Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Alpines => Topic started by: David Lyttle on June 24, 2010, 12:16:54 PM
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Just back from Nelson where I gave talks to the Nelson Alpine Garden Society at their Study Weekend at St Arnaud and to the Nelson Botanical Society a week later. This gave me a chance to look around.
1,2,3 View from Spooner Range lookout driving to Nelson City from St Arnaud. The snow covered peaks are the Richmond range to the east of Nelson city.
4 Dun Mountain ultramafic zone. The vegetation is stunted as the soil is infertile and will not support the growth of forest
5 Ultramafic vegetation.
6 Ultramafic outcrop Note reddish weathering
7 Dun Saddle below Dun Mountain
8 Slopes of Dun Mountain
9 Rock outcrop with Totara trees
10 Coppermine Saddle at the head of the Maitai River which flows through Nelson City
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David,
Great to have you reporting on your ramblings. Could you explain "ultramafic" for me, please. I believe it refers to the rock type but it is not a term in my common usage.
Paddy
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David.... the weather must have been good to you, these pictures look to dipslay the perfact days for photography in the mountains!
Paddy.... I don't know much about ultramafic rocks.... I just know what I need
to know about them.... many types of ultramafic rock are gem bearing! 8)
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And, diamonds are a girl's best friend!
Paddy
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Along with lilies and poppies. :)
I bet the Nelson crowd gave you a good time David?
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Paddy,
Ultramafic rocks (peridotites)are igneous rocks that are rich in magnesium and iron and tend to have low concentrations of silicon, sodium and potassium. They tend to weather red due to their high iron content. It is thought they are derived from the mantle rather than the crust (eg granites). The high concentrations of magnesium inhibit plants from taking up calcium hence the sparse plant growth in soils derived from them.
Maggi,
If you like you like chromium,copper, nickel and asbestos then peridotites are the rocks for you. But then again you might be looking for pounamu.
Lesley,
I enjoyed my time in Nelson. I was treated very well.
I will continue the posting with some plant pictures. Several of these plants are restricted to ultramafic habitats.
1,2 Wahlenbergia albomarginata subspecies olivina. The subspecies is an ultramafic endemic.
3,4,5 Gentianella stellata Also an ultramafic endemic.
6,7 Pimelea suteri Also confined to ultramafics
8 Huperzia varia A clubmoss
9,10 An unamed species of Melicytus Probably restricted to ultramafic substrates
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The various types of ultramafic rocks are valuable for jade (pounamu) deposits but they are also host to diamonds, garnets (including demantoid garnets),olivine (peridot), corurundum (rubies and sapphires- interesting to note that these are found in vermiculite mining areas!)........heck, I'm only interested in the bright shiny ones..... you can keep the asbestos!
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Sorry Maggi,
Not a smidge of anything other than boring old serpentine. You will have to be content with the flowers; violets, gentians, bluebells and daphne.
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:) David, while it is interesting to know what other delights might arise from such rocks, believe me, your photos of these floral gems is more than satisfying!
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Here are a few pictures taken at Pelorus Bridge. The area is notable for a patch of lowland forest that is in fairly good condition. Many North Island species reach there southern limit here: eg tawa (Beilshmiedia tawa) and hinau (Elaeocarpus dentatus).
1,2 Pelorus River and gorge The next pictures are of plants growing in rock crevices in the river bed
3 Hebe stenophylla var stenophylla. I saw better specimens in flower the next day but did not photograph them.
4 Hebe rigidula var rigidula One of the rarer Hebe species.
5,6 Muehlenbeckia ephedroides This is a curious leafless species related to Muehlenbeckia axillaris.
7 A fern Botrychium australe. This is growing in the forest I hope I have identified it correctly. There is a second species Botrychium biforme that has finer leaf segments.
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Here are a few fungi; I will post them here however Maggi if you prefer to move them that is fine with me.
The first ten are all various species of Cortinarius. I generally take two picture one of the intact specimens and a second with with an upturned cap to show the stipe and gills. In local mycological circles this is called the dead rat shot.
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Here is the next set again they are all species of Cortinarius
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A few more but more variety this time
1,2 Cortinarius
3,4 Cortinarius porphyroideus syn Thaxterogaster porphyreus. This lovely violet fungus is quite unmistakable.
5, 6 An Amanita Amanita nothofagi (I think)
7 An orange coral fungus
8 A green Hygrocybe
9 Dont have a clue but it looks spectacular
10 Mycena sp
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The variety of these funghi is terrific, David. Would you know if any (I'm thinking particularly of the red and purple ones) can be used for dying purposes? They look likely candidates for a bit of home wool-dying to spice up the knitting or weaving of some enterprising craftsperson.
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The violet species, if you're interested in bright and shiny stones Maggi, beats amethysts any day. :D
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The violet species, if you're interested in bright and shiny stones Maggi, beats amethysts any day. :D
Yes, button earrings come to mind.... though they do appear a little ... slimy :P
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The variety of these funghi is terrific, David. Would you know if any (I'm thinking particularly of the red and purple ones) can be used for dying purposes? They look likely candidates for a bit of home wool-dying to spice up the knitting or weaving of some enterprising craftsperson.
Maggi, I dont think you would be able to collect enough to be useful. Some people believe the bright colours evolved to attract birds like moas to disperse the spores. I gave a couple of bright red ones to the chooks one day as an experiment. They immediately grabbed them but did not eat them. Maybe something bigger (and more stupid) like a moa would eat them or perhaps just scratch them up and spread them around.
I will get back on topic and show some alpine photos
1. Cobb Valley a botanist's paradise
2. Trilobite Mounds, Cobb Valley Note the different vegetation types in a relatively small area.
3. Cobb Reservoir at sunrise
4. Melicytus alpinus This shrub is covered with lichens and has been browsed by hares. The hares shelter under it and then jump up on top and clip the shoots. ( its a bit like burning your house bit by bit to keep warm)
5. Pimelea aff sericovillosa This grey hairy Pimelea has not yet been formally named. (at this stage I think it might have been given a name but it has not yet been published so I cannot tell you)
6. View of Hoary Head home of Clematis marmomaria. Hoary Head is the flat-topped peak left of centre. If anyone wishes to go up there to plunder the Clematis marmomaria they will most likely get lost.
7. Lake Sylvester Hut. The hut is on bushline about 2 hours walk up the hill.
8,9 Views taken outside Lake Sylvester Hut. Note the white crunchy stuff on the ground.
10 Bog pine (Halocarpus bidwillii) near Lake Sylvester Hut. The bog pine is growing in a large swampy clearing surrounded by beech (Nothofagus) forest
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interesting views as usual..looks like a very manageable mid-winter!
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interesting views as usual..looks like a very manageable mid-winter!
Its manageable on a good day
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More views
1 Lake Sylvester
2 Lake Sylvester basin
3. View from Lake Sylvester
4, 5 Lepidothamnus laxifolius This is reputed to be the worlds smallest conifer.
6. Hebe hectorii ssp coarctata
7. Hebe masoniae
8. Kelleria dieffenbachii
9. Celmisia dallii
10 Gentianella sp
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Some more plant pictures
1 Gentianella sp
2. Celmisia laricifolia
3. Argyrotegium mackayi
4,5,6 Some more scenic shots showing beech forest at tree line
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David, thank you for these impressive pictures.
I love these NZ plants, but most of them don't like our climate.
It is nevertheless such a pleasure to visit them virtually.
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David,
Great pics, as usual. Especially the last ones (4,5,6).
Very cooling when a forecast of more than + 30 ° Celsius was given.
Gerd
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Hi Rudi, Gerd.
I am pleased you enjoyed the photos. Winter is not the best for botanising in alpine areas but I saw several plants that were new to me. I would like to go back again in summer. However Nelson is a long way from where I live. The alpine areas of Otago and Nelson have similarities but many of the plants are different. Nelson being further north has a greater diversity of species including some unique endemics such as Clematis marmoraria (which I did not get to see as the site where it grows on Hoary Head is very inaccessible). The specialised plants on the ultramafic rocks were also of interest to me. There are similar ultramafic rocks in the western part of Otago. The Nelson rocks have been displaced by movement along the Alpine Fault but again contain a greater diversity of species than their Otago counterparts.
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Hi Rudi, Gerd.
I am pleased you enjoyed the photos. Winter is not the best for botanising in alpine areas but I saw several plants that were new to me. I would like to go back again in summer. However Nelson is a long way from where I live. The alpine areas of Otago and Nelson have similarities but many of the plants are different. Nelson being further north has a greater diversity of species including some unique endemics such as Clematis marmoraria (which I did not get to see as the site where it grows on Hoary Head is very inaccessible). The specialised plants on the ultramafic rocks were also of interest to me. There are similar ultramafic rocks in the western part of Otago. The Nelson rocks have been displaced by movement along the Alpine Fault but again contain a greater diversity of species than their Otago counterparts.
if only we could pop around at will to be in the right places and times for all the plants! i miss some that are just up the road when schedules and weather interfere!
nonetheless, a lot of the plants you show here have great architecture/texture/colours even in the offseason..
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Winter is indeed very manageable Cohan, especially compared with yours. It's our coldest time right now (July) but even yesterday and today, Dunedin recorded only -5 and (here at home) -6C. We've been down to -10 once and -12 once about 15 years ago so by and large, it's not too bad. Already I'm looking at crocus buds and little narcissus et al.
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Winter is indeed very manageable Cohan, especially compared with yours. It's our coldest time right now (July) but even yesterday and today, Dunedin recorded only -5 and (here at home) -6C. We've been down to -10 once and -12 once about 15 years ago so by and large, it's not too bad. Already I'm looking at crocus buds and little narcissus et al.
just enough cold to bring out those spring flowers :) my lilacs are still blooming and muscari just finished...lol
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I expect your winter - or summer for that matter - is more consistent. We get a few days of this or that then a change to something quite different. Hardest frost of the year yesterday, for several years in fact then today we have no frost at all and a light nor'west wind, which is our warm wind. At 7.30am it was quite mild outside and we are expecting a high temp of 13C which is pretty nice for an Otago winter, especially as the sun is shining. :D
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"Hardest frost of the year yesterday, for several years in fact then today we have no frost at all and a light nor'west wind"
Much the same here: a touch of frost at night and then the most magnificent warm, sunny day. Occasionally a cold front will pass by and give us a day or two of cloudy weather and some drizzle, but then the sunshine returns... Just magic! 8)
This is typical scenery in these parts at this time of the year: sunny skies, burnt grasslands and flowering aloes:
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Rogan ,
Does the burning induce the flowering of the aloes. We do not have anything here that flowers in mid-winter. However today was positively spring-like here with a temperature of 16 degrees C.