Remarkables, Otago, New Zealand

[David Lyttle]

I recently found myself in Queenstown with my wife, two of her sisters and their respective spouses plus my two daughters and their respective spouses. The circumstances were not particularly relevant to alpine gardening so I will not bore you with the details. I do not enjoy Queenstown and if it had been my choice I would have avoided setting foot in the place at all costs. (If you go there you know it is going to cost you generally a lot of money anyway). However I was able to spend a day on the Remarkables photographing the alpine vegetation. You can drive up to about 1600 m on the skifield road and gain further height on all the service roads and tracks that have been constructed there.


Remarkables skifield. Ski base building and carpark is at the bottom left. The whole place has bee dug up and modified with roading and ski lifts but it is still possible to find patches of the original vegetation. Needless to say plants that thrive on disturbed sites are abundant.


View of Lake Alta and Double Cone the highest point in the Remarkables. This part of the basin is relatively unmodified.




Starting at about 1600 m Aciphylla aff horrida "lomondii" This an undescribed large speargrass found throughout the Wakatipu Basin and further west. In the high rainfall parts of Fiordland is is replaced by Aciphylla horrida and in the east by Aciphylla aurea.



For those who prefer smaller, less aggresive speargrasses  here is Aciphylla kirkii commonly found on the higher mountains of Central Otago

[David Lyttle]

At 1600 m this waterfall comes tumbling down the hill. It is not very big but the little creek it formed was lined with Dolichoglottis lyallii in full bloom.





A close up of the plant.



Not quite as spectacular but flourishing in the damp conditions Craspedia uniflora.



Back under an overhanging boulder, Wahlenbergia albomarginata with Coprosm perpusilla.

[Leucogenes]

Nice to hear from you again, David. Again very nice pictures. Blue sky and no human masses. A perfect day. Craspedia uniflora I also find very beautiful.

Thank you for showing.

[David Lyttle]

Another plant at home in streambeds is Epilobium macropus





This picture shows its flower which is fairly large for an Epilobium. Epilobiums are not good rock garden plants as they are inclined to be weedy and best appreciated in situ. They are also fairly challenging to identify - I avoided photographing them for years for this reason.



A small creeping species Epilobium komarovianum in an alpine bog at 1700 m.



Another species of Epilobium,  perhaps E. tasmanicum but I am not entirely sure with  a cudweed Euchiton traversii also in a bog at 1700 m.



Montia sessiliflora once known as Claytonia australasica. I believe there are a number of species of Claytonia and Montia found throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

[Leucogenes]

Fantastic...

[David Lyttle]

Hello Thomas,
I met up with a group of about 20 walkers, one of whom was an old friend. They disappeared off to wherever they were going leaving me alone for most of the day.

[Leucogenes]

That sounds really good. An old friend and still one has its peace. That would be for me. In such a great landscape one does not need anymore. Surrounded by beautiful plants. Perfect.

[David Lyttle]

On the way up I found this plant of Celmisia densiflora in flower.



Clemisia densiflora is a common Celmisia in Otago and can form large patches at times.



At 1700 m I found the button daisy Leptinella pectinata subsp villosa

[David Lyttle]

I stopped at 1800 m and spent some time photographing cushion plants.



Cushion field with Celmisia sessiliflora.



Cushion of  Celmisia sessiliflora in flower.



Another daisy, Brachyscome montana. Brachyscome is another problematic genus. However this particular species is easy to recognise.



A cushion of Hectorella caespitosa.



Close up of Hectorella caespitosa flowers.

[David Lyttle]

More cushions:





Dracophyllum muscoides very abundant in these high alpine cushion fields.



Kelleria childii; There are two cushion species of Kelleria C. childii and C. croizatii with eastern (dryer) and western (wetter) distributions respectively.



 flowers of Kelleria childii



Very abundant and flowering in profusion Ourisia glandulosa

[David Lyttle]

Ourisia glandulosa en masse



Something a bit more modest; the uncommon tiny sedge Carex berggrenii. This species is easy to grow and makes a good subject for a trough.



Raoulia grandiflora - a widespread and common species but it does not like growing in a rock garden. I have never managed to keep it.




A tiny mat-forming Coprosma, Coprosma niphophila. This and Coprosma perpusilla are almost impossible to distinguish unless they are in flower. The female flowers of Coprosma niphophila have two styles and those of C. perpusilla have four developing into berries with two seeds or four seeds respectively. Coprosma perpusilla is perhaps the more common of the two. C. niphophila is an alpine snowbank specialist hence its name.

[David Lyttle]

Raoulia grandiflora growing in a cushion of Phyllachne colensoi - cushion plants like company.



A good-sized cushion of Phyllachne colensoi.



Flowers of Phyllachne colensoi.

[David Lyttle]

I decided to continue on up to a saddle into Wye Creek. The saddle is at 1960 m and is gained via a steep scree slope that has very little vegetation growing on it.. However there are a few plants tucked in between the schist boulders.



These cushions of Colobanthus had me puzzled for a while. I decided they are most likely to be Colobanthus buchananii though they are a bit different from the forms found at lower elevations.



Growing with the Colobanthus was another Epilobium. I decided it was Epilobium porphyrium though I am not entirely certain I am correct. There are not many people around who are keen to identify Epilobiums.





Just before I reached the saddle I found Haastia sinclairii, a high alpine scree specialist. It is one of my favourite plants though I have never attempted to grow it.

[Maggi Young]

You made great use of your trip, David!  Superb photos of these  plants - for which many thanks.
 I think I am probably not alone in worrying  that ski-fields tend to have an almost completely detrimental affect on a landscape so it is heartening to see  the richness of  diversity  you show.

[Leucogenes]

David ... today I made my way to my friends from the Arctic Alpine Garden. I showed you the spectacular photos of your hike. They were speechless with enthusiasm.

They were in 2000 for three weeks on a botanical excursion on the South Island. And where you took the pictures they were. They still tell about it today. It was the most beautiful of their many botanical journeys.

I am supposed to send you best wishes from you on this way.

Thomas