The only thing alpine about this trip was the weather. The morning was bitterly cold when we arrived at Watsons Beach south of Dunedin. Happily the day improved. The main point of interest was the coastal turf vegetation. Despite extensive modification by clearing of the original vegetation for farming some of the rarer turf plants are still present.
1 Melicytus aff alpinus growing on a rock covered in yellow lichen.This particular species is common on the coast of Otago but has not been formally named or described.
2. A second picture showing the wind sculpture form of these shrubs.
3. One for Cliff; Ranunculus recens a rare coastal buttercup.
4. Myosotis pygmaea a little coastal forget-me-not. Also present are Leptinella dioica, Colobanthus muellerii and Hydrocotyle sp.
5 The indigenous sand binding sedge Ficinia spiralis (= Desmoschenus spiralis) common name pingao. This species is becoming increasingly rare displaced by the introduced marram grass ( Ammophila arenaria).
6. Pingao with marram grass
7. Seascape, Watsons Beach
