Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Alpines => Topic started by: David Lyttle on March 17, 2021, 09:01:57 AM
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Greetings to all my Forum friends. I hope the new year is treating you kindly and with the approach spring in the Northern Hemisphere you will experience the lift in spirits that that season brings.
I was fortunate again this year to join my botanist friends Heidi Meudt and Ant Kusabs from Te Papa for a weeks field work in Central Otago. Heidi is engaged in an ongoing project on the genus Myosotis in New Zealand and Ant is collecting specimens for the Te Papa Herbarium. We were based in Wanaka and were joined by other botanists at different times during the course of the field work. This is the third time I have participated in one of the Te Papa field trips. I have been able to go to places I would otherwise have not been able to get to and have learnt a lot in the course of the work. Heidi has completed a pretty impressive body of taxonomic research; Ourisia, Chionohebe (Veronica), Plantago and is now engaged on Myosotis work which will be completed in the near future.
Alpine field work in Otago is very dependent on the weather and just because it is summer does not mean that the weather is settled so on Jan 20th I set off for Wanaka. I had intended to go the previous week but it had snowed and a group of 4WD people had got into difficulties on the Old Man Range which was where I had intended going. Moral of the story is to check the weather forecast.
First photo is a view of Mt St Bathans looking across the upper Maniototo on the drive to Wanaka. There a good dusting of snow on the crest (2000 m). The countryside is green and lush due to a what was euphemistically called a rain event at New Year. I was there at the time but that's another story.
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Sometimes we get to fly in helicopters so we were scheduled to go to End Peak in the Harris Mountains on the 21st. Its a short flight from the base at the bottom almost directly to our field site. Heidi was planning to survey the population of Myosotis glabrescens that she had seen in 2020 and collect samples for genetic analysis When we landed this is what we saw and it was still snowing. We had taken up a bag with tents sleeping bags and stoves which we left at our landing site on a little saddle above the lake in case the helicopter was not able to return to pick us up later in the day.
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There were a few plants sticking up out of the snow but at that stage the day did not look very promising.
Dracophyllum muscoides
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Veronica hectorii subsp hectorii
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Ant and Heidi got to work making a collection of Aciphylla kirkii. It was still snowing and we were thinking we might not last to pick up time at 4.30 pm
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I had not taken my dSLR out of my pack and was using my cell phone to take the pictures. I had bought a new phone to install the COVID tracing app so I got one with a good camera. It proved to be quite handy to take photos in situations where you could not use a dSLR but does have it limitations.
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As the day progressed the snow melted a bit so we headed for the open ground. The snow clears first from the most exposed sites which is where you find the cushion field. I had got the camera out at this stage. It was not exactly snowing; just little chunks of ice which stayed frozen
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Aciphylla montana emerging from the snow (taken with phone)
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Celmisia lyallii (taken with phone)
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Lunch stop was above the lake. The Lake is called Dead Horse Lake and is at 1800 m. It is associated with an alpine patterned wetland which is the study site for an MSc student from University of Otago Botany Department. She usually walks up to the site.
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Aciphylla kirkii dSLR photo this time - you can see the difference
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The snow had more or less gone from the cushionfield by early afternoon so I was able to photograph a number of plants. Most were alpine cushion species that are common throughout Central Otago.
Anisotome imbricata var imbricata
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Chionohebe thomsonii
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Colobanthus buchananii
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A lichen, Leconora epibryon subsp broccha Lichens make good photographic subjects but I tend not to photograph them as I cannot identify them readily. I don't know if this species is found in the Northern Hemisphere but there are a number of alpine lichen species that have a worldwide distribution.
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It was becoming difficult to find interesting photographic subjects but Ant was still finding plants to collect - the alpines are still a bit of a novelty for him.
Dracophyllum muscoides, a ubiquitous Centrel Otago high alpine species that dominates the exposed cushionfields
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Hectorella caespitosa (with Chionohebe thomsonii) Hectorella is a monotypic genus confined to New Zealand. It closest relation is Lyallia from Kerguelen Island. It is postulated that both genera are outliers of an Antarctic flora that no longer exists.
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Hectorella again with Veronica densifolia (Hebejeebie densifolia) between the two cushions
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Pachycladon novae-zelandiae The plant is growing on ground that is devoid of any other cover other than lichens. It has a very deep tap root that goes down between the stones.
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Phyllachne rubra. I had not appreciated before this summer that this is a snowbank species. Mostly I see it when the snow has totally disappeared.[attachimg=5]
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Very nice!
I love snow (sometimes) but not when I am out looking for plants in the mountains!
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A lichen, Leconora epibryon subsp broccha Lichens make good photographic subjects but I tend not to photograph them as I cannot identify them readily. I don't know if this species is found in the Northern Hemisphere but there are a number of alpine lichen species that have a worldwide distribution.
Lecanora epibryon is common in Norway (I don't know the subspecies).
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Wow! extreme indeed David, and extremely beautiful :)
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Phyllachne rubra is one of my absolute favourites... fantastically beautiful.
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Lecanora epibryon is common in Norway (I don't know the subspecies).
Hi Trond, Gabriela
Thank you for your kind comments.
Subspecies broccha of Lecanora epibryon is Southern Hemisphere in distribution. It grows on the base of dead tussocks. This is different from the species which is not listed for New Zealand.
The snow was continuing to melt as the day warmed up so more plants were appearing. The snow and the chilling had damaged any flowers that were present as this specimen of Gentianella divisa shows.
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The flower on this Ourisia glandulosa had survived as well.
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There were three species of Raoulia all alpine specialists;
Raoulia hectorii var hectorii found on exposed cushion field
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Raoulia youngii which is a high alpine species usually more commonly found in fellfield
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and for comparison Raoulia grandiflora (left) and Raoulia youngii (right)
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Phyllachne rubra is one of my absolute favourites... fantastically beautiful.
Hello Thomas,
I agree it is a beautiful plant. It is not nearly as common as Phyllachne colensoi and very much more specialised in its habitat preferences. It is very hard to walk past a plant in flower and not photograph it!
By mid afternoon the snow had melted sufficiently that we were able to get access to a steep rubble fan with a creek running through it that had a more diverse array of alpines (or more that we could find)
Coprosma niphophila fruiting
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and in the lea of a rock the plant in flower. This plant is a the male as shown by the flowers.
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Celmisia angustifolia tucked away in a boulder pile with flowers
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and details of the foliage
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and something you do not want to grow in your rock garden, Epilobium tasmanicum
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We then started to find some interesting things; Hebe petriei which is found on the higher mountains in the western part of Otago. This is not a particularly good example as I saw some truly stunning plants three days later.
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and a rather sad looking flowering branch
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Then we found what we came to see Myosotis glabrescens. Heidi had planned to do a census of the population and collect samples for genetic analysis but most of the area where they are growing was still under snow and we saw only 2-3 plants.
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Up until recently Myosotis glabrescens was known only from one site and a few gatherings made in the Hector Range where it has not relocated. It is now known from two additional sites and is likely to be more widely distributed in Western Otago. Under the New Zealand threat classification system it is classified as data deficient. This comment appears on the NZPCN website "Strangely, this plant may be better known in Scotland where it is grown by alpine enthusiasts (see: http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3383.30)" As a result of Heidi's research and field work, we now know this to be incorrect. The plant that is in the nursery trade in the UK and sold as Myosotis pulvinaris is not Myosotis glabrescens but is most probably Myosotis retrorsa.
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The find of the day was this Parahebe (Veronica) planopetiolata. Heidi took a photo of it with her phone, sent it to a colleague who happened to be in Auckland and received the confirmation of the ID all while we were still on the mountain. For a late adopter of the technology I was reasonably impressed. It is a high alpine plant found in the western part of the lower South Island
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More common and with a wider distribution Leptinella pectinata subsp. willcoxii
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A Pimelea that had me puzzled for a while. I identified as Pimelea oreophila subsp lepta. It is a lot hairer than is usual for this subspecies
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In this last image you can see the little particles of ice amongst the vegetation. It was still snowing intermittently.
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At 4.30 it was time to go home. While waiting for the helicopter I took a picture of the little tarn that you can see in the fist picture in this post. The snow had cleared to some degree but there was still a lot around.
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We got all our gear packed up and secure; you cant have any loose items because the would get picked up and blown about by the rotor wash. The Squirrel helicopter they were using is quite a large machine and can carry 5 passengers + gear. Everything gets weighed beforehand though you might need to leave someone behind if the weight limit is exceeded. I was given the front seat next to the pilot on the homeward trip. There is a window right beneath your feet so you see pretty much everything. If you are sitting in the middle in the back you don't see much at all.
Just after takeoff
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Dead Horse Lake
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Helicopter banking with the moraine impounding the lake below
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Aerial view of Lake Wanaka with Motatapu River directly below. The Matukituki River is coming in from the left behind the low glacier-planed hill and out to its delta on the lake edge. The town of Wanaka is out of sight on the right.
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It had proved to have been a rather arduous day. It was quite cold and not easy to move around especially where the snow had covered the tussocks. Apart from not being able to complete a population census of the Myosotis glabrescens we had a productive day and made some good collections. I was happy to have photographed Myosotis glabrescens and Parahebe planopetiolata neither of which I had seen before.
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David, thank you so much for your fantastic pictures. Nurseryman Gerd Stopp offers Myosotis glabrescens
since many years, in former years as Myosotis spec. EyreMts. I am sorry,that this beauty does not like the
conditions in my hot garden.
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David fantastic pictures of plants from nature!!
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Hi Rudi,
I am pleased you enjoyed the pictures - there are more to come. The Myosotis spec. Eyre Mts is almost certainly Myosotis retrorsa, a species first described in 2018. I can give the reference if anyone is interested. There are no records of M. glabrescens from the Eyre Mts. We did not find any in 2019 but we found plenty of M. retrorsa.
Here is a photo of M. retrorsa from the Eyre Mts not a very good one but you can see the loose cushion growth form.
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and a better one from Fiordland where it seems to be quite common. Note multiple flowers (3) in cluster at top of cushion. Flowers of M. pulvinaris are always single.
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Hi Kris,
You would be no stranger to snow. When I was living in Saskatoon I remember the clear, sunny winters days with temperatures of -20 and sun dogs in the sky. In the summer I spent a lot of my free time photographing wildflowers at various locations round the Province. The main problem was the mosquitos!
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Myosotis retrorsa Meudt, Prebble & Hindm.-Walls, Austral. Syst. Bot. 31(1): 91 (2018)
https://www.publish.csiro.au/sb/SB17045
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Hello David and Rudi
I think I am the reason for the wrong name of the Myosotis offered here. In previous years it was offered as M. pulvinaris.
In September 2017 I showed it in the Treat for alpine NZ. After a correction I gave Gerd the hint for the name M. glabrescens. You can read it again...from page 13 (#191)
As Gerd lives only 20 minutes away from me, I will bring forward my annual visit a bit and visit him next week. I will tell him about Myosotis retrorsa...he will be pleased. Attached is another photo from today...
So if I have caused any confusion by my hasty behaviour, I apologise very much.
David... all the pictures of yours shown make me very happy...this lone Celmisia angustifolia and the great photography of the foliage are just one example.
I look forward to seeing more pictures of your fieldwork.
Cheers
Thomas
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Hi Kris,
You would be no stranger to snow. When I was living in Saskatoon I remember the clear, sunny winters days with temperatures of -20 and sun dogs in the sky. In the summer I spent a lot of my free time photographing wildflowers at various locations round the Province. The main problem was the mosquitos!
Hi David
Happy to know that you lived here before. Few people even from Canada sometimes ask where Saskatoon is. It is a lovely place in summer but winter is brutal.
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Hi David and Thomas, thank you for yor help with the true name of the Myosotis.
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Hello Thomas,
The picture you show is almost certainly Myosotis retrosa. However it is I who need to provide the clarification for the mis-application of M glabrescens name to the plant not you. When the pictures of the plant first appeared on the SRGC forum they were posted as M. pulvinaris. I saw them and it was obvious to me they were not M. pulvinaris the main difference being the anthers were held above the corolla scales. The only other option that seemed to be available was M. glabrescens which was known at that time from only a small number of old herbarium specimens. It was re-discovered in 2007 by Mike Thorsen on the Hector Mountains but was not able to be relocated there subsequently. Mike's original photos are in "Above the Treeline" and on the NZPCN website.
In 2017 we had a plant that we knew was in the UK and Europe that had originally been grown from seed collected in the Eyre Mountains. Dave Toole had photographed it in the Eyres. Several people including myself were keen to go there and find it. I went in there with Dave in Dec 2017 to his site below Hummock Peak. We found one solitary cushion of the Myosotis with no open flowers. It was a fairly miserable day so we were not anxious to linger botanising. I photographed the plant and sent the photos to Heidi. She visited the site again with Dave and found more plants. See link https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2018/08/20/searching-in-needles-and-haystacks-for-forget-me-nots/ (https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2018/08/20/searching-in-needles-and-haystacks-for-forget-me-nots/) The Eyre mountains plant has turned out to be a new species Myosotis retrorsa which is widespread mainly in western Otago, Southland and Fiordland.
In Feb 2020 we were back in the Eyre Mountains collecting Myosotis. We found plenty of Myosotis retrorsa, Myosotis druceii and Myosotis macrantha but no Myosotis glabrescens https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2020/10/14/photo-essay-remote-field-work-collecting-forget-me-nots-in-the-south-island/ (https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2020/10/14/photo-essay-remote-field-work-collecting-forget-me-nots-in-the-south-island/) After I had left the field party they visited End Peak near Wanaka and found Myosotis glabrescens https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2020/09/01/finding-data-deficient-forget-me-nots/ (https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2020/09/01/finding-data-deficient-forget-me-nots/) Subsequently it has also been found on Treble Cone close by.
It is not a matter of people being right or wrong when names are mis-applied in cases such as this. We have three species of forget-me-not, Myosotis pulvinaris which is fairly well known and understood, a data deficient species Myosotis glabrescens and a newly recognised species, Myosotis retrorsa. It has taken a lot of work in the field and herbarium examining countless specimens for Heidi to resolve this problem. The state of botanical knowledge moves on.
Hello David and Rudi
I think I am the reason for the wrong name of the Myosotis offered here. In previous years it was offered as M. pulvinaris.
In September 2017 I showed it in the Treat for alpine NZ. After a correction I gave Gerd the hint for the name M. glabrescens. You can read it again...from page 13 (#191)
As Gerd lives only 20 minutes away from me, I will bring forward my annual visit a bit and visit him next week. I will tell him about Myosotis retrorsa...he will be pleased. Attached is another photo from today...
So if I have caused any confusion by my hasty behaviour, I apologise very much.
David... all the pictures of yours shown make me very happy...this lone Celmisia angustifolia and the great photography of the foliage are just one example.
I look forward to seeing more pictures of your fieldwork.
Cheers
Thomas
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Hello David
Thanks for the detailed explanation. A fantastic story about a small plant...that's what makes it so exciting for me.
I have not been able to establish this Myosotis retrorsa permanently in the Alpinum yet, but still I persevere.
Cultivating high alpine native NZ continues to be a major challenge in our changing climate. I have a lot of species in this year's sowing...with a lot of patience and a dose of naivety, I will continue to try to build up a little NZ here.
BTW...your two photos of Raoulia youngii shown are super. At first glance they bear some resemblance to Leucogenes grandiceps. I have fond memories of your pictures of the different growth forms from different locations.
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On our second day in the field we went to the Pisa Range where we planned to collect Myosotis cheesemanii. The site was above Lake McKay where Hamish and I had found it in December 2014 on a NZAGS field trip. The Pisa Range runs roughly NE parallel to the Clutha River which has its source in Lakes Wanaka and Hawea. We had intended to drive to the site but at 1800 m just above the Kirtle Burn hut we encountered snow which resulted in a severe loss of traction. The only other option was to walk which we did. Heidi was anxious to get to the site so there was lingering to look at the plants. We walked down a steep broken slope covered in mounds of Aciphylla simplex. It was blowing quite hard at the time Strong winds are a feature of these mountains which is why the main vegetation type is a dwarfed tundra-like cushion field.
Cushion field vegetation on the Pisa Range dominated by Dracophyllum muscoides. Lake Hawea is in the distance.
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Looking north east towards the Waitaki Valley
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However I did manage to snatch a few pictures on my phone.
Aciphylla kirkii dwarfed because of the extreme conditions at this elevation. Often confused with Aciphylla hectorii which is a smaller plant.
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Carex pterocarpa which is a high alpine sedge
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Celmisia angustifolia Not sure why I took the photo as the plant is not flowering and is not particularly rare - I think it was an experimental one testing the phone.
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We kept going and so did the wind. The ridge crest drops steeply on the eastern side. There were plenty of snowbanks persisting especially with the recent snow.
Crest of Pisa Range with sparse cushionfield and late snowbanks. Lake Dunstan in the distance.
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Late snow bank above Lake McKay
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Above Lake McKay Myosotis cheesemanii habitat is on the upper margin of the snowbanks.
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We searched along the snowbank margins and on the snow-free areas below them but all we found at this point was Myosotis pulvinaris.
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There were also numerous plants of Gentianella divisa flowering in the exposed cushionfield.
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We could not find the Myosotis cheesemanii where we thought it was so we extended the search further along the ridge crest and then into places that where we thought it was unlikely to be but to no avail. We concluded it was under the snow but when we started for home at 5.30 pm we found some plants. We had covered the ground earlier. The plants were localised to a very small area.
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Rugged crest of the Pisa Range above Lake MaKay
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Looking across the upper Clutha towards Mt St Bathans. The Hawkdun Range with its crest covered with snow is in the far right distance.
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The Dunstan Range with the Thomson Gorge (on the eastern side directly across from the rock out crop) separating the North and South Dunstans. There is a road through the Dunstans through the Thomson Gorge. There are a lot of gates to open. We drove back through it 3 days later after visiting the North Dunstans.
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Thanks again David for this virtual tour of superb NZ mountain scenery.
I don't know how you managed to take such excellent pictures in harsh conditions and not to mention with the phone!
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Hello Gabriella,
Thank you for your kind remarks. Working in the field can be challenging at times. I am aiming to get publication quality photos. In the field I use a Nikon D850 with a 105 mm macro lens + a 16-35 wide angle zoom lens. I use a tripod in the field as the Nikon is a very unforgiving camera. I find I can get good images under most conditions. The phone is a useful adjunct device. It's a Samsung A21s which is not top of there range but has a fairly useful camera. I use when I don't want to set up my camera (in a hurry, in the rain or just a record photo I don't want to take time over). I contribute photo observations to iNaturalist NZ which is a citizen science website. The phone enables you to provide the GPS co-ordinates directly for location data. iNaturalist has an app that lets you enter observations in the field provided you have cell phone reception. The phone photos are good enough for the internet especially if you need to downsize them as you do for the forum
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Thanks David. You always post excellent pictures and assumed that you always use a professional camera that's why I was surprised when I read that you took
equally good (in my opinion) pictures with the phone.
I also have a Samsung phone (not top of the line as well) and in the last couple of years I tried it here and there for taking pictures, most often with disappointing results. I guess I just need to persevere and hope that the saying "practice makes perfect" proves to be true one day :)
But indeed, it is very practical to use when you just need a record photo for yourself.
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Thanks David. You always post excellent pictures and assumed that you always use a professional camera that's why I was surprised when I read that you took equally good (in my opinion) pictures with the phone.
I also have a Samsung phone (not top of the line as well) and in the last couple of years I tried it here and there for taking pictures, most often with disappointing results. I guess I just need to persevere and hope that the saying "practice makes perfect" proves to be true one day :)
But indeed, it is very practical to use when you just need a record photo for yourself.
Gabriela, I delete a lot of my phone pictures. I find the image is very hard to see on the screen especially in bright light. Its hard to see if it is in focus or not. My phone does give you options to adjust exposure, white balance etc but I find it is almost impossible to see the screen to operate the touch controls in the field. If my eyesight was better it might not be such a problem. So here is the comparison;
(1) Myosotis goyenii Samsung A21s phone
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(2) same plant Nikon D850 on tripod with 16-35 mm zoom lens
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This particular Myosotis is quite rare and was growing on a steep rock outcrop so here I am photographing it.
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The site is the rock outcrop immediately above the figures in the photo.
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Gabriela, I delete a lot of my phone pictures. I find the image is very hard to see on the screen especially in bright light. Its hard to see if it is in focus or not. My phone does give you options to adjust exposure, white balance etc but I find it is almost impossible to see the screen to operate the touch controls in the field. If my eyesight was better it might not be such a problem. So here is the comparison;
Thanks David, you are right. In bright light I was never able to take a decent picture (decent meaning to be able at least to see what's on it). In the garden, with some patience and at the right moment you can capture something 'not too bad'.
But nothing compares of course with taking pictures with a camera, not to mention with your Nikon on tripod! Quite a commitment to carry it on the mountains in not very accessible places.
The last picture is National Geographic quality, or even more, breathtaking! An invitation to exploration :)