Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: kiwi on October 14, 2010, 09:33:36 AM
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Just spent 2 amazing days on the west coast of the south island. Alpines not far away from flowering.
This trip was just a warm up though and didn't get above the bush line! The area is up in the Hokitika Gorge, the waterfall - Dorothy Falls and the sunset overlooking the Tasman.
The plants - I'm not sure of the first one, Parahebe (lyallii?) and Oxalis sp (magellanica?) . I hope David is out there somewhere?
Next week we are heading into the Lake Tennyson area, hopefully some Ranunculus will be waiting for us.
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Next week we are heading into the Lake Tennyson area, hopefully some Ranunculus will be waiting for us.
I will, I will, I will!!!! :D
Super images Doug.
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Hi Doug,
Good to see you back and out there. Hope things in Chch are returning to some semblance of normality for you and your family. First plant is Anaphalioides could be trinerve or subrigidum. Second is a Parahebe but cant tell which species because the leaves are not visible. Third is Oxalis magellanica as you have correctly identified.
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Hope Clint is thoroughly enjoying himself Doug.
I'm having an 8 mile hike tomorrow and up into the fell field the following day :P in the UK Lakes District in an effort to get back into some sort of fitness....
Hopefully this low cloud will burn off so i can post a few photos.
Cheers Dave.
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Cheers David, will see if theres a better shot of the Parahebe.
Cliff, I think of you everytime I see a buttercup!
Dave - Gidday mate, Clint hasn't stopped smiling since he's been here! I think we have him hooked on NZ Alpines, In the last month he's been travelled the whole South Island twice!!! Now, if only we can find him a nice Kiwi Lass......
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Cliff, I think of you everytime I see a buttercup!
My humble apologies, Doug! :D :D :'(
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Not much joy on the field trips here . The last two that I have been scheduled to go on were canceled due to bad weather. However I have been out and about on the odd fine day looking at rare plants. Sandymount on the Otago Peninsula is an interesting area. It has its own endemic Helichrysum, Helichrysum intermedium var tumidum growing on the sea cliffs. It also has an unusual kowhai related to Sophora microphylla and an un-named species of Melicytus.
First some scenic shots
1 Mt Charles
2 Harbour Cone
3 Hoopers Inlet
4 Allan's Beach
5 Coastal scrub forest with Kowhais
6 Kowhai in flower
7 Red Admiral butterfly on kowhai flower. Red Admirals are plentiful in the area as their host plant Urtica ferox is abundant they were out flying and feeding on the kowhai flowers.
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Back to Sandymount on another day
1 Melicytus flowers female
2 Melicyus flowers male ( I cheated here as I took the specimens home and photographed them)
3 Leucopogon fraseri
4 A nice clump of Leucopogon fraseri
5.6 Next the shrub Raukaua anomalus This shrub belongs to the Araliaceae family and is related to Pseudopanax (It was incuded in the genus until recently) It is a divaricating species and looks nothing like its closest relatives. One plant was recorded in this locality in 1986 and I found it again earlier this year. On my next visit I could not find it again so Icme back for another look. As you can see you could walk right past it - from a distance it looks like Coprosma propinqua which is vey common there
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1,2,3 More scenic shots, with a lot of sea cloud blowing in.
4, Looking south along the coast of the Otago Peninsula
5. An old stone wall covered in white lichen.
6 A little scrap of coastal forest clinging to a bluff. It is very interesting place and contains a number of rare species (Coprosma virescens, Carmichaelia petriei, Olearia fragrantissima). I saw some kowhais growing in it and went down to have a look. Not a good idea It is a jumble of enourmous boulder that have fallen from the bluffs and has an understory of Urtica ferox. I did not mange to reach the kowhais and decided I did not really want to be there I was doing OK with the nettle until I accidently grabbed one. My hand is still tingling a day later..
I found a hybrid between the shrub Helichrysum lanceolatum and Anphalioides bellidioides. Similar hybrids were originally described as Helichrysum purdiei.
7 View of Sandymount summit
8 Lovers Leap There is a viewing platform at the top of the cliffs where you can look directly down to the sea. The leap is based in the imagination and not in historical fact.
9 Columnar basalt cliffs
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Some beautiful country there David.
The native Clematis are in full flower everywhere I go at the moment.
I have really become intrigued by the genus this year and have begun to grow a few species.
The first 4 are from a garden I visited last week.
C afoliata, C paniculata, and the 4th I need to get an id.
the last two flowering in my garden are C X cartmanii and C marmoraria.
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Some beautiful country there David.
The native Clematis are in full flower everywhere I go at the moment.
Doug ,
Its beautiful until you get up close and personal then it becomes really ugly.
Your Clematis are flowering a few days earlier than the ones down here - ours are not quite in bloom yet.
The 4th Clematis is Clematis foetida reasonably common on the Eastern side of the South Island.
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Out for a walk today to look at some more kowhais - most looked like normal Sophora microphylla. A lot were devoid of leaves and most had finished flowering.
1 Typical kowhai (Sophora microphylla)
2 Clematis foetida in full bloom ( for Doug)
Some scenic shots;
3 Cape Saunders
4 View of Sandymount which I had visited on my previous posting
5 Old farm track
6 mt Charles from a different angle
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6 Mt Charles from a different angle (should have been in previous posting)
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Loving that Clematis David :)
Clint and I tramped into Mt Somers today, I'll let the pictures speak for us!!!
Ranunculus crithmifolius heaven :D :D :D
Tomorrow we are back into the mountains for an overnighter, stay tuned.....
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Enjoying these pictures, as ever! How lucky we are to be able to share these trips with you.
Great to see, also, that you are ensuring a fantastic travel experience for yet another happy mountain tramping European! 8)
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Looking forward to catching the flight home tomorrow night David and Doug--i've been homesick the last few days and viewing your pics hasn't helped. ;D
The 4 days in London have been great.Despite all the warnings we have found people approachable,most helpful and friendly in the big smoke --(i had a 5 pound note apparently fall out of my pocket yesterday which was picked up and returned to me).
Can't wait to try out my new Canon 500d SLR and macro 60mm lens on some mountain flowers.
Cheers Dave.
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Wonderful images David and Doug !!
Glourious views and special plants from the other side of the world, what more do we want on a windy, rainy, cold afternoon up here... ::) ;)
Thanks so much for posting !
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Just back from Mallorca ... to those MAGNIFICENT R. crithmifolious ... so many thanks!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
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Just got home from Lake Tennyson with Clint, had an amazing two days.
Raoulia bryoides
Helichrysum intermedium
Haastia pulvinaris
Clint enjoying a break with this increadible cushion
One of many penwipers (Notothlaspi rosulatum) we came across.
Another Haastia.
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Ranunculus insignis heaven......
A beautiful Hebe I have yet to be identified.
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Doug,
with all these superb buttercups Cliff will be falling over himself! ;D
Thanks for sharing.
cheers
fermi
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Doug,
with all these superb buttercups Cliff will be falling over himself! ;D
Thanks for sharing.
cheers
fermi
Just standing up again Fermi!!!! ;D ;D ;D Magnificent images Doug. I grow R. insignis reasonably well, but they NEVER look like that. :D
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Stunning buttercups all right!
The hebe looks like what I know as H. raoulii. Is that likely?
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Lesley, just been looking through my books and I would say you are correct with Hebe raoulii.
Stunner of a plant, growing massed over a few rocky outcrops.
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Just got home from Lake Tennyson with Clint, had an amazing two days.
Haastia pulvinaris
Clint enjoying a break with this incredible cushion
Another one to tick off Doug ---you might need to redo your list ;D ;D
Clint has the look of a well seasoned 'rock hound ' 8)
Parts of the Southern Alps didn't seem to have too much heavy snow on them as we flew home along their eastern flanks late this afternoon --could be an early flowering year.
Stunning pics mate.Thanks for posting.
Cheers dave.
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Clint left for home today, gonna miss having another keen plant hunter around home.
A few shots of the areas (and plants) he visited during the last few weeks. (I hope it isn't too long before your next visit mate, the Celmisia's and I will be waiting!)
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Amazing pictures Doug !!! :o :o
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Thanks for these wonderful photos. I only wished, that the NZ mountain plants would be easier
to cultivate in our climate.
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Here are some pictures I took over a week ago on a trip to Central Otago on our Labour Day holiday. The original purpose of the trip was to collect some hens but we visited a reserve called Flat Top Hill just outside the town of Alexandra. The reserve is as close to desert as you can get in New Zealand and has a suite of plants typical of these very dry areas. It also has a lot of weedy exotics that seem to very much at home.
1 Thymus vulgaris This plant covers the hillsides and does very well as nothing eats it. My shoes and clothing smelt of thyme for days afterwards.
2 Dry hillside covered in thyme. The natives Aciphylla aurea and Pimelea aridula are also present. The schist tors are very much a feature of this landscape.
Pimelea aridula Entire shrub (3,4) and close ups of male(5) and female(6) flowers.
7 Oxalis exilis (I think as I am not sure what else it could be)
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Here are some pictures I took over a week ago on a trip to Central Otago on our Labour Day holiday. The original purpose of the trip was to collect some hens but we visited a reserve called Flat Top Hill just outside the town of Alexandra.
David - interesting report, as usual!
Would you please tell me what kind of ' hens ' you were looking for?
Gerd
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Hi Gerd,
The hens were point of lay pullets for our domestic egg production. We purchased them from a poultry farm that has a reputation for supplying good birds.They have settled in happily and are laying well. The last lot we purchased ( from a different supplier) appeared to be culled birds from a commercial operation.
I am including a violet picture - Melicytus alpinus: the flowers have developed a bit far to see the detail.
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David, Thanks for the clarification and for the ' violet ' pic. Due to my fixation on plants I suggested something like 'hens and chicken' ???.
Gerd
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Clint left for home today, gonna miss having another keen plant hunter around home.
A few shots of the areas (and plants) he visited during the last few weeks. (I hope it isn't too long before your next visit mate, the Celmisia's and I will be waiting!)
I am only a few days home after having the time of my life in NZ and I already would like to start packing again and fly back to this amazing country... I have seen some beautifull plants and places on this planet such as Nepal and Alaska but nothing beats the allmost surreal beauty of NZ where treasures as Celmisias, Ranunculus, Carmichaelias and many other alpines grow abundantly. Everyone who calls himself a true 'rockgarden plantlover' must go at least once to this paradise. And hopefully we will see some more NZ alpine plants growing in Europe in the future, I know I will give it a try.
I would like to thank all the very nice people in NZ who helped me during my travelling and especially Doug Logan (and of course his family) for letting me stay at his home and for showing me around in the mountains. THX!!!
Clint Callens
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...... and, I think I read, they are looking for a New Zealand girl for you Clint ;D
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Anytime Clint, we've always got a spare bed here for you bud. ;)