Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: David Lyttle on October 03, 2008, 11:21:04 AM
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This thread could be titled " Hunting for Tree Violets". Today I headed out to Cape Saunders on the Otago Peninsula to look for an unnamed species of Melicytus. I hoped to find it in flower and collect specimens for further study. I thought it would be easy to find but it proved not to be so. I did find it, however in retrospect it was easy to find once I realised what its habitat preferences were.
Cape Saunders was named by Captain Cook on his first voyage to New Zealand. The Cape drops fairly precipitously into the sea. The first picture is looking south to Sandymount (319m).
Picture 2 is looking south showing the coastal cliffs and headlands.
Picture 3 is looking north-east with the cliffs dropping down to the sea.
Picture 4 is of the sea cliffs build up by a showing layers formed by successive lava flows.
Picture 5 is of a blowhole. The post on the skyline above the bare patch gives an idea of scale. The dark green leafy trees are broadleaf (Griselinia littoralis). The partially dead twiggy shrub is the coastal hebe (Hebe elliptica). Also prominent are NZ flax (Phormiun tenax) and silver tussock (Poa cita). It was a long way down to the bottom. I was not all that keen on moving around to get a better view.
Picture 6 show the coastal bluffs where a local endemic Helichrysum intermedium var tumidum is found. You can see some plants on the lower white triangular bit showing up as green patches. The tree nettle Urtica ferox is growing through the talus that has fallen down.
Picture 7 shows the Melicytus growing on a bouldery outcrop.
Picture 8 shows a second plant tucked up amongst boulders covered in white lichen. The true colour of the rock is quite dark.
Picture 9 is a view of another plant surrounded by silver tussock (Poa cita).
Picture 10 is a close up view of the foliage of the plant. The exposed tips of the branches are killed off by strong salt laden winds that dessicate the soft tissue leaving woody spines.
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The flowers of this shrub are very small and hidden on the undersides of the branches. The fruit is a berry that is believed to be eaten and dispersed by lizards as it is not easy to see how a bird can gain access to the fruit. The flowers are beautifully coloured. In this particular species they have a violet tinge.
I am posting two pictures showing the flowers.
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They are certainly lovely flowers David, though small. I've never noticed them before. In the first of the 2 pics, what is the white stuff with little black dots in it?
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Lesley,
The white stuff with dots on it is a lichen. The background colour of this particular lichen is white.The dots are the reproductive structures. The correct technical term is apothecia.
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Thanks David. I thought it looked like some kind of foamy substance that might have something's eggs in it. Like frog spawn, though hardly that in a bush.
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I am posting pictures of more Melicytus flowers. These are from plants I have grown from cuttings collected from various places with the exception of Melicytus obovatus which was purchased from a nursery. They are a bit challenging to photograph as the flowers grow on the underside of the branches and face downwards. However as they were all growing in pots I just tilted the pot which is a lot easier than photographing plants in the field.
1 Melicytus chathamicus from the Chatham islands. This plant is grows into quite a large tree.
2 Melicytus alpinus Pyramids This is an unamed entity from Otago.
3 Melicytus alpinus Middlemarch I think this is the same as the preceeding.
4 Melicytus alpinus Ida This is another unamed entity that grows on screes.
5,6,7 Melicytus obovatus ( or a least this was what the nursery sold it as) I have not seen this particular species growing in the wild and there are a number of iterations found in different localities. The flowers are stunningly beautiful notwithstanding their small size.
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Stunning pictures - in the close-ups the violet-typical arrangement of the stamens is clearly visible!
Are these flowers scented?
Gerd
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Hi Gerd,
Yes the flowers are scented, they smell of honey.
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Interesting thread David, thanks for posting it.
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These are fascinating, David, thanks for the posting.
And they are allowed into Australia, so I'll be looking for them on the NZAGS seedlist next year!
cheers
fermi
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Hi Fermi,
You do not need to import any of ours as you have plenty of your own. The Australian name is Melicytus dentatus which I am informed hides a certain amount of taxonomic fluidity. The other name applied to some of the Australian plants is Melicytus angustifolius which was used for the New Zealand species Melicytus flexuosus until fairly recently. The genetic work I have seen shows that some groups occur on both sides of the Tasman. It seems that some of your plants may fall within our Melicytus alpinus complex. I would imagine there are a few in your part of the country as they occur in Tasmania, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
regards,
David
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Yesterday instead of staying at home and building stone walls as my wife wished me to do I went bush. I headed up to Leith Saddle where there is a track through the local cloud forest to a place called Swampy Spur. I intended to photograph some more Melicytus species but they were not flowering. I took a series of photos going up through the forest that I hope conveys some idea of the forest interior. It was something of an experiment as I have always found it difficult to take photos inside forests. I have adjusted the colour balance taking blue out; I presume the human eye does not see the blue light under these conditions and sees predominantly green.
A boardwalk has been constructed along the track for 1.7 kilometres. It rises steeply in steps and though it has introduced an artificial element into the landscapes it has prevented the track from becoming a muddy slide as many of these tracks do. Water tends to channel down tracks eroding them out and turning them into muddy gullies.
The first three pictures are of the track showing the boardwalk.
The forest collects moisture during the summer from the sea fogs that blow in from the north -east. The canopy contains Libocedrus bidwilli in addition to the more common podocarps. Libocedrus tends to be found on cooler wetter sites at higher elevations. Epiphytes, including filmy ferns and mosses are present in abundance. There are many species of larger ferns on the forest floor. Several species of tree fern are also present as well.
Picture 4 shows the crown of large healthy Libocedrus emerging from the forest canopy.
Picture 5 shows and old senescent Libocedrus.
Picture 6 shows a Libocedrus loaded with epiphytes
Picture 7 shows two specimens of the tree fern Cyathea smithii growing beside the track.
Picture 8 show a general view of the forest interior.
Picture 9 shows a second view of the forest interior.
Picture 10 is a view up through the canopy. The red-coloured leaves belong to Pseudowintera colorata.
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What a beautiful area. Thanks for the tour David.
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Thanks for the kind words Paul. It shows the contrast between our two floras; cooler and wetter gives the Leith Saddle cloud forest, warmer and dryer would give you the dry sclerophyll forests like those round Canberra.
You can smell this next shrub long before you can see it. It is Coprosma foetidissima. It is very common in subalpine scrub and the thicket here certainly made you aware of it.
Picture 2 is Fuchsia excorticata showing the exfoliating bark It is the largest Fuchsia in the world and is fairly common in this type of forest.
Picture 3 is the hanging spleenwort, Asplenium flaccidum again very common
Another feature of this forest are the filmy ferns predominantly from the genus Hymenophyllum. There are about 16 different species recorded locally. The are a bit difficult to identify from photos so I hope I have got them right.
Picture 4 is Hymenophyllum bivalve with a Blechnum species in the foreground.
Picture 5 is Hymenophyllum flabellatum with Tmesipteris tannensis present in the upper left
Picture 6 is Hymenophyllum flabellatum growing on the trunk of a tree fern.
Picture 7 is Hymenophyllum sanguinolentum with Blechnum procerum
Picture 8 is Lycopodium varium ( this may have had a name change)
Picture 9 is a large foliose lichen Pseudocyphylleria sp
Picture 10 is a moss that hangs in great sheets from tree branches
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David,
Oh those ferns!!!! :D It all looks so damp. ;D What are the flowers on the Fuchsia excorticata like? Cool bark!
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Extraordinary photos of this exciting place, David. Really enjoying this, thank you !
Some of those ferns seem more like sea-weeds... amazing plants!
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Thanks David. I thought it looked like some kind of foamy substance that might have something's eggs in it. Like frog spawn, though hardly that in a bush.
Could have been a tree frog Lesley! Doh! ;D
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I suppose so. :)I have (a very few now, used to have hundreds) of the Australian whistling tree frog. The are little coffee coloured blokes, very cute. They neither whistle nor, so far as I've seen, live in trees. Eggs? in the local ponds I think.
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Paul, the tree fuchsia's flowers are typically fuchsia-like, especially like those of the smaller-flowered species, little spinning top shape and small for the size of the tree but borne numerously. They are a sort of pinky-plum colour and very pretty. Even better though are the very large black fruits, similar shape to those of Hardenbergia. They are juicy and edible, by birds and people. I get a lot of bird-sown seedlings in my garden.
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Hi everyone,
Paul, The flowers are much as Lesley has described but a picture is worth a thousand words
Picture 1 is of young flowers shedding pollen. As you can see the pollen is purple. The flowers are a nectar source for bellbirds and tuis who act as pollinators.
Picture 2 shows the older flowers with most of the pollen gone. At this stage the develop a plum colour.
Picture 3 is a bonus; It is Fuchsia perscandens a vigorous climbing species that is not well known in horticultural circles
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Maggi,
You must persuade Ian to bring you with him next time he comes so you can see it all for yourself.
regards,
David
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David, I had no idea the new flowers had that beautiful blue and green colouring. They are really special.
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David, Lesley
That's nearly too much to learn, because:
1. There is more than Fuchsia procumbens in N.Z.
2. There is a tree Fuchsia
3. There is a climbing Fuchsia
4. The fruits of Fuchsia are edible
Are there some more surprises?
Gerd
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Gerd,
There are always more surprises. Nearly every time I go out I find something that I have not seen before. You are correct with respect to Fuchsia;there is Fuchsia procumbens which is a low-growing trailing plant, Fuchsia perscandens which can be a climber or a tangled low bush and Fuchsia excorticata which can form a substantial tree. The fruits of Fuchsia excorticata are produced in abundance and can be eaten. Birds are very fond of them - humans are generally not.
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David,
Temperature requirements for the tree fuchsia please? How frost tolerant? I don't know F. perscandens either, so need details of that one (and pictures if you have them). I already grow F. procumbens and just love it. The flower pictures you posted for the tree fuchsia immediately brought the procumbens flowers to mind. More details needed!! ;D
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Wonderful walk in a very special area David.
I suppose you could almost call it a rain forrest.
Thanks very much for letting us carry your bags... ;D
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Paul,
Fuchsia excorticata is deciduous so it is reasonably frost tolerant more so than procumbens. It should tolerant down to at least -5 degrees C. Fuchsia perscandens would have similar tolerances. I have always thought F. excorticata would look good under planted with rhododendrons. Here it is considered a bit of a weed by gardeners as it is spread by birds and keeps appearing where it is not wanted as it is one of the primary colonising species reponsible for forest establishment.
Luc,
There is a rainfall gradient that governs the distribution of rain/cloud forest around Dunedin. The summit of Mt Cargill (680m) near the coast is forested where as the the summit of Flagstaff (668m) which is further inland is not is not. The track from Leith Saddle rises up to a point on Swampy Spur (666m) and crosses the transition zone which I hope to show when I continue this posting. The story is slightly more complicated than this but on some of these points we get into a bit of conjecture and debate so I will leave it there.
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David,
And yet Fuchsia excorticata is allowed in through our quarantine (i.e on the list of allowed species). I doubt that the perscandens has been evaluated, so it isn't on the list. Methinks I shall have to find a source for excorticata..... looks too interesting not to try it. How tall does it actually end up? Can it be trimmed to keep it down? Does it prefer shade to full sun?
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Fascinating stuff David - I'll be looking forward for the next postings !! :D
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David is probably better placed to answer this than I am but I find the (bird-sown) seedlings of Fuchsia excorticata grow better in at least part shade though the sunnier ones do grow, rather more compactly. I think it probably grows to about 5 or 6 metres? It can certainly be trimmed and one almost pollarded could be interesting as it would feature the beautiful trunk more prominently.
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Following on from my last post the track reaches the forest margin and enters a belt of subalpine scrub with Dracophyllum longifolium prominent
Picture 1 is looking back down the hill to the Libocedrus forest You can see the live and also dead standing trees rising above a canopy of smaller tree species.
Picture 2 show a view back down Swampy Spur towards the east to Mt Cargill (left centre ,with a TV transmission tower on its summit). The indigenous forest runs from the left to the patch of cleared ground. Running up from the right above the clear ground is an exotic plantation of Pinus radiata. The clear ground is where a plantation of Pinus radiata has recently been felled. On the far right you can see yellow gorse taking over what was formerly farmed pasture.
Picture 3 is a similar view looking down towards Dunedin city.In the far distance are the hills of the Otago Peninsula.
Picture 4 is looking approximately north east across the upper Waitati Valley to Mopanui (far left). All these high points are the eroded remains of old basalt plugs erupted from the Dunedin volcano.
Picture 5 is of a Libocedrus sapling. The forest line is artificially low and the Libocedrus is colonising up the slope. The vegetation undergoing a process of dynamic change due to a mixture of human and climatic influences. In the lower parts of the valley the forest was cleared for farming and timber in the early days of European settlement. Most of the pasture is now reverting back to forest. Initially pasture is colonised by gorse which if left eventually reverts to native forest as seedlings establish under it.The present position of the upper tree line was determined by fires of both of Maori and European origin. The other major land use is exotic plantation forestry, the two major species being Pinus radiata and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii).
Picture 6 is Dracophyllum longifolium.
Picture 7 shows the 'nest' of shed leaves caught up in the lower branches of the Dracophyllum. These leaves are very resistant to decay and contribute to peat formation. On the Chatham islands a related species Dracophyllum arboreum is the dominant tree one particular forest type there and main peat former.
Picture 8 shows a second species of Dracophyllum, Dracophyllum uniflorum. It is a low growing trailing shrub and not as common as its more erect relative on this site.
Picture 9 shows Myrsine divaricata. This shrub has a unique divaricate weeping habit. I believe that Myrsine is distantly related to Primulas.
Picture 10 is a close up of the foliage of Myrsine divaricata showing the downward deflexed branches
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While a lot of pics made in a garden environment look very surprisingly familiar to me (as a gardener from the NH) these sights are so strange and fascinating!
Beautiful pics, especially the Libocedrus stand!
Gerd
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David,
More fascinating pics!! We have Dracophyllum species here in Aus too apparently, at least I came across a species at the ANBG today (have photographed it but not prepared pics for posting as yet).
Lesley,
Thanks for the info on the tree fuchsia. Exactly what I was interested in knowing, particularly the pollarding bit. Must track down whether anyone sells it here in Aus?
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I have a few more pictures to continue this posting. At this stage it is well above the forest with view to the coast and the hills to the north.
Picture 1 is a view looking east to Blueskin Bay.
Picture 2 is similar but looking north to the hills further up the coast.
Picture 3 is looking north.
Picture 4 is looking inland away from the coast to the Kakanui Range. There is still quite a lot of snow on the summits.
Picture 5 is a view of Swampy Summit which is 739m at its highest point. There is a road up to the top over the other side to service the various bits of communications equipment, airport radar etc some of which you can see on the left.
Picture 6 is looking back to the trig point on Swampy Spur at 666m.
Now for a few plants;
Picture 7 is Astelia nervosaAlso present are Hebe odora (bottom left) Dracophyllum longifolium, Phormiun tenax, and red tussock (Chionochloa rubra)
Picture 8 is Aciphylla scott-thomsoniiwith Ozothamnus leptophyllus on the upper right. This shrub was formerly known as Cassinia vauvilliersii.
Picture 9 is Coprosma cheesemanii with the fern Blechnum procerumgrowing in amongst Chionochola rubra and Phormium tenax.
Picture 10 is another of Blechnum procerum showing the sterile fronds
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This posting shows pictures of a bog. It sits down in a little hollow and has its own characteristic vegetation.
Picture 1 is looking down on the depression with shrubs round the drier margins. Hebe odora is prominent in the foreground with Dracophyllum longifolium extending further out into the wetter areas. Red tussock( Chionochloa rubra) is present in the wetter areas.
Picture 2 is another showing the zonation.
Picture 3 is taken looking back to Swampy Spur showing the contrast in the vegetation.
Picture 4 Is looking across the far end of the bog to the slopes above showing the mixture of snow tussock and shrubs. There are two species of snow tussock present; Chionochloa rubra in the damp areas and Chionochloa rigida on the drier better drained slopes.
Picture 5 is Coprosma elatirioides growing with sedges and rushes in the wettest part of the site.
Picture 6 shows a basalt outcrop back on the ridge. The bog can be just seen down on centre left.
Picture 7 shows bog vegetation with the lichen Cladia retipora
Picture 8 shows Cladia retiporaThis lichen drie out in warm weather becoming quite brittle.
Picture 9 is another of Cladia retipora showing the intricate reticulate structure of the thallus.
Picture 10 shows the slope falling away steeply to the east of the bog. Ther are a number of shrubs and small trees establishing down slope; Griselinia littoralis, Pseudopanax colensoi, Leptospermum scoparium , Olearia arborescens and Olearia ilicifolia.
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Again, fascinating!! Great to see these wild shots. Thanks for preparing and posting them.
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Hi Paul,
I am pleased you found the shots interesting - I see this vegetation all the time as it is only 20 mins drive from the centre of town. ( that's excluding the time it takes to get yourself up the hill) and tend to take it for granted. I am planning to take some more interior shots of the forest as there a lot more species of fern etc that I have not shown. I have I few more shots to complete this posting.
This little excursion was to photograph a form of Melicytus but unfortunately the plants were in bud but not flowering. I found two distinct forms; the first picture shows the site where I fount the plants with a north facing aspect front foreground and a south facing aspect on the side of the knob opposite.
The 2nd picture shows a plan that is most likely a hybrid of Melicytus flexuosus. The plant has flexuose intertwining twigs and very few leaves. I found about 6 of these plants all on the north -facing site.
Picture 3 is a plant from the south-facing aspect. There are quite a few more of this form. I am unable to even guess at a species name for it. This plant differs from the first in that it has more leaves all well tucked down in the centre of the bush.
Picture 4 is a close up of the foliage of the second plant showing the stiff twiggy spines on the exterior. When I was up there I thought the two plants were essentially the same but looking at the specimens I collected later I think they are different.
Picture 5 is a species of the lichen Stereocaulon
Picture 6 is on the way down showing a fairly typical vegetation association. In the foreground is the snow tussock Chionochloa rigida with Dracophyllum uniflorum and Phormium tenax directly behind it. Dracophyllum longifolium is also prominent with Pseudopanax colensoi present (plant in centre of picture with another to the left and a third to the right further down the slope).
Picture 7 shows Raukaua simplex ( formerly Pseudopanax simplex). The plant below left of centre with the three-foliate leaves is Pseudopanax colensoi.
Picture 8 shows the flowers of Pseudopanax colensoi.
Picture 9 & 10 show the fruit of Pseudopanax colensoi
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Super topic David - many thanks for posting. Could you ascend just a little higher to the realm of Stellaria roughii and Lobelia roughii please? (Not to mention my beloved buttercups, of course)!
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Hi Cliff,
With a bit of luck I might be able to produce something that will be of interest to you in December it is still a bit early for the true alpines yet.
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And not in this particular area. :)
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I enjoyed this topic very much David. So many interesting plants!
Interesting to see these Tree Fuchsia's and the Pseudopanax in wild habitat.
Do these flower and set seeds so early in the year (early for the SH) ?
Looking forward for more!
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Hi Luit,
Many trees have already flowered: Coprosma sp, Pittosporum tenuifolium, Pittosporum eugenioides and as you can see Pseudopanax colensoi. Kowhai (Sophora microphylla )has flowered well this year with many trees round the city still in full bloom. Tree fuchsia has an extended flowering period from August to December. Generally seed is not ripe yet though for Pseudopanax colensoi last seasons seed is in the process of ripening at the same time as this seasons flowers are coming into bloom. (but on different plants). Many New Zealand plants flower over extended periods and rather erratically probably in response a variable climate where the seasons are not as strongly marked as in the Northern Hemisphere. Here in East Otago the temperature usually rises enough for plant growth in September.
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This past weekend I went on another field trip to a patch of forest in the Rongahere Gorge south of Dunedin. It belongs to friends who have built a little hut there. They more or less run it as a game park and hunt the deer and wild pigs which are found there. The Gorge is on the Clutha River which drains the hinterland of Otago. There are three major lakes in the system Wakatipu, Wanaka and Hawea and several large rivers rising in the Southern Alps feed the whole system. By the time the Clutha enters the Rongahere gorge it is the largest river by volume in New Zealand. The river forks in two at this point and flows around Birch Island which can be seen on the left.
Picture 1 Clutha River above Birch Island.
The forest is predominantly mountain beech (Nothofagus solandri var cliffortioides) with some podocarps, kanuka (Kunzea ericioides) and the usual suite of broad-leaved trees that grow in the eastern South Island. The forest is on the whole drier than than the forest on Leith Saddle which I have shown earlier in this thread and consequently ferns and mosses are not as abundant.
Pictures 2, 3,4 are views of the beech forest.
Picture 5 shows a thicket of Pseudowintera colorata against a background of mountain beech.
The lianoid form of Fuchsia perscandens was abundant and was flowering.
Picture 6 shows the climbing stems of Fuchsia perscandens
Picture 7 shows the flowers ( I have put this in just to convince forumists it is a Fuchsia).
Picture 8 shows Clematis paniculata in flower. Both Clematis paniculata and Clematis foetida were present and flowering. Clematis foetida has quite a strong scent and can be smelt before being seen - the scent is in reality quite pleasant not withstanding the epithet foetida.
Picture 9 and 10 are of Rubus cissioides. This vine is covered in recurved spines and is known as the bush lawyer because once you get into its clutches is is very difficult to extricate oneself.
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Here is a little challenge for everyone - identify the mystery photo. All will be revealed on my next posting. I am sure someone will be able to.
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If the cobwebs are a clue then it may show the stalactite like gills of a mushroom?
But it probably shows the surface of your tongue after too many beers in that secluded hut?
Super images (as usual) David...
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Is it a form of TUFA :-\
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I think it looks soft so maybe some kind of fungus?
I do like the climbing fuchsia. I hadn't realized it would have such a thick trunk, surely unusual on a climbing plant. Would it grow from cuttings of smaller material David?
Funny, I thought that was you at the DBG on Sunday morning. A lookalike apparently. :)
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Cliff, As usual you are correct. Since I was driving back to Dunedin to sell plants to Lesley the following day I had to forgo the beer. ( Life is tough at times)
Lesley, Fuchsia perscandens is very easy to grow from cuttings. In the open it forms a low mounding bush
The fungus is a species of spine or tooth fungus which I have not been able to name. Picture 1 shows the thallus.
Picture 2 is a large bracket fungus
Picture 3 is a mushroom called Pluteus muscicola
Picture 4 and 5 are of a strange shining fungus that was unfamiliar to any of our party. The consensus was that it was an extraterrestial fungus from outer space.
From outer space we go to European fairy tales. Picture 6 is an Eyelash Elf Cup.
Picture 7 is an aggregation of fruiting bodies of a small wood-rotting fungus.
Pictures 8, 9 and 10 are of Gyromitra tasmanicawhich is related to the European species Gyromitra esculenta. Although this latter species is eaten by our Scandinavian friends it is highly toxic as it contains the chemical dimethylhydrazine which is used as rocket fuel.
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Super "musher" pix, David!
The Gyromitra tasmanica does look suspiciously like a tasty morelle, though, doesn't it!!??!! :-X
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Here is a little challenge for everyone - identify the mystery photo. All will be revealed on my next posting. I am sure someone will be able to.
David, when you put the picture upside down it looks like Ramaria stricta, don't know an English name
for it, has something to do with coral??
Pictures from Down-under we should look more carefully at in future ;D ;D ;D ::)
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David,
Well, that is another Fuchsia I need to find out a source for now. That and the tree one are both very cool. Even not on our quarantine list, I am hoping that the climber is here in Aus. Anyone know whether either of these fuchsias are here in Aus?
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Paul,
The tree Fuchsia is pretty much neglected in horticultural circles here and the climbing one is totally unknown. The only species that is available is Fuchsia procumbens which is a prostrate trailing plant. I can supply you with seed if you are allowed to import it.
I will finish this posting with a few pictures of ferns and other plants.
Picture 1 is a patch of lichens on thee trunk of a beech tree. There are at least two different species there.
Picture 2 is Grammitis billardierei a small epiphytic fern. It is also found in Australia.
Picture 3 is Blechnum fluviatile. We also share this one with Australia.
Picture 4 is Histiopteris incisa. It is found on the forest floor on disturbed sites usually windfalls and is best avoided for this reason.
Picture 5 is an unfurling frond of Histiopteris incisa.
Picture 6 shows the scandent habit of the clubmoss Lycopodium volubile.
Picture 7 shows the fronds of Lycopodium volubile in greater detail.
Picture 8 is a Corybas species. I looked hard for a flower but was not able to find one. There is the remains of a flower on one plant on the left of the picture.
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Now winter has now arrived in the Northern Hemisphere I will post some picture I took last Monday at a place called Akatore Creek south of Dunedin. The weather was absolutely brilliant but has been a bit of a mixed bag since. The creek runs out to the sea through an estuary. When we arrived the tide was in so not wanting to get our feet wet we headed up through the bush to the fence line above that separates it from the surrounding farm land. It was quite steep where we climbed up but you can generally find a way through the tangle.
Picture 1 shows the forest looking back up the estuary towards the road where we came in. There are a few Southern rata (Metrosideros umbellata) trees here: this is the nearest place to Dunedin where they may be found. The large trees on the skyline are exotic eucalypts that have been planted.
Picture 2 shows the point of land where the Akatore Creek enters the sea. There is a little island at the end that is accessible at low tide.
Picture 3 shows the tidal channel between the mainland and the island.
Picture 4 shows the rocks round the side that we had to negotiate.
Picture 5 shows my wife Belinda in transit. About this point she decided to take to the water and got her feet wet.
Picture 6 shows a little holiday cottage or crib as they are known in this part of the country on the other side of the estuary.
Picture 7 shows a white-faced heron wading in the creek
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Beautiful area, superbly captured, David...
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Thanks for you kind comments, Cliff. Here are a few plant photographs.
Picture 1 is the maidenhair spleenwort, Asplenium hookerianum. It is a small fern that grows in dryish forest.
Picture 2 is another spleenwort, the coastal spleenwort Asplenium obtusatum. It is growing in a rock crevice not far above high tide mark.
Picture 3 is the coastal ice plant Disphyma australe.
Picture 4 is Clematis foetida growing it its natural habitat which is the forest margin. ( Take note Lesley).
Pictures 5 and 6 is a form of Melicytus alpinus flowering. This particular variant is quite common in these coastal situations. In sheltered positions this species tends to be shrubby but in exposed positions it is a flattened spreading rather spiny cushion.
Picture 7 and 8 are Melicytus flexuosus. This is on of the strangest shrubs in the NZ flora and is quite rare and localised in it distribution. I found only three plants at Akatore two males and one female all in danger of being eroded into the estuary. Picture 7 shows the tangled mass of slender interlacing branches that is characteristic of this species. Picture 8 shows a close up view of the flowers.
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Beautiful pictures David. The Melicytus flexuosus is indeed a very interesting plant.
I always thought only Cercis flower out of the stem on shrubs. Now I know there are more like
this plant and Fuchsia arborescens.
Never knew there are iceplants (Disphyma australe) in your area too. Are the as hardy as some Delosperma?
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David,
I haven't been following your postings very diligently for the past while and so have spent a good while catching up, going back over the four pages of this thread.
I've said it before but it is worth repeating, these postings of yours from the southern hemisphere bring us a range of plants which are almost out of the world for us, things completely new, though it is also nice to see some we grow here.
Delighted with the photographs and your commentary but more than a bit jealous of that last posting showing your summer weather. When I came in from the garden today my fingers were so incredibly cold and pained me for ages - several barrow loads of wilted, wet and cold hosta leaves picked up and put on the compost heap. So, jealous though I am , it is still lovely to see such nice photographs.
Many thanks, Paddy
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Our summer has not lasted. Today was very windy. First from the northwest (warm) and then from the southwest (cold). There were a couple of showers but what little precipitation reached the ground blew away again. All my plants in pots dry out rapidly under these conditions and I need to keep watering in case I lose things.
Maggi, you will of course realise you are only six months behind us so the boot will be on the other foot come June!
Luit, Cauliflory or flowering from old wood is not uncommon perhaps it is more a feature of tropical/subtropical genera than northern temperate genera. The tree kohekohe, Dysoxylum spectabile (Meliaceae) is the species usually given as the textbook example. Disphyma austale would be similar in hardiness to Delosperma though it would be unlikely to tolerate frost as it is confined to the coast. The South African species Carpobrotus edulis has become naturalised here and grows in similar situations to Disphyma australe.
Paddy, Thanks for your kind comments, I am pleased that you are enjoying my postings. I attempt to select what I think might be interesting and different but you might have noticed almost every landscape shot in this thread has gorse which I am sure is very familiar to you somewhere in the photo. It is becoming a major problem in coastal Otago
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Disphyma austale would be similar in hardiness to Delosperma though it would be unlikely to tolerate frost as it is confined to the coast. The South African species Carpobrotus edulis has become naturalised here and grows in similar situations to Disphyma australe.
Thank you David, sounds it is only hardy in the Mediterranian climate then.
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Thanks for taking us along on a wonderful walk in another amazing area David ! :o
Beautiful plants - scenery and great holliday atmosphere ... something we have to dream of for another while... ::)