New Zealand field trips February 2010

[Lesley Cox]

  the South American R. verticillatus,

Where's that one Maggi?

[ranunculus]

In this MAGNIFICENT thread, Lesley!
 http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4963.15
You won't be able to resist looking at EVERY lovely image.  
R. SEMIverticillatus of course!

[Lesley Cox]

Oh God Cliff, thanks for shoving me in that direction. I don't know how I came to miss the thread as I believed I was notified about all new threads (though have totally missed Galanthus threads since 2008, leading me to believe no-one was bothered any more! )


Of course my R. semiverticillatus is quite as big as that (she said boastfully) but the damed thing has never flowered.

And yes, SEMI. R. verticillatis is a NZ species but can't for a moment compare.....

[Maggi Young]

Sorry for the typo.... I think its a Freudian slip.... nothing "semi" about it is there, it is truly the full jing bang! Wonderful pictures!

[t00lie]

A gentle stroll up country yesterday found a number of gems in flower--its a smashing season for berries --Coprosma ,Pentachondra ---and of course, its Gentian time.

Hebe propinqua
My feathered friend
Gentian bellidifolia.
Grouping of Aciphylla aurea

Cheers dave.

[Ross Graham]

I'm pretty sure its feb already but everyone still seems to be using the Jan fieldtrips thread.... edit by maggi.... I've made a new thread now!

.....so here are some pics from my trip to the Nevis Range in Central Otago.

Nevis range with Dracophyllum uniflorum in the foreground.

Lycopodium fastigiatum a clubmoss

Celmisia verbascifolia, The Nevis is a great place for Celmisia but this year was not great for flowering as far as I could tell from my brief visit to the Range.

Celmisia hybrid probably between C. lyallii and densifolia I also saw hybrids between C semicordata stricta and lyallii and stricta and another smaller species (so called C. linearis)

Pentachondra pumila is really nice if you look closely

Gentiana bellidifolia late summer is the time to see Gentians everywhere flowering in the mountains here.

Euphrasia zelandica pretty but actually a parasite.

there are more photos which I will try and put up soon

 

[Ross Graham]

Ok Here are some more pics from my short walk off the Nevis road last week.

Prasophyllum colensoi you have to get really close to this one to even tell its an orchid. We are very modest in New Zealand.

Leucogenies grandiceps the white bracts on the flower of the South Island edelweiss are really amazingly delicate if you look closely

This tussock butterfly must have been tired after a hard day as it let me photograph it all the others were much shyer

it looks just as interesting with its wings closed.

and lastly the view

[Ross Graham]

While I was away trying out my new camera I also went up the Remarkables
here are few of the 100 or so photos I took.

Neopaxia australasica the leaves on this are very succulent

Coprosma perpusila with a little Leptinella poking though.

Aciphylla lecompteii this is a very nice speargrass that grows on the Nevis Range too.

Aciphylla simplex the slowest growing speargrass for me I have 5 year old plants that are only two rosettes big, I wonder how old this one is?

Helichryssum bellidiodes (hells bells if you are doing a plant survey)

a nasty weavil that likes to eat Aciphylla seed.

Dracophyllum musciodes

Raoulia youngii the specimen I saw was a bit tatty so I just photographed the flower

 

[David Lyttle]

Hi Ross,

Good to see you have been out and about. I have a couple of taxonomic points. Your Phyllachne colensoi is actually a specimen of Dracophyllum muscoides. Helichrysum bellidioides is now called Anaphalioides bellidioides so Hells bells is now Ana bells. The  genus Neopaxia was revised by Heenan in 1999. He recognised seven endemic New Zealand species and subsequently transferred them all to Montia in 2007. At a guess your Neopaxia australasica is Montia sessiliflora which is the most widespread species in the South Island.

[Ross Graham]

Yes you are definitly right about the Dracophyllum musciodes I did take a photo of real Phyllachne novaezelandiae as well which I did not upload I should have been more careful though.   

Im including the photo of the real phyllachne novaezelandiae in this post.

Im sure your right about the rest too.
I knew about the changes in Anaphaloides but hells bells I cant even say that and I couldnt remember if Montia was the old name or the new one.  I guess this is what you get when you rely only on your memory for taxonomy, thats why my spelling is so hopeless.

[David Lyttle]

I visited the Northern end of the Rock and Pillar Range on Monday. Some interesting 4WD tracks but we returned safely. Most of the flowering is now finished but the gentians are now in full bloom. Not a good conditions for photography as it was a clear bright day with quite a strong wind.

1. Celmisia argentea  I was fortunate to find a plant still in flower. It is an East Otago endemic. It can be confused with smaller forms of Celmisia sessiliflora but is reasonably distinct.

2. Celmisia argentea and Celmisia sessiliflora growing side by side. Celmisia sessiliflora rosettes can be variable in size perhaps due to hybridisation of the two species but this is conjecture on my part. Celmisia sessiliflora is quite common in the locality.

3, 4  Abrotanella patearoa This species is a Rock and Pillar endemic similar to Abrotanella inconspicua. The flowers are finished.

5. Anisotome imbricata  A fruiting plant.

6. Euphrasia dyeri

7,8 Gentianella bellidifolia

9. Gentianella amabilis

10 Raoulia subsericea

[Ross Graham]

While I was up the Remarkables I took a short video on the side of Lake Alta at around 1800m. It shows a couple of alpine plants including Raoulia grandiflora Celmisia haastii and a couple of cushion plants. 1800m is well in to the high alpine zone and this is one of the few places in NZ where its easy to access, due to the ski field road to around 1600 m.

You can view the video quite easily by clicking on this link:



Its pretty short only 27 seconds but it gives you an idea of what its like up there. I'm hoping to take more video on my travels. There are not allot of videos of New Zealand alpine plants on the web. I will put links up on my website as well.

Hopefully this post doesn't break any rules here if it does I will delete it.

[David Lyttle]

Here are some scenic shots from the Rock and Pillars

1. Tors on the ridge crest ( hence the name Rock and Pillar Range)

2. View to the north-west with Mt St Bathans  and the Dunstan Range in the distance; Rough Ridge in the middle distance.

3. Typical schist tor.

4. Looking towards the Remarkables

5. View of Mt St Bathans from Rock and Pillars

6, 7. Topiary garden. The shrubs are Hebe odora and Hebe propinqua