alpine and subalpine Plants from New Zealand

[bibliofloris]

Wow, it looks great! (I do love an experiment!)
Kelly

[Lesley Cox]

As always David's photos are superb and show mountains in these pictures which I myself saw today but how different they were. I'm sorry I have no photos though. I had been in Nelson for the NZ Trillium Group's annual weekend away. I had flown up to Nelson, almost the length of the South Island and over the two or three days before, there had been very bad weather including extensive new snowfall in the South Island mountains, so flying back to Christchurch this morning at just 16,000 metres I had a magnificent clear day view of the mountains of the Inward Kaikoura Ranges and then the Torlesse Range and other Canterbury mountains as we flew up the centre of the island. I had never seen these mountains so snowy or perfectly covered, especially during what is springtime, well advanced by now. They were quite glorious.

[David Lyttle]

Fantastic pictures David! Beautiful mountains you have out there in NZ!

Hi Gabriela,

The Canterbury mountains are not my favourite mountains mainly because they are composed of graywacke which is a type of sandstone that weathers and fractures into shingle giving rise to the massive screes you see in the photos. Very tiring to climb They do have a suite of specialised scree plants but the flora is not as abundant or as diverse as in Otago/Southland or north-west Nelson which are the leading areas for alpine diversity in New Zealand.

I am posting a geological map of the South Island ( borrowed from GNS) showing where graywacke is found. As you can see it covers most of the eastern side of the South Island so all the mountains in that zone are characterised  by lots of loose rock and shingle. The Craigieburn Range is a good place to see scree plants as there are several ski-field access roads that take you up into the high basins.

[Leucogenes]

Hello David

Very interesting coverage about the geological formations of the South Island. An enrichment.

You say the biodiversity on these screes is not as high as on the other botanical hotspots...but the few species that occur in this habitat are all the more breathtaking. Your last photos prove this impressively. Personally, I'm especially enthusiastic about the pictures of you and Dave from this almost hostile landscape.

Thomas

[Gabriela]

Hi David,

Yes, thanks for showing the map. As Thomas says, 'an enrichment'
True that the flora doesn't look as rich as in the other mountains you showed pictures from; nevertheless, their beauty is enhanced somehow by the harsh habitat they survive in.

It is awful to climb, and to come down on that sort of scree!

[David Lyttle]

Myosotis pulvinaris x 'Hokonui', blue flowered Myosotis pulvinaris cultivar bred by Hokonui Alpines.

[Leucogenes]

Extremely interesting and extraordinary... David. I've never seen it in blue before. Since when has this breed existed...has it been on the market for a long time?

[ranunculus]

Even prettier than M. capitata, David!

[Leucogenes]

I totally agree... Cliff. Especially the foliage...unsurpassed. A beautiful color contrast.

Thomas

[fermi de Sousa]

Myosotis pulvinaris x 'Hokonui', blue flowered Myosotis pulvinaris cultivar bred by Hokonui Alpines.

Very nice, David!
Do Peter and Louise know what the other parent is? Or is just a colour break?
cheers
fermi

[David Lyttle]

Very nice, David!
Do Peter and Louise know what the other parent is? Or is just a colour break?
cheers
fermi

You would have to ask Louise what the parents were. There will be some M. capitata in the lineage somewhere. She is quite an enthusiastic hybridiser.

[Lesley Cox]

So far as I remember from the Hokonui Alpines catalogue, Myosotis 'Hokonui' is pulvinaris x capitata, hence the colour but retaining the tight cushion habit of pulvinaris. I'll check with Louise though in case I have the parents reversed. In a Facebook photo just yesterday, Dave Toole showed the same seedling but it appeared to be alost pink, just slightly lilac colour and while this could have been, as he said, his camera settings, it could also be that as with many Boriginaceae, the fresher flowers are frequently pink or pinkish, aging to blue. My own plant usually starts lilac or light purple then blues after a few days.

Thomas it is a recent hybrid, first listed perhaps 6 or 7 years ago. Since then, one which Louise has called 'Purple Mat' has been listed and it stays with the lilac shade, but closer to violet, deeper than lilac.

[David Lyttle]

Some plants flowering in my garden at the moment.

Gaultheria crassa


Hebe pauciramosa
 

Helichrysum intermedium var tumidum. This is a local endemic which grows on the sea cliffs of the Otago Peninsula.


And for Cliff,  Ranunculus insignis 'monroi'. The plants were grown from seed originally collected from the Black Birch Range in Marlbourough. In cultivation it is becoming more like typical R. insignis rather than the wild parents (R. 'monroi') on the Black Birch Range.

[ranunculus]

Many thanks, David ... I can certainly recognise that as a young R. insignis.

[David Lyttle]

My alpines have started to flower

Celmisia allanii with Celmisia bellidioides behind


Celmisia prorepens


A really lovely Celmisia from the Takitimu Mountains. I don't know what species it is but it has grown well and flowered profusely. It is a bit battered at the moment because we have had a lot of rain (and even more today).


and from the Subantarctic Islands, Myosotis capitata. It grows very well in my garden over the winter but struggles a bit in the summer.