New Zealand field trips Dec 09.

[ranunculus]

Hi Kris,
Quite a number of Raoulia species are cultivated and exhibited here in the U.K. and make excellent trough and rock garden specimens  (though they never look quite as good as they do in their magnificent natural habitat). 

[krisderaeymaeker]

Hi Kris,
Quite a number of Raoulia species are cultivated and exhibited here in the U.K. and make excellent trough and rock garden specimens  (though they never look quite as good as they do in their magnificent natural habitat). 

Hi Cliff ,in Belgium and the Netherlands the following names showed up : lutescens,australis,tenuicaulis ,hookeri and sometimes eximia. But I think the plants are not named correct on several occasions.
We have seen the same plants with other names here many times, I think there is a lot of confusion.
I have never seen R.grandiflora anyway ,do you see this one in the UK?   

[ranunculus]

Hi Kris,
R. grandiflora does make an occasional appearance at the shows but not as frequently as we would like.  Quite difficult to keep for long and very difficult to flower well.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Awesome pictures David !!
So many great gems !
Raoulia grandiflora and R. hectori are simply amazing !!!... as are so many others..
Thanks again for showing !

[David Lyttle]

Kris ,

 I endorse Cliff's comments; Raoulia grandiflora does not seem to last long despite it growing well for a while. Raoulia hookeri is a good one to start with.

Luc,

Pleased you liked the Raoulias. Both are common plants and found in most alpine areas here in Otago.

Next posting are mainly cushions.

1  Large cushions of Dracophyllum muscoides and Raoulia hectori in alpine herbfield.

2, 3 Dracophyllum muscoides flowers.

4 A nice plant of Dracophyllum muscoides surrounded by Raoulia hectori

5 Phyllachne rubra

6 Coprosma niphophila It is very similar to another species Coprosma perpusilla.

7, 8 Anisotome lanuginosa

9 Anisotome flexuosa

10 Anisotome imbricata var prostrata  Grows in bogs and is very different in appearance to Anisotome imbricata var imbricata

[Lvandelft]

Amazing cushions, David. I love the ones growing together like the Dracophyllum with Raoulia.
Or like picture 7/8, which even shows a Myosotis trying to interfere (or survive?)

[ranunculus]

Beautiful tapestries David.

[David Lyttle]

Here are a few more plant pictures; this time quite a diverse group.

1, 2  Ourisia glandulosa  Usually very hard to photograph because of the wind. As you can see in picture 2 there is still slight movement in two of the flowers but the foliage is nice so I posted it anyway.

3  A small bittercress Cardamine corymbosa. The only time you notice this plant is when it is in flower.. It grows in bogs and flowers in profusion.

4. A smaller bittercress Cardamine sp. The New Zealand species of Cardamine are currently being revised the present 5 or so species are going to become about 50. This was growing in the bog along side Cardamine corymbosa.

5. This had me a bit perplexed. I am calling it Pachycladon novae-zelandiae. It was growing on disturbed ground beside the road. The habitat I usually associate with Pachycladon novae-zelandiae is crevices in rock tors. The leaves are very strongly pigmented.

6 Kelleria villosa I posted Kelleria villosa var barbata from the Rock and Pillar Range earlier in this thread. This is another example of how each mountain range seems to have its own variant of a species.

7 Hectorella caespitosa female The cushion below with smaller flowers is Phyllachne colensoi.

8 Hectorella caespitosa male  Hectorella is a monotypic genus. It closest relation is Lyallia kerguelensis from Kerguelen Island which is also a monotypic genus. The family is Portulacaceae so they are distantly related to to Lewisias.


9, 10 Viola cunninghamii.

[ranunculus]

Hectorellas to die for, David - you keep supplying the necessary fix!!!   
Seed must have been available a number of years ago as I can remember exhibiting a small cushion of H. caespitosa in the late '80's. (... and that was the NINETEEN EIGHTIES - before the assembled comedians get a chance to respond)!   

[David Lyttle]

Cliff,

If you grew a Hectorella from seed to a cushion stage you are a man of remarkable talents. (or does the Lancashire climate make this easy )

[ranunculus]

Cliff,

If you grew a Hectorella from seed to a cushion stage you are a man of remarkable talents. (or does the Lancashire climate make this easy )

'Small' cushion would probably have been the operative word, David ... it certainly didn't last long after that particular show.      
I will have to check my slides for evidence of just how 'enormous' it reached.

[Gerdk]

Here are a few more plant pictures; this time quite a diverse group.
9, 10 Viola cunninghamii.

Thanks for all pics but especially for the violet photographs!

Gerd

[David Lyttle]

Hi Gerd,

The Viola cunninghamii was growing in a little boggy stream well down from the top of the Range. Knowing your interest, I took some photos so I am pleased you liked them.

Here are some shots of scenery

1 Looking across the top of the Fraser Basin to the Garvie Mountains. This range is remote and difficult to access. There is still a lot of snow lying in snowbanks.

2 Looking across to the Remarkables and Nevis peaks. The flat ridge in the middle distance is the crest of the Old Woman Range. It is separated from the Old Man Range by the Fraser Basin.

3 Top of the Fraser Basin. You can see the small cirque as this was once filled with ice.

4 View north

5 View south along the crest of the Old Man Range

6 view of the Obelisk (the right hand tor) and the communications tower. The tower detracts from the scenery but there is a well maintained road up to it which gives good access.

7, 8 Cushion field with schist tors.

9, 10 Close up view of a schist tor. It is the same tor photographed from slightly different angles.

[David Lyttle]

Two final pictures

1 Cushion field with snow tussocks. The species growing here is Chionochloa macra which once dominated the top of these ranges and was destroyed by burning in the early days of pastoral farming. The tussocks never grew back in the severe environment and were replaced by the cushion field vegetation we see today. Celmisia viscosa, Dracophyllum muscoides and Raoulia hectori are perhaps the main dominant plants. The mid altitudes are dominated by another species of snow tussock Chionochloa rigida.

2 Eroding schist.  The depression in the rock is filled by quartz fragments which remain when the parent rock is weathered away. There is a large black lichen filling the hollow.

[Paddy Tobin]

David,

The schist is an amazing feature, quite out of place but interesting.

Paddy