Chatham Islands

[David Lyttle]

Paddy,

The wide strap-shaped leaf in the photograph of Leptecophylla is Phormium tenax. The smaller leaves belong to the Leptecophylla. The two plants were growing together.

I can report on the relative pain of nettle stings from three species that I have experienced through a combination of carelessness and the spirit of scientific enquiry. Urtica urens which proliferates in my vegetable garden despite my best efforts to weed it out, is irritating rather than painful. Urtica ferox, the shrub nettle that is common round Dunedin, is quite painful. It is like having a hot needle being jabbed into you. Urtica australis gives you a bit of a tingle that lasts several hours. The effects of Urtica ferox can last about week. Although Urtica australis is common on the Chathams it is localised on mainland New Zealand to a few sites on the southern coast and I had not seen it prior to my visit there.

Picture 10 seems to have dropped off last nights posting so here it is plus an additional picture of Geranium maderense.

Myosotidium hortensia is now quite a rare plant in the wild on the Chathams due to the depradations of livestock. We saw several sites where it had been re-introduced as a component of conservation plantings but saw only one locality where it was growing  naturally.

Picture 3 for this posting is the entrance to another private Chatham is garden. This one had amazing  views of Te Whanga Lagoon, a patch of regenerating forest and a nuclear bomb test monitoring device (basically a very sensitive seismograph and telemetry system powered by solar panels and a wind generator - Sorry no pictures! )

Picture 4 is Corynocarpus laevigatus (Karaka in New Zealand or Kopi on the Chathams) It was probably introduced by the original Polynesian inhabitants of the Chathams as a food plant and has become a dominant tree in the lowland forest there.

Picture 5 is another common lowland tree, Melicytus chathamicus or mahoe. It superficially resembles the mainland mahoe, Melicytus ramiflorus but is genetically very distinct.

Picture 6, 7 and 8 are taken at a small outlying settlement called Owenga. Picture 6 is the wharf at Owenga with fishing boats moored there. Picture 7 is of the church at Owenga and picture 8 is the grave of a young man drowned in a fishing boat accident. Note the juxtaposition of the bottle of beer , a Myosotidium and a picture of the deceased framed by the jaw of a rather large shark.  Most Chatham Island families have private plots on their own land where family members are buried - it is usually those with no local connections that are buried in the public cemeteries.

Picture 9 is of Euphorbia glauca, a rare coastal dune plant.

Picture 10 is a closeup of Euphorbia glauca showing the detail of the leaves. The leaves of the Chatham island form are larger and broader than those of the mainland form probably as an adaptation to the lower light intensities of the Chathams climate.

[maggiepie]

Absolutely wonderful pics and gardens, David.
The Myosotidium hortensia are absolutely fabulous.
I am replying here even though the thread is old, because others newcomers might not have seen this thread.
Thanks again Maggi for posting the link to the thread.

[Paddy Tobin]

Glad you brought our attention to this post again, Helen, as I had missed David's last posting and photographs in the thread.

Great shots, David. I really enjoy the plants from the southern hemisphere. They are so at home here - though the echiums can become a bit of a weed, seeding about at will. Actually, on a ring road around the town someone has obviously thrown seed of echium on what is almost bare rock, an area where the road cuts through a raised bit of land, and they have thrived there and have increased year on year.

The Euphorbia glauca is a lovely plant.

Many thanks, Paddy

[Lesley Cox]

Of course the Echiums are not native in the SH but they have taken to our climate like ducks to water. Otago Peninsula, and not so far from David's home, has many wonderful plants.

[Paddy Tobin]

Lesley,

I will no longer blame you for the echiums though, to be honest, they are a great plant.

Paddy