NZ Field Trips Dec 2015

[t00lie]

Went for a ride up the Old Man Range in Central Otago today on a combined Botanical Society Of Otago and Forest And Bird outing.

A pleasant surprise at the bottom was meeting Hugh 'Shuggie' Wood and a few of his group who were waiting on David Lyttle and his mob to arrive ,however I decided not to hang around so unloaded the bike off the truck and away I went .

First stop for a picture with Aciphylla aurea in good  'voice' however the higher I rode the more it became 'pea soup' weather with visibility so bad I had to take off my sunglasses which I wear as eye protection when riding as it's rather difficult trying to clear the mist off the glasses with one hand off the bike while trying to negotiate up a steep track on loose gravel with the other .....

I soon stopped again , to cross a cushion herb field to visit a snow bank .

Here Celmisia vicosa was doing its usual thing on this range with 'zillions 'of plants but only a few flowering .Quite a number of those that were had a pink colouring in the bud that fades away as the flower advances and opens.

[t00lie]

However many patches of Dracophyllum muscoides and Kelleria villosa were in full bloom.

Not much was happening in and around the snow bank itself as there was still a heap of snow yet to melt with only Caltha obtusa just below the 'white stuff' in bloom so i headed back ,or at least tried to, head back to the bike .Missed it by about 30 meters and was uncertain whether it was on the road above or below me ...Did I mention is was rather misty .... Anyway after heading down for a few minutes I came across a familiar landmark on the side of the road ,(a large tor), and realized I needed to head up ,so with a bit of cursing and effort I located the two wheeler ....
 
It was then only a few minutes ride to the crest of the range where I hoped I could travel south for a few kilometers and meet up with the others .Unfortunately such are the 'plans of mice and men' as I ended up with a puncture .... Luckily a return to the truck was all downhill ,(8ks ),however after about an hour walking beside the bike controlling the hand brake I decided to take the risk and throttled up and very slowly rode to the bottom ..... Obviously the back tube is a gonna and while the tyre itself looks okay it might be prudent to replace that as well ...

Hopefully David and the others had an enjoyable outing ...... 

[Ian Y]

Sounds like a fun trip Toolie, glad you made it back safe to share the pictures with us.
Thanks Scottie.

[Hoy]

Nice plants t00lie 

But do you have time to enjoy the plants when biking? Don't you miss some plants in your hurry

[Robert]

Nice plants t00lie 

But do you have time to enjoy the plants when biking? Don't you miss some plants in your hurry

t00lie,

My question too. 

Sometimes I drive my truck on the back roads to get a quick reconnaissance of an area, however I miss gobs. Even when I hike fast I miss a lot.

The plants are very different. I enjoy seeing such things. I hope that we will get to enjoy more!

[t00lie]

Sounds like a fun trip Toolie, glad you made it back safe to share the pictures with us.
Thanks Scottie.

Not as much fun as back in 2008 Scottie ...... .That particular spot is under a few metres of snow currently.

Hoy/Robert --my transport is a 'poor mans 4 wheel drive ' in that it allows me to get up to the plants.

Yes closer to the action I probably miss heaps while on the bike however I'm told I miss a lot anyway when legging it to the next ridge so I accept I'm not going to see everything .The flip side is that i mimic a number of really serious plant friends who having exited from a vehicle, fall to their knees and start to search the ground at their feet --reminding me of a police crime scene ........
 I hope to get out between Xmas and New Year however we are in a cool wet ,very windy El Nino summer cycle .......

Cheers Dave.

[Robert]

Dave,

I wish that I could get away with biking here in California. It is very risky around here. It is even risky to drive a car around here! 

Do they allow bikes on trails in your parts? In some place "mountain bikes" are allowed on hiking trails. A few times I have dodged bicycles screaming down a hill on a narrow trail, but then these are the same ones that drive cars around here. 

Maybe this is why I feel more comfortable with the bears and mountain lions. They tend to mind their own business and stay hidden. It makes botany and hiking much more pleasant. 

[t00lie]

Dave,

I wish that I could get away with biking here in California. It is very risky around here. It is even risky to drive a car around here! 

Do they allow bikes on trails in your parts? In some place "mountain bikes" are allowed on hiking trails. A few times I have dodged bicycles screaming down a hill on a narrow trail, but then these are the same ones that drive cars around here. 
 

Oops  sorry ! maybe I should point out Robert that it's a motorbike that I use to travel up into the mountains   .....
For those hardy folk,( not me !), that mountain bike there are designated trails available and while i sometimes come across them flying down formed roads in the mountains ,most weekends I go into the 'hills' down this end of the South Island I don't not see another soul ......

[David Lyttle]

Not much was happening in and around the snow bank itself as there was still a heap of snow yet to melt with only Caltha obtusa just below the 'white stuff' in bloom so i headed back ,or at least tried to, head back to the bike .Missed it by about 30 meters and was uncertain whether it was on the road above or below me ...Did I mention is was rather misty .... Anyway after heading down for a few minutes I came across a familiar landmark on the side of the road ,(a large tor), and realized I needed to head up ,so with a bit of cursing and effort I located the two wheeler ....
 
It was then only a few minutes ride to the crest of the range where I hoped I could travel south for a few kilometers and meet up with the others .Unfortunately such are the 'plans of mice and men' as I ended up with a puncture .... Luckily a return to the truck was all downhill ,(8ks ),however after about an hour walking beside the bike controlling the hand brake I decided to take the risk and throttled up and very slowly rode to the bottom ..... Obviously the back tube is a gonna and while the tyre itself looks okay it might be prudent to replace that as well ...

Hopefully David and the others had an enjoyable outing ......

Yes, there had been some rumours going round the party that a bike and purple pack had been spotted half way up the hill -- no sign of its owner. However I had my hands full at the time with a party of about 30 including three people from Aberdeen so was not really in a position to locate an errant SPATourist.

We visited several sites but there is never enough time to see everything. the first site was an area of subalpine bog and snowbank vegetation. Lots of stuff was just coming onto flower.

1. Abrotanella inconspicua

2. Caltha obtusa flowers as soon as the snow covering it melts.

3. Cardamine corymbosa - very common in boggy ground.

4. Coprosma niphophila - still with last seasons fruit.

5. Hebejeebie (Veronica) densiflora. I was hoping to find Heebejebie trifida at this site but it was still under snow.

[David Lyttle]

More;

6 & 7. Myosotis brevis (or something close to it). This particular small forget-me-not seems to prefer drier sites.

8. Ourisia glandulosa common but not easy to photograph.

9. I am calling this Ranunculus cheesemanii though we are still debating whether it is this or Ranunculus maculatus. It seems to occur in damp bogs.

10 Celmisia haastii Very widespread and common; it flowers as son as the snow covering it melts.

[David Lyttle]

11. Ranunculus pachyrrhizus; another snowbank plant unlikely to be confused with anything else.

12. Ranuculus royi we seem to agree on this one as well.

13. A small grassland Ranunculus which does not have a valid name. It is a very distinctive entity with relatively small flowers, very hairy leaves and the fruiting scape grows downwards (similar in this respect to Ranunculus crithmifolius).

The taxonomy of these small buttercups is not particularly well understood and more work needs to be done to sort them out.

[Robert]

David,

Some interesting species. I assume all from an arctic - alpine habitat. We also have a number of Ranunculus species here in California that can be challenging to sort out.

[Hoy]

David,

I am always pleased to see your pictures! They tell me one thing though, the flora of New Zealand is much older than the flora of Norway. We have much the same climate and landscape but the plant diversity is much inferior. Taking the Ranunculus for instance, although we have a few different species, the common one, both from the sea side up to the highest mountains is Ranunculus acris. It has just started the adaptive radiation and in a million years we should have many new species!

[David Lyttle]

Hi Robert,

Observations are from a site at 1600 metres which would place them in the high alpine vegetation zone for New Zealand. Treeline is 1500 metres in the north descending to 900 metres in the south. The Old Man Range has a flattish undulating crest much of it very exposed but has gullies and extensive wet areas as well as snowbanks. hence there is a diversity of habitats and species corresponding to them. The genetics of the New Zealand alpine Ranunculi are complex . The larger species are fairly easy to place and identify eg Ranunculus pachyrrhizus, Ranunculus enysii, Ranunculus gracilipes but there is a suite of plant found in bogs (Ranunculus maculatus, Ranunculus brevis, Ranunculus cheesemanii) and another in grassland (Ranunculus royi, Ranuculus foliosus, Ranunculus multiscapus) where identification is not so clear cut. The latter group is particularly challenging as they are found from the coast to 1600 metres.

I have added a couple of pictures taken at Hyde Rock showing the crest of the range falling steeply into a mini cirque on the eastern face. You can see the exposed cushion field on the crest with characteristic schist tors, some very large snowbanks and steep tussock faces. Tussock grassland would have been a lot more extensive here prior to the advent of pastoral farming following European settlement when it was burnt and grazed.

[Robert]

David,

I just got back into town after being gone for 3 days.

I very much appreciate all of the information as well as the photographs. Slowly it all paints a picture in my mind as I get some clues as to the climatic conditions as well as the species that grow in your region, etc. It is very fascination for me to get more detailed information. Thank you.

Later in the season I can explain some of the taxonomy challenges surrounding some of our California Ranunculus species (i.e. R. californicum, R. canum, etc.). Like in your part of the world, some of the other California Ranunculus species are very distinct. In addition, there are also a few non-native species that have taken hold in some habitats.