New Zealand field trips Dec 09.

[Paddy Tobin]

Great outing, Dave

Paddy

[t00lie]

Hello Cliff

Last week i spend an hour or so going through ,(on line) all the NZ Journal Of Botany abstracts since 1995 in a bid to update my Mark and Adams .

I have bookmarked all the changes ---a check just now and it shows---- Montigena was accepted 10 October 1997
New Zealand Journal of Botany, 1998, Vol. 36: 41-51 .
(if you want the brief abstract please let me know and i'll forward it you by email).

Over winter i plan to have look at a number of changes in respect of alpines i was not aware of .

Cheers dave.

[t00lie]

Thanks Paddy .

I plan to be out in the field quite a bit over the next 3 months subject to the weather--including Doug and i having a look around the Nelson area next month (top of the South island)---there are some lovely alpines up that way --IDing those plants will be very interesting ........

Cliff
I have grown the scree pea --it was listed in the NZAGS seedlist many years ago--i managed to germinate 3 seeds ---the plants grew well --i remember reading somewhere at that time ,(maybe Joe Cartmans publication ?), that it needed to be repotted regularly into fresh mix.

I kept it alive for 4 years without flowering it before i lost interest ............

It is quite stunning when you see it on the scree.

Cheers dave

[David Lyttle]

Heenan (NZ. J Bot 1998, 36:21-40) considered Swainsonia novae-zelandiae was more closely related to Clianthus and Carmichealia both predominantly New Zealand genera than to Swainsonia an Australian genus. Since it was neither a Carmichealia or a Clianthus he created a new genus Montigena to accomodate it. He also submerged Corallospartium, Chordospatium and Notospartium into Carmichealia and pruned out a few species from the genus Carmichealia.

[ranunculus]

Many thanks for the speedy and detailed reply Dave.  
It is quite disconcerting to find that even the Bible (Mark & Adams - and probably Salmon as well) have been updated to such an extent!  All those evenings spent poring over these high mountain gems, committing the names and images to memory, I could have been drinking, smoking and womanising!
I too received seed of Swainsonia (as it was at that time) and germinated two (along with Notothlaspi, Lobelia roughii and Stellaria roughii), but mine succumbed more rapidly than yours - only the Stellaria got to flowering size and then promptly died without producing seed.
It is such a pleasure to enjoy your trips into the high places - please continue to share your experiences.

Thanks for the information David ... I hadn't realised that Corallospartium had been engulfed as well?  Oh drat!

[kiwi]

On my last outing I found this bright green Lignocarpa carnosula. After speaking with a local expert I was amazed to find that some scree plants occasionally will throw this way, deficient of colour, ( I forget the term if any one knows?)
Fluro orange fungi in an alpine bog.

Dave, I wouldn't have thought that weather would have stopped you, getting soft in the old age?

[Maggi Young]

Dave, I wouldn't have thought that weather would have stopped you, getting soft in the old age?

No, Doug, it's the lack of his famous purple wooly  leggings.... sacrificed last year to mend David Lyttle's boot...... poor t00lie has been at a serious disadvantage ever since...... 

So far my world wide search for a suitable replacement garment for our intrepid NZ reporter has drawn a blank.....

[Susan]

All those evenings spent poring over these high mountain gems, committing the names and images to memory, I could have been drinking, smoking and womanising!

Somehow Cliff, I think Dave has been multi tasking! You're never too old to start you know!

Susan

[David Lyttle]

Doug,

Your fluoro orange fungus is a Lichenomphalia. It is a lichenised basidiomycete an if you look carefully at the base you will see a green slime film which is the algal symbiont. In the majority of lichens the fungal partner is an ascomycete.

Clearly Dave needs to create his own brand of clothing/accessories etc now his celebrity status is on the rise. (it could end in tears if for instance Susan and Lesley confronted each other in the field wearing the same shade of purple longjohns)

[ranunculus]

if for instance Susan and Lesley confronted each other in the field wearing the same shade of purple longjohns)

You certainly know how to live down there, don't you ..?   

[ranunculus]

All those evenings spent poring over these high mountain gems, committing the names and images to memory, I could have been drinking, smoking and womanising!

Somehow Cliff, I think Dave has been multi tasking! You're never too old to start you know!

Susan

... Only two hands, Susan ... so I gave up smoking!   

[kiwi]

David, cheers for the id and info.

Regarding the Toolie fashion line, I would suggest spandex, lots of it, maybe a wool / spandex blend full body jump suit.

Cheers,

[David Lyttle]

I visited the Rock and Pillar Range yesterday. Saw lots of buttercups and Psychrophila which is almost a buttercup and Anemone tenuicaulis which was not yet flowering. So I will do the Ranuculaceae first. All the plants for the original illustrations of these three species in Mark and Adams were collected from here.  

1 Ranunculus gracilipes. This species is confined to bogs where it grows in profusion

2, 3. Ranunculus enysii  A widespread variable species that tends to grow on dryer sites.

4,5 Psychrophila obtusa A snowbank species.The flowers open as soon as the snow has melted.

6 Kellaria dieffenbachii  One of the four species of Kellaria that I found on the day.

7 Cyathodes pumila seen here growing amongst the superficially similar Pentachondra pumila. Note the tiny flowers; the Pentachondra is not yet flowering.

8 Anisotome flexuosa  I also found Anisotome aromatica and Anisotome imbricata on the day. This species is distinguished by the long hair-like projections on the tips of the leaf segments.

9 Gaultheria nubicola  A tiny mat-forming species. The larger Gaultheria depressa var novae-zelandiae was also present.

10 Herpolirion novae-zelandiae  I found these plants growing on a bank by the track on the way down. They were growing on quite a dry site unlike the ones I photographed a few days earlier in the bogs of Southland.

[ranunculus]

Magnificent, David!   The R. enysii and the anisotome are so tight and low growing.  A very exposed area I presume?  Many thanks yet again for posting these splendid images.

[Gerdk]

David,
What an interesting selection - fine Ranunculus and the white ' marsh marigold ' .
Thank you for showing us!

Gerd