Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Alpines => Topic started by: David Lyttle on July 02, 2009, 12:01:08 PM
-
Greetings all,
Last week I visited the Pisa Range in Central Otago. Usually my alpine excursions are in summer but a winter trip can provide an invigorating contrast. During the drive up through Central Otago all the valleys were under fog not quite freeezing but close enough. However once we drove up the hill a bit we emerged from the mist into the sunshine.
Picture 1 shows the Cromwell basin under fog. Below in the mist people are busy pruning grapevines!
Picture 2 is looking across the upper Clutha basin to the Hawkdun Range.
Picture 3 is looking across the Locharburn to the summit of the Pisa Range.
Picture 4 is looking down the Clutha Valley towards the town of Cromwell with the Old Man Range in the distance. The mist is creeping up the Locharburn in the valley below.
Picture 5 shows the small isolated stands of Hall's totara (Podocarpus halli) that are found in the Locharburn. These stands are the remnants of more extensive forests that existed in Central Otago prior to the Polynesian settlement of New Zealand. Much of the forest in the eastern South Island was destroyed by fire in prehistoric times.
Picture 6 is higher up looking south directly down the Locharburn. The red shrubs in the foreground are Dracophyllum pronum with plants of Aciphylla aurea present as well.
Picture 7 is looking towards the north-east into the upper Clutha basin.
Picture 8 shows the crest of the Pisa Range.
Picture 9 shows an optical halo in the mist.
Picture 10 shows the late afternoon sun on the Dunstan Mountains across the valley.
-
Love the colours in image 3084, David ... like early spring on our Lancashire moors. Very evocative. We WILL get over there one day. Many thanks for another beautiful posting and I'm certain that more will follow, but we may not be able to view them for at least a couple of weeks as we are off to the Dolomites later today for another stint as wildflower walk leaders.
Kind regards from the north of England.
-
Cliff,
I love to visit the Dolomites, maybe one day we both can fufill our dreams.
-
David, stunning photos to show us the magic of your country.... thanks! :-*
-
Wonderful pics David.
-
Maggi used the perfect word David !
This is pure magic ! :o
Thanks so much for showing !
-
David, I agree with Cliff, such a moody landscape and wonderful to see through your field trip photos - were there any winter plants you hoped to see?
-
Beautiful landscapes David. I'll bet it's a bit different today though. Many Central Otago roads closed with snow. Some of my fruit vendors won't be at the Market tomorrow. ???
-
Yes Lesley,
Considering the weather at the moment I dont think the market will have many vendors or patrons tomorrow morning. There will be a good covering of snow all through inland Otago today. However I will not be there to record it.
Here are some more pictures some with plants in them.
Picture 1 is of Melicytus alpinus the famous porcupine shrub growing over a schist boulder. These shrubs protect their leaves with a cage of spines. This is thought by many to be an adaptation to moa browsing but it seem to be a successful strategy to deter sheep and rabbits now there are no moas.
Picture 2 Aciphylla aurea growing high on the Pisa Range.
Picture 3 is a schist outcrop covered with the alpine lichen Neuropogon ciliatus.
Picture 4 shows a group of Aciphylla aurea plants growing amongst schist boulders.
Picture 5 is of Hebe buchananii.
Picture 6 is Dracophyllum pronum.
Picture 7 is a rock outcrop with totara (Podocarpus hallii) and kanuka (Kunzea ericioides).
Picture 8 shows more totara trees There are also specimens of bog pine (Halocarpus bidwillii) and mountain celery pine (Phyllocladus alpinus) growing amongst the totara.
Picture 9 some nice tors with Melicytus alpinus in the foreground.
Picture 10 is Corokia cotoneaster growing in the lee of a tor.
-
Last pictures for this posting
Melicytus alpinus chewed by rabbits( could be hares but were most likely to be rabbits as there were a lot about). The leaves remain protected.
The remaining three pictures are of a male tomtit (Petroica macrocephala) that was taking taking an interest in us.
-
wow--what a fascinating flora you have! really interesting plants, fantastic colours this time of year, and really nicely framed shots, great job!
-
David,
Some striking landscapes in there. :o The Hawkdun range in the background looks amazing. Sort of like someone has made a stereotypical painted background. Absolutely brilliant!!
Thanks for sharing. 8)
-
David,
As we have come to expect from you - a brilliant report on your mountain wanderings with excellent photographs to illustrate.
Really enjoyed it. Many thanks, Paddy
-
Thanks everyone for your kind comments: it was one of those rare days in the mountains that I am pleased to be able to share with you.
The dramatic appearance of the Hawkdun Range is due to New Zealand lying astride a plate boundary with the Australian plate colliding with the Pacific plate. The main uplift has created the Southern Alps to the west but further east more mountain ranges (the Hawkduns amongst them) are getting rucked up. These processes are still occurring which makes for very dynamic landscapes (and the occasional earthquake). The present New Zealand landscape is very young in context of geological time. In this respect the New Zealand alpine flora is young as well and is still actively evolving.
-
"the New Zealand alpine flora is young as well and is still actively evolving"
So, just like yourself then!
Paddy
-
Lovely to see the little tomtit too.
We did have quite a good Market crowd for such a filthy day, and only one vendor missing specifically because of the weather. Someone told me what I didn't really want to know, that it was the fifth rainy day out of the last eight! :'(
-
David, what a wonderful series of winter pictures in the NZ mountains.
So beautiful colors. I wonder how cold it is there as being mid winter?
You must have had a very good day.
-
Its been over a week since I last posted to this thread. The weather has been fairly indifferent during that time and I am looking forward to something better.
Luit , Here is a picture of my companion Max, in shorts and shirtsleeves on the Pisa Range on the day. Note the sunglasses. ;D
The second picture was taken at the end of March year ago from the top of the Pisa Range. It is looking south towards the town of Cromwell. The water towards the left is Lake Dunstan formed when the Clutha River was damned for hydroelectricity. This was the view covered in fog in the previous pictures of the thread.
-
Thanks David, looks more like a nice summer day in Holland ;D ;D ;D
We do have some nice days in winter too, but never so that we could go out in shorts.
-
We're hardy types down here Luit. ;D The Southern Man is supposed to be able to cope with anything from worst weather to flirty women. Not with bad beer though. ;D
-
The archetypal Southern Man ---------------
in his natural habitat!
not a flirty woman (or any other kind) in sight.
-
Bless him! we really do have to try and find him new woolly tights........... ;)
-
Purple ones?
-
For preference, David, yes. I have searched the internet high and low to no avail. Jean W and I thought we might have to resort to knitting them..... ??? :-X :-\
-
The archetypal Southern Man ---------------
in his natural habitat!
not a flirty woman (or any other kind) in sight.
David, that makes me curious about how she would look then (I mean the archetypal (flirty) NZ woman in winter) ?
The ones I know here, would probably get frightened, when seeing such a bare man in winter ;D ;D
-
No sign of any flirty women yet :P however i guess that like me they are still getting over the big 7.8 earthquake that hit us down this end of the South Island last night --very frightening, yet i found it quite exhilarating :-\ as the house swayed to and fro violently and while we couldn't see anything in the dark we heard the forested trees all around us wooshing and creaking so loudly .
Thankfully no reported injuries 8) .
Cheers Dave.
-
The epicentre was out to sea west of Resolution Island (off the southwestern coast of the South Island). I did not feel a thing out here but many people in Dunedin experienced it.
-
good to hear everyone is ok! must be a bit scary, even if exhilarating!
generally, things are pretty unmoving here in alberta......
-
[quote Maggi Young
Bless him! we really do have to try and find him new woolly tights........... ;)
[/quote]
[/quote Maggi Young
For preference, David, yes. I have searched the internet high and low to no avail. Jean W and I thought we might have to resort to knitting them..... ??? :-X :-\
[/quote]
Maggi
Suggest you and Jean put away your knitting needles as i've just managed to locate a very old pair ---unfortunately not purple David :'(---and a bit short in the leg department --i'll just have to roll my rugby socks up to cover any gap. :o ............
Cheers Dave
-
While I'm glad you have found some legwear, t00lie, I think Jean and I will keep looking for some purple wool!
-
While I'm glad you have found some legwear, t00lie, I think Jean and I will keep looking for some purple wool!
ok, very OT, but this reminds me of a french movie i saw years ago 'the hairdresser's husband', where a mother knits woolen bathing trunks for her young boys!!
-
The cold must have got to you Dave, or was it the earthquake that set you off!
Susan
-
Aaargh! knitted bathing suits..... they were a nightmare! I remember a little navy and white one when I was about three..... yikes! At least it was little when it was dry..... got a whole lot bigger when wet. :P
Susan, any chance we can ask you to contact Lesley in hospital and give her our very best wishes? :)
-
From me too, Susan. I emailed her the other day before I knew she wasn't well, just to find out whether she was OK or not. Would like you to pass on best wishes for me if you get the chance.
Thanks so much. 8)
-
I popped in this afternoon to see Lesley and passed on all of your best wishes. She had quite a major operation apparently, and just in time. She was supposed to be going home tomorrow, but they are going to do an angiogram tomorrow morning. While I was there they came along to do an ECG. Will know more tomorrow afternoon,as I will call in again when I am in town.
I did not have long with her as she was being press ganged into signing forms for the procedure and then wanted to stick little patches all over her, so I thought it was time to leave - all sounds like scary stuff to me.
Susan
-
Susan, good to hear that you have seen Lesley....... sounds very scary, as you say. Tough old bird though, so I'm hopeful of full recovery to her usual self soonest!
Thanks so much for keeping us up to date.
-
Beautiful day for a walk up the back! Need some help with Aciphylla identification.
1. Lake Lyndon ice melt
2. Celmisia spectabilis and Aciphylla aurea ?
3. and 4. Carmichaelia monroi.
-
nice views---great to see what places look like in different seasons..the plants seem very architectural in this area, so they look great active or dormant..
-
Lovely photo of Lake Lyndon ice melt and the wild landscape Doug :)
-
Gradually catching up with way over 1000 posts, even another 300 since I came home and since Roger hogs the Broadband at the weekends, I'm just getting into gear.
The earthquake is old news now but I can report that it was VERY scary on the 4th floor of Dunedin hospital, with several concrete floors above and below. The beds slithered about, the curtains rattled and shook and a few things fell over but nothing worse than that. We were just wondering how the heck we were going to get out when it all stopped. No panic, no damage. Much of the hospital building is relatively new and our lot at least is built on a kind of absorbent pad, for just such occasions. Nice to know it works.
REALLY scary though, are those woollies of Dave's. 8) Might have to get out my own knitting needles.
-
Doug, the All Blacks didn't go too well, did they? What a bunch of amateurs!
But I don't want to say a word against them to you in partcular, as I think you're the man to find a little plant for me, that I had years ago. I know that Parahebe canescens grows at Lake Lyndon but I haven't been there for years. If you find it sometime, would you get a little piece for me please? I can arrange to pick it up somehow, maybe in the summer. It would be the perfect plant for the "Puzzles" thread, a picture of the plant not in flower. ;D (What? where's the plant?)
-
Lesley, yes, the rugby was gutting, but next weekend we'll kick ass! As for the Parahebe, I will be on the look out for you. cheers,
Doug.
-
Hi Lesley,
Good to see that you are back having survived your sojourn in Dunedin Public + the earthquake. The only thing left to bite you is the pig flu. Keep well!
-
Doug,
Many thanks for the photographs. A question: does the carmichaelia do anything? Flower? I have two plants for about ten years and nothing ever seems to happen with them - they just grow very, very slowly, never a flower, no apparent leaves even. Peculiar little thing.
Paddy
-
A question: does the carmichaelia do anything? Flower? I have two plants for about ten years and nothing ever seems to happen with them - they just grow very, very slowly, never a flower, no apparent leaves even. Peculiar little thing.Paddy
Paddy
I'd be interested to know as well. My Carmichaelia ensyii from AGCBC93-876 seed had its first and only flower last summer. Now to find the plant which I can't recall seeing ever since.
johnw
-
Carmichaelias DO flower, some very freely indeed. They are pea family of course and the flowers are typical, usually in shades of purple though sometimes creamy or brownish. The very tiny, tight species when in full bloom are lovely things. However, it would be true to say that seems to happen more often in the wild than in cultivation where they are certainly very slow growing. Maybe a high potash fertilizer would help? I'm sure David and Dave both have good pics of species in flower.
-
A question: does the carmichaelia do anything? Flower? I have two plants for about ten years and nothing ever seems to happen with them - they just grow very, very slowly, never a flower, no apparent leaves even.
Paddy,
Carmichaelia is quite a diverse genus; most species are shrubs some are small trees and one is lianoid. The two species that are perhaps most interesting to alpine gardeners are Carmichaelia nana (syn Carmichaelia enysii) and Carmichaelia monroii. Carmichealia nana is to 2-3 cms tall and forms a mat. My plant flowers most years but some are better than others. Carmichaelia monroii looks a bit like an up-ended yard broom. My plant of this species also flowers. Carmichaelia crassicalis ( formerly Corallospartium crassicaule) is a sparsely branched species that can be quite floriferous. Carmichealia kirkii is lianoid and tends to scramble through other shrubs.
I am including a photo of a plant of Carmichaelia crassicaulis from Mt Hutt which shows the typical pea-like flowers. Colour is generally white for most species with purple veining. If the plants are grown in the shade most species will produce leaves. Generally, flattened branches (cladodes) perform the functions of leaves.
-
Lesely and David,
Many thanks for your very informative and encouraging comments. John has reminded me that it is Carmichaelia ensyii which I have in the garden, likewise from AGS seed distribution.
David, your photograph shows the typical growth I see on my plant here but, unfortunately, I have yet to see a flower. I will follow Lesley's advise and give it some potash. Perhaps next year!
Many thanks for your reports and photographs, David.
Paddy
-
I have taken photos of some of my Carmichaelias to show how diverse they are.
1. Carmichaelia nana ( formerly C. enysii ) From Hokonui Alpines
2. Carmichealia monroii Also from Hokonui Alpines This is the true Carmichaelia monroii not the closely related Carmichaelia vexillata which is the species that is found in Otago
3. Carmichaelia crassicaulis Grown from cuttings
4. Carmichaelia curta (out of focus as it was blowing at the time but you get the idea) Grown from cuttings - this is a rare species from North Otago.This plant seems to produce flowers throughout the year.
-
I have taken photos of some of my Carmichaelias to show how diverse they are.
1. Carmichaelia nana ( formerly C. enysii ) From Hokonui Alpines
2. Carmichealia monroii Also from Hokonui Alpines This is the true Carmichaelia monroii not the closely related Carmichaelia vexillata which is the species that is found in Otago
3. Carmichaelia crassicaulis Grown from cuttings
4. Carmichaelia curta (out of focus as it was blowing at the time but you get the idea) Grown from cuttings - this is a rare species from North Otago.This plant seems to produce flowers throughout the year.
very interesting plants! i do like oddities like this, thanks for the lesson!
-
Yesterday I went back to the site on the Pisa Range that I posted at the start of this thread: it is now late winter with the snow receding rather than arriving. It was a lot warmer and the valleys were clear and not submerged in fog as they were in the previous visit. We drove up into Central Otago into clearing weather but on the way back another small front came through from the south. We dodged the rain and visited another site on the Old Man Range to the south where it was cold but improved as evening approached.
Pictures 1-4 general views of the Pisa Range with the valley of the Locharburn and schist outcrops.
Picture 5 shows a totara (Podocarpus hallii) growing amongst some schist tors.
Picture 6 shows a good specimen of totara (Podocarpus hallii). Trees are not particularly common in this landscape.
Picture 7 shows the Hawkdun Range mantled with cloud after a southerley front has passed through.
-
Nice pics David, still I will wait a little longer before venturing into our mountains.
I will hopefully go to the Rock and Pillars and maybe Ohau range this year, quite possibly the Old Man Range but not sure. I will have to take pics for this thread, and include a few of my main interests alpine cicadas,-Maoricicada species, scarabs and weevils.
I will take a few pics of plants that interest me and ask you guys for ID's, there are many beautiful Celmissia's, Renuncular's etc. I just love our Roulia, scleranthus, pimelias and Aciphylla species (spelling??)
-
Hi Kees,
It is still a bit cold to go into the mountains but with the weather warming up the snow will be gone soon unless we have a late storm.
Picture 1 Podocarpus hallii (right) and Halocarpus bidwillii (left) - the remnants of the forest that grew here in pre-human times.
Picture 2 Foliage of Halocarpus bidwillii (bog pine)
The following views were covered by fog on my last visit;
Picture 3 Clutha Valley.
Picture 4 looking down the Clutha Valley across lake Dunstan towards the town of Cromwell.
Picture 5 looking across the Clutha valley to the Dunstan Range.
Picture 6 River terraces cut in the outwash gravels by the Clutha
Picture 7 Rock outcrop with totara (Podocarpus hallii) and kanuka (Kunzea ericioides).
-
Magnificent shots, David ... I particularly love the portrait orientated image of Podocarpus halliii, growing among the schist tors. That would make a beautiful poster.
-
Thanks Cliff,
I have been following your Dolomites thread: such a different landscape - very dramatic. The surprising thing for me are all the little villages, churchs and farms in a mountain setting.
-
David,
Very different and very dramatic indeed, that is what makes it so interesting to us as we would otherwise not see such sights.
Great thread, as usual. Paddy