up soon
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Ok Here are some more pics from my short walk off the Nevis road last week.
Prasophyllum colensoi you have to get really close to this one to even tell its an orchid. We are very modest in New Zealand.
Leucogenies grandiceps the white bracts on the flower of the South Island edelweiss are really amazingly delicate if you look closely
This tussock butterfly must have been tired after a hard day as it let me photograph it all the others were much shyer
it looks just as interesting with its wings closed.
and lastly the view
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While I was away trying out my new camera I also went up the Remarkables
here are few of the 100 or so photos I took.
Neopaxia australasica the leaves on this are very succulent
Coprosma perpusila with a little Leptinella poking though.
Aciphylla lecompteii this is a very nice speargrass that grows on the Nevis Range too.
Aciphylla simplex the slowest growing speargrass for me I have 5 year old plants that are only two rosettes big, I wonder how old this one is?
Helichryssum bellidiodes (hells bells if you are doing a plant survey)
a nasty weavil that likes to eat Aciphylla seed.
Dracophyllum musciodes
Raoulia youngii the specimen I saw was a bit tatty so I just photographed the flower
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Hi Ross,
Good to see you have been out and about. I have a couple of taxonomic points. Your Phyllachne colensoi is actually a specimen of Dracophyllum muscoides. Helichrysum bellidioides is now called Anaphalioides bellidioides so Hells bells is now Ana bells. The genus Neopaxia was revised by Heenan in 1999. He recognised seven endemic New Zealand species and subsequently transferred them all to Montia in 2007. At a guess your Neopaxia australasica is Montia sessiliflora which is the most widespread species in the South Island.
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Yes you are definitly right about the Dracophyllum musciodes I did take a photo of real Phyllachne novaezelandiae as well which I did not upload I should have been more careful though. :-[
Im including the photo of the real phyllachne novaezelandiae in this post.
Im sure your right about the rest too.
I knew about the changes in Anaphaloides but hells bells I cant even say that and I couldnt remember if Montia was the old name or the new one. I guess this is what you get when you rely only on your memory for taxonomy, thats why my spelling is so hopeless.
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I visited the Northern end of the Rock and Pillar Range on Monday. Some interesting 4WD tracks but we returned safely. Most of the flowering is now finished but the gentians are now in full bloom. Not a good conditions for photography as it was a clear bright day with quite a strong wind.
1. Celmisia argentea I was fortunate to find a plant still in flower. It is an East Otago endemic. It can be confused with smaller forms of Celmisia sessiliflora but is reasonably distinct.
2. Celmisia argentea and Celmisia sessiliflora growing side by side. Celmisia sessiliflora rosettes can be variable in size perhaps due to hybridisation of the two species but this is conjecture on my part. Celmisia sessiliflora is quite common in the locality.
3, 4 Abrotanella patearoa This species is a Rock and Pillar endemic similar to Abrotanella inconspicua. The flowers are finished.
5. Anisotome imbricata A fruiting plant.
6. Euphrasia dyeri
7,8 Gentianella bellidifolia
9. Gentianella amabilis
10 Raoulia subsericea
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While I was up the Remarkables I took a short video on the side of Lake Alta at around 1800m. It shows a couple of alpine plants including Raoulia grandiflora Celmisia haastii and a couple of cushion plants. 1800m is well in to the high alpine zone and this is one of the few places in NZ where its easy to access, due to the ski field road to around 1600 m.
You can view the video quite easily by clicking on this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osnQ_9DG2Dw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osnQ_9DG2Dw)
Its pretty short only 27 seconds but it gives you an idea of what its like up there. I'm hoping to take more video on my travels. There are not allot of videos of New Zealand alpine plants on the web. I will put links up on my website as well.
Hopefully this post doesn't break any rules here if it does I will delete it.
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Here are some scenic shots from the Rock and Pillars
1. Tors on the ridge crest ( hence the name Rock and Pillar Range)
2. View to the north-west with Mt St Bathans and the Dunstan Range in the distance; Rough Ridge in the middle distance.
3. Typical schist tor.
4. Looking towards the Remarkables
5. View of Mt St Bathans from Rock and Pillars
6, 7. Topiary garden. The shrubs are Hebe odora and Hebe propinqua