alpine and subalpine Plants from New Zealand

[t00lie]

This plant was perhaps the best find of the trip. I realised it was an Abrotanella but I did not recognise the species until one of my iNaturalist colleagues suggeste Abrotanella pusilla, a North Island species. There are two other records of it in the South Island one from Fiordland and the other from Arthurs Pass. It is a very striking plant with the dark bracts around the head.


We found some Rubus parvus in flower This is a plant I would like to have in my garden. It would make a very attractive ground cover.

Lovely images David. The Abrotanella is stunning.

This is what I have as Rubus parvus which is currently in fruit so I can start off a layered cutting for you if interested

.

Cheers.

[ashley]

Wonderful photos everyone

Here (on a distinctly more modest scale) is Poa buchananii, w/c via the seedex last year.
Several times I've failed with celmisia seed from the exchanges.  Is my luck changing (just)?

[Leucogenes]

Wow... Ashley. Congratulations on the successful germination of Celmisia. A good job. 

[ashley]

Thanks Thomas but no praise deserved ... only one seedling after several attempts, and is it really a celmisia  
I couldn't find photos online so hoped for an expert opinion here.  Otherwise time will tell.

[Leucogenes]

Thanks Thomas but no praise deserved ... only one seedling after several attempts, and is it really a celmisia  
I couldn't find photos online so hoped for an expert opinion here.  Otherwise time will tell.

Hello, Ashley...

Unfortunately, I am not able to identify your seedling. Because I haven't had the pleasure of a successful germination of Celmisia yet. But there are glorious specialists here who can certainly help you. In a few weeks you may be able to see more...I keep my fingers crossed for you.

In a few days or weeks I expect my order for this year's SeedEx of the NZAGS and will continue to try it...in our region there is the saying...

"A Saxon never retreats...only when he takes a run at it." 😂😂

Thomas

[Gabriela]

From my photos you might think that we are always blessed with magnificent views, fine weather and a endless variety of alpine plants in flower on our botanical excursions. However it is not always thus. We decided to go up a creek called Rough Creek off the main highway an the western side of the Lewis Pass It should have given us access to the open tops above Lake Christabel which drains west into the Blue Grey River. Rough Creek is aptly named; the track rises steeply levels of a bit and rises steeply again. By the time we reached bushline it was raining quite hard and there were no suitable sites to make camp and pitch a tent. So after a fairly arduous trip up the valley we turned round and walked back down again. Our camp site that night was at the DOC campground at Marble Hill right on the alpine fault. We speculated what would happen if the fault moved during the night. We concluded that if it did we would not be getting home in a hurry. Neither would a lot of other people. The next set of photos is taken on an Olympus TG5 camera which its manufacturers claim is waterproof down to 15 m.

I thoroughly enjoy all your pictures David, no matter if sunny alpines or from the wet, shaded forest!
Lots of new species to think about all the time.

[Lesley Cox]

Hello Ashley,I am no expert about Celmisia or any other native genus but I think it would be true to say that it can't be said that your seedling is NOT a celmisia. 

A also think that a lot of failures in the germination of celmisia seed are due to the seed not being viable in the first place. When collecting celmisia seed in the field - and even more in the garden  - it is very noticeable that much of the seed is thin and often misshapen and sometimes hosting a small weevil-type insect who has dined on the fleshy part of the seed. (This perhaps less in cultivation than in the wild but pollination in the garden seems to be chancy anyway.)I learned many years ago in my seed sowing career that some seeds such as Fritillaria, Tulipa and Celmisia among quite a lot of others, will float or flutter from one's fingers, or drop quite slowly onto a piece of paper and these are not fertile while other, fertile seeds will drop quickly straight down and meet the paper with a small click sound. Of course you know this but less experienced collectors of seed sometimes don't. We have had collected seed from celmisias donated to the seedlists and know before listing it that it won't germinate but can only list it in hope, so I wonder if you and Thomas have not been successful with celmisia seed for this reason? My own bugbear has been seed of Clematis columbiana tenuiloba 'Ilva.'  I've applied for it 4 times now. Once there was nothing in the packet at all! and twice, although I sowed it I knew nothing would germinate. This year however I have sown what looks to be good, fertile seed (from SRGC of course) and am hopeful of some seedlings in the spring.

Like Thomas I am eagerly awaiting my seed allocation from NZAGS and hope the collectors of the natives on the list are experienced and observant.

[Lesley Cox]

Dave I'm really impressed by your photo of Rubus parvus, or rather by the fruit themselves. Have you eaten these or tried them at least? I ask because once long ago I had a plant of R. arcticus and though I think it would have liked it colder (I was in Timaru at the time) it did grow quite well for several years and I loved the raspberry pink flowers. Even more I loved the very few fruit I had. They had just a few seeds on each one, encased in scarlet pulp and with a marvellous sweet/tart taste. It would have taken hundreds  to make a  small pie. so I wondered if the fruit of R. parvus was tasty too. I also had R. chamaemorus, the legendary "cloudberry" but only a male form and though it flowered well couldn't produce fruit. I believe anyway that it requires a VERY cold climate to fruit, Norway or similar.

[Leucogenes]

Hello Ashley,I am no expert about Celmisia or any other native genus but I think it would be true to say that it can't be said that your seedling is NOT a celmisia. 

A also think that a lot of failures in the germination of celmisia seed are due to the seed not being viable in the first place. When collecting celmisia seed in the field - and even more in the garden  - it is very noticeable that much of the seed is thin and often misshapen and sometimes hosting a small weevil-type insect who has dined on the fleshy part of the seed. (This perhaps less in cultivation than in the wild but pollination in the garden seems to be chancy anyway.)I learned many years ago in my seed sowing career that some seeds such as Fritillaria, Tulipa and Celmisia among quite a lot of others, will float or flutter from one's fingers, or drop quite slowly onto a piece of paper and these are not fertile while other, fertile seeds will drop quickly straight down and meet the paper with a small click sound. Of course you know this but less experienced collectors of seed sometimes don't. We have had collected seed from celmisias donated to the seedlists and know before listing it that it won't germinate but can only list it in hope, so I wonder if you and Thomas have not been successful with celmisia seed for this reason? My own bugbear has been seed of Clematis columbiana tenuiloba 'Ilva.'  I've applied for it 4 times now. Once there was nothing in the packet at all! and twice, although I sowed it I knew nothing would germinate. This year however I have sown what looks to be good, fertile seed (from SRGC of course) and am hopeful of some seedlings in the spring.

Like Thomas I am eagerly awaiting my seed allocation from NZAGS and hope the collectors of the natives on the list are experienced and observant.

Hello Lesley

I can't say why I haven't had any success with seeds from Celmisia and all the other species from NZ. For me personally, the problem is that the seeds from the NZAGS will logically be delivered in the Nordic summer. But I am only at home on weekends... so it is not possible to irrigate the NZAGS in very hot weather. This time I will keep the coming seeds in the refrigerator until sowing in December.

I know a few German professional gardeners who are also desperate for Celmisia.

But I do not want to complain... finally I was not completely unsuccessful. Yesterday I pricked 4 tiny seedlings of Leucogenes grandiceps and some of Raoulia hectori...what a pleasure.

I will try again and again...because I like such challenges very much...hope dies last.

Greetings
Thomas

[ashley]

Hello Ashley,I am no expert about Celmisia or any other native genus but I think it would be true to say that it can't be said that your seedling is NOT a celmisia. 

A also think that a lot of failures in the germination of celmisia seed are due to the seed not being viable in the first place.

Thanks for that guarded endorsement Lesley  
Checking the pot again yesterday I found that my luck had doubled - enough now as an hors d'oeuvre for a local gastronomepod
Yes I read your very helpful comments on celmisia seed viability & sowing elsewhere on the forum (what a resource!).  Certainly some of the seed I've had previously looked dubious but, as Thomas says, still we hope.

... Yesterday I pricked 4 tiny seedlings of Leucogenes grandiceps and some of Raoulia hectori...what a pleasure. 

Well done Thomas & best of luck. 
Last year I failed miserably with transplanting Leucogenes but thought I might try pure sand (if ever there's a) next time.  What substrate works for you?

[Leucogenes]

Hello, Ashley.
...thanks for the words of encouragement. I can use any support I can get. 😉

I have planted the really very tiny young plants in my standard substrate for lime fleeing alpine plants. However, I have increased the proportion of sand a little. However, I had to act quickly because many young plants of L. grandiceps have already died in the germ pot. So we don't just share the same passion... but also the same suffering. 

[t00lie]

Several times I've failed with celmisia seed from the exchanges.  Is my luck changing (just)?

A case of Robert the Bruce ? Ashley  as I have no doubt your seedling is a Celmisia.

I understand that because Celmisia species are long-lived perennials forming extensive vegetative mats, it is probable that for survival they require only an occasional successful establishment from seed. Most are free flowering with good seed production potential in some years, but the proportion of viable seed may be small ,less than 10% because of low seed set or filling and loss through insect damage.

In the wild the most damage to seed I have observed is from a small grayish larvae of which I presume is a weevil as Lesley has mentioned, numbers of which seem to vary from year to year, area to area and species to species.

Whenever collecting wild coll seed I always look for seeds that are swollen, appear healthy avoiding any seed heads that have a host and obvious fungal issues and when sent overseas and planted in light upon receipt they have germinated well so maybe fresh is best.

Cheers Dave.     
 

[ashley]

Thanks Dave.  The tricky bit for us poor sods in the NH is getting hold of fresh seed
Presumably celmisias aren't self-fertile.

[t00lie]

Thanks Dave.  The tricky bit for us poor sods in the NH is getting hold of fresh seed
Presumably celmisias aren't self-fertile.

Sorry Ashley I have no idea.

Cheers.

[Leucogenes]

Hi Ashley & Dave

Short update... all tiny young plants of L. grandiceps and Raoulia hectori died within a few days. That was to be expected with the current heat despite shade.

No compensation for the loss... but still okay...Mazus radicans in a "sea" of Coprosma petriei