alpine and subalpine Plants from New Zealand

[t00lie]

Oh well Toolie you still found some amazing plants !
Hopefully some new adventures coming up?
We need to see nice ppictures of plants when it’s icy in Scotland 

If not me I'm sure David L. will have some pics as he stayed up in the hills for another day.

[David Lyttle]

After Toolie went home to rest and recover we climbed Smooth Peak on the other side of the valley. We did not reach the actual summit (1623 m) but reached a subsidary peak at 1604 m. I have taken the liberty to doctor Dave's image to show where we went.



We had a magnificent view both to the north towards Lake Wakatipu and to the south down the Oreti and Mararoa Valleys The next image shows the head of Gorge Creek with its tarn and Jane Peak (2022 m) towering above it. As you can see there is a lot of country to botanise!



Descending was a bit tedious as there was a lot of scree. The angle of repose is about 35 degrees which you can walk down. We had the choice of of matagouri or our old friend Aciphylla aff horrida 'lomondi' to hang on to.



Overall a bit of a mixed trip as some of the things I wanted to photograph were not flowering but it is always good to get out. It is very steep and rugged country so you have got to keep your wits about you. It is not a place for the faint-hearted.

[Maggi Young]

It is not a place for the faint-hearted.

 Masterful understatement there!

[t00lie]

Last Fridays trip onto the Remarkables Range Central Otago.

Aciphylla kirkii



A poor season for a number of genera of the cushion field including Dracophyllum muscoides.



Will try again later as further images at about 295kb are being rejected as being above 200kb ...... 

[t00lie]

However Raoulia grandiflora were flowering all over the slopes.



As was Kelleria childii



and close up.



Coprosma perpusilla ssp perpusilla enjoying moist positions.

[t00lie]

Wide growths of Celmisia sessiliflora



just starting .



Hectorella caespitosa on rock



and more open positions .



Nearby Myosotis pulvinaris

[Leucogenes]

wow... Raoulia grandiflora in completion. She belongs for me to the top five with the Raoulias. Fantastic admission. Also Kelleria childii is great. Some years ago I had a small seedling of Kelleria laxa. Unfortunately, she has died. But I got nice copies of Kelleria (Drapetes) dieffenbachii this year.
Of course from Scotland 😊.

Thanks for the nice pictures... Dave...and still nice Christmas.

Cheers Thomas

[t00lie]

The highlights .......

Raoulia youngii  very numerous in depleted exposed spots.



and close up of the large flowers .



Haastia sinclairii


and close up showing the wonderful thick tomentum in more detail .



Grasshoppers everywhere.



Cheers Dave.

[t00lie]

wow... Raoulia grandiflora in completion. She belongs for me to the top five with the Raoulias. Fantastic admission. Also Kelleria childii is great. Some years ago I had a small seedling of Kelleria laxa. Unfortunately, she has died. But I got nice copies of Kelleria (Drapetes) dieffenbachii this year.
Of course from Scotland 😊.

Thanks for the nice pictures... Dave...and still nice Christmas.

Cheers Thomas

Thanks Thomas
The various Kelleria sps can be relied upon to flower regularly and make such a wonderful sight when in full bloom.

I hope to get out again later in the week as the weather forecast is for settled warm weather with light winds however it all depends on my knee.

Cheers Dave.

[Leucogenes]

Absolutely incredibly... Dave. Beauty cannot end a year... or? Actually, I get no more presents at Christmas. Now, nevertheless, I have got another one... your pictures. 😁😁

Thomas

[Ian Y]

Thanks guys for all these wonderful images of great plants and scenery brings back fond memories of my visit.

[Julia]

Wow Toolie fantastic pictures of Raoulia youngii and Haastia sinclairii.
Thanks very much for posting

[Lesley Cox]

Seems Raoulia grandiflora is good everywhere this year. Even the plants in my little nursery, about 15 from cuttings, are in flower and making new growth like mad.
I love the Coprosma perpusilla and any of the flat, berry-bearing plants.

[Ross McLeod]

A fabulous tour. Thank you.

[David Lyttle]

Have just been catching up with Toolie re his latest adventures since our trip to Gorge Creek. I fitted a trip in round the seasons festivities to Fiddlers Flat Conservation Area in the Upper Manuherikia Valley near St Bathans. The area is a dry river terrace above the Manuherikia River and is a fragment of the original dryland ecosystem that existed on these terraces prior to pastoral settlement, cultivation and irrigation which has removed all the indigenous vegetation.

General view of the Reserve looking upstream. Elevation is just over 500 m with Hawkdun Range in the far distance. The river is out of sight at the base of an abrupt terrace.


View looking down river. The terrace faces on both banks are quite steep and covered with scrub The main shrub species are matagouri (Discaria toumatou) and Coprosma propinqua with a fair amount of exotic briar rose (Rosa rubiginosa).


 At the upper end of the flat the topography gets a bit more interesting with the river flowing through a steep-sided rocky gorge.The geological strata are folded and twisted in every direction.