flowers

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Thank you & Happy New Year!

4 January 2010 in Varia | 2 comments

A big thankyou to you, my readers and followers of my blog. Thank you for your support, comments, suggestions and feedback over the last year!

I have a new series of articles in planning and will publish them along with new photos here soon.

In the meantime I wish everyone a very Happy New Year and happy tramping, hiking, walking, running, cycling, mountain biking, climbing, mountaineering, skiing, ski touring, abseiling, canyoning, kayaking, boating, swimming, sunbathing, botanising, birdwatching, hunting, fishing, river crossing, camping, tenting, hammocking, hut bagging, relaxing, photo shooting, and whatever else you may or like to get up to in the wilderness…

Buttercup

Buttercup–Ranunculus (Hundred Acre Plateau)

Alpine sundew—how do you like your meat?

9 August 2009 in New Zealand wilderness, Photography | 1 comment

It’s a very pretty but deadly plant. Alpine sundew is a carnivorous plant that grows in sub-alpine and alpine areas of New Zealand. To supplement its diet it catches small insects, dissolves them and absorbs the “meaty” nutrients.

Not unlike an insect, I became attracted to sundew by the “dew drops” that were glistening in the sunlight. On my first encounter with this unusual plant, I dropped everything and laid down flat on my tummy to have a close look. Since the plant is quite small—the leaves are often no longer than 50 mm—it’s the only way to examine a sundew’s intricate details and fascinating features.

The fleshy leaves are covered in hair-like tentacles that secrete drops of sweet mucilage (before you ask, no, I didn’t taste it) which lures unsuspecting insects.

I have yet to observe the actual trapping of an insect. Although from what I’ve read, once an insect lands on the plant, it becomes trapped by the sticky dew drops and dies within 15 minutes, either as a result of exhaustion or, when it becomes completely wrapped by the sticky substance, by asphyxiation. The plant then secretes enzymes that dissolve the insect and free up its nutrients, ready for absorption by the plant’s leaves. What a crafty way for a plant to receive vital nutrients that are missing from the habitat’s poor soil!

Alpine sundew - Drosera arcturi

Alpine sundew–Drosera arcturi.

Alpine sundew - Drosera arcturi

Sunlight makes the leaves glow red.

Alpine sundew - Drosera arcturi

Without direct sunlight the leaves appear brown.

Alpine sundew - Drosera arcturi

An individual leave…

Alpine sundew - Drosera arcturi

…with glistening “dew drops”.

Further info

The scientific name of Alpine sundew is Drosera arcturi. The latter part of the name means “of Arthur”, derived from Mount Arthur, a locality in Tasmania, where Drosera arcturi also grow natively.

To come back to the question “how do you like your meat”, my guess is that Madam or Sir Drosera likes it “quite well done” to “well dissolved”.

Lobelia macrodon—one of twelve lobelia native to New Zealand

5 July 2009 in Kahurangi, New Zealand wilderness, Photography | No comments

More than half of New Zealand’s known native plant species (2450 of them in 2004) occur in Kahurangi National Park, one of my favourite tramping “playgrounds”. Over the years I’ve certainly begun to appreciate the diversity of plant life in Kahurangi. Regardless of the location, altitude and exposure to nature’s elements, some plant has made itself at home there.

I have also learnt that unless I keep an eye out for them, most plants go unnoticed, usually because they are quite small and at the same time blend in well with the surroundings.

However, now and then a plant seeks attention: “Hello there, come and have a look at my pretty flowers!” As happened with the plant portrayed in this article. It called out to me from below Kakapo Peak, which is a well-known day trip from Fenella Hut.

The pretty white flowers happily posed in front of my camera lens. Upon my return home, I was faced with the quest of finding out the name of the plant. None of my books and online searches gave me any answers. It was time to ask an expert, such as Nelson botanist Shannel Courtney:

Shannel’s verdict: “Your plant is Lobelia macrodon—one of twelve named species of native lobelia. This one is confined to scree margins and bare ground of the northern South Island down to about Mt Hutt in South Canterbury, and it is the most fragrant of all of them. John Salmon has it illustrated on page 244 of his field guide—he calls it mountain pratia as it used to be called Pratia macrodon (all the Pratia are now Lobelia). But there are about six species of mountain lobelia so this isn’t a good common name.”

Thank you Shannel!

(Shannel Courtney works for the Department of Conservation in Nelson, and is a committee member of the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. In 2008 he was presented with the Loder Cup, New Zealand’s premier conservation award.)

Lobelia macrodon

Lobelia macrodon flowering below Kakapo Peak in March.

What’s in a name? French botanist Charles Plumier (1646–1704) named the plant genus Lobelia and the botanical family Lobeliaceae in honour of Flemish botanist Matthias de L’Obel (1538–1616).

Teddy bear George admiring Lobelia macrodon

There’s that bear again! (See Bear sightings in Kahurangi National Park.) For size reference, the bear’s height is a mere 0.4 foot (130 mm).

Kakapo Peak

Kakapo Peak (south face, 1783 m).

Southwestern view from Kakapo Peak

Southwestern view from Kakapo Peak.

CameraTo view my other Kakapo Peak photos please browse my gallery or view the slideshow.

Mountain ribbonwoods—a deciduous tree native to New Zealand

31 May 2009 in Kahurangi, New Zealand wilderness, Photography | 3 comments

No matter what time of the year you go bush in New Zealand, it’s always green. Unlike other parts of the world, New Zealand has very few trees that are deciduous (shed their leaves annually). Mountain ribbonwoods (Hoheria glabrata) is one of them.

When I traversed the Upper Nuggety Creek Flat in the Marino Mountains, I noticed a large number of small trees scattered throughout the flat’s eastern slope. Their soft, bright green leaves were flapping in the wind, and my immediate thought was, “these are deciduous trees—are they native?”

Upper Nuggety Creek catchment

Upper Nuggety Creek catchment

Mountain ribbonwoods on the eastern slope of Upper Nuggety Creek Flat

Mountain ribbonwoods on the eastern slope of Upper Nuggety Creek Flat

Indeed they are! Mountain ribbonwoods (aka Mountain lacebark and houhere in Māori) comes in two “flavours”: Hoheria lyallii and Hoheria glabrata. The former grows up to six metres high, mainly on the eastern side of the South Island’s main divide, and the latter up to ten metres high primarily on the western side. Both are found along forest margins, stream terraces and in shrublands from 600 to 1050 metres altitude. In late summer they produce a spectacular display of cherrytree-like, sweetly fragranced blossoms.

Mountain ribbonwoods—Hoheria glabrata

Mountain ribbonwoods—Hoheria glabrata

Mountain ribbonwoods blossom

Mountain ribbonwoods blossom

On my quest to find other deciduous trees that are native to New Zealand, I found only two other ones:

  • Tree fuchsia—Kōtukutuku—Fuchsia excorticata
  • Hectors tree daisy—Olearia hectorii

QuestionIf you know any deciduous trees that are native to New Zealand, that I haven’t mentioned above, I would appreciate your comment below.

Edelweiss—a noble alpine plant

3 May 2009 in Mt Richmond, New Zealand wilderness, Photography | No comments

Edelweiss - Leontopodium alpinum

Edelweiss—Leontopodium alpinum (Switzerland)

Even though New Zealand’s edelweiss is not directly related to its European namesake, there are striking similarities. Unless you go tramping in the hills, you’re unlikely to ever see a New Zealand edelweiss. The Europeans, on the other hand, treasure their edelweiss much more: Symbolised edelweiss can be seen in logos, on coins and even on aircraft.

I can still remember the first time I saw edelweiss in New Zealand. It was on a trip along the Peel Range in Kahurangi National Park when I spotted flowers that reminded me of edelweiss I had seen in the Swiss Alps. It wasn’t much of a surprise to learn that they were, indeed, South Island edelweiss.

South Island edelweiss - Leucogenes grandiceps

South Island edelweiss—Leucogenes grandiceps (Mt Richmond Forest Park)

There appear to be four species of edelweiss in New Zealand:

  • North Island edelweiss—Leucogenes leontopodium
  • South Island edelweiss—Leucogenes grandiceps
  • Marlborough edelweiss—Leucogenes neglecta
  • Mt Peel edelweiss—Leucogenes tarahaoa

Their habitat is above 1200 metres in subalpine and alpine areas where they grow in fellfields, on rock outcrops, cliff faces, in rocky and stony places and in crevices. For more photos please refer to my edelweiss gallery.

Five Swiss franc coin

Five Swiss franc coin featuring edelweiss on left.

The European edelweiss belongs to a different genus called Leontopodium which means “lion’s paw”. Its common name, edelweiss, is German and translates to “noble white”.

The Swiss consider edelweiss to be their (unofficial) national flower. Edelweiss Air, a charter airline based in Switzerland, is named after the flower, which also appears in their logo. Edelweiss also features in the logo of the German Alpine Society while the Austrians have their very own Edelweiss Beer.

Edelweiss Air Airbus A320 at Zurich Airport

Edelweiss Air Airbus A320 at Zurich Airport.

Edelweiss teddy bears at Zurich Airport

Edelweiss teddy bears at Zurich Airport.

KiwisNew Zealand hasn’t taken its edelweiss that far and there is no need to. We have our much treasured kiwi and our fern as emblem.

New Zealand gentians—dressed in white and pink

15 March 2009 in New Zealand wilderness, Photography | 1 comment

“Gentians are blue.” Having grown up in Switzerland, that’s what I used to think. In New Zealand, however, I soon learnt that gentians are generally white. Most of New Zealand’s 30 species of gentians grow in tussock grassland and alpine herbfields, where they flower in late summer or autumn. Some species grow as tall as 50 cm.

Spring gentian, Gentiana verna

Spring gentian, Gentiana verna (Switzerland)

Amongst the tussock, the white glowing flowers make for a showy display. I have been to areas where gentians were so abundant that it took careful footwork not to stand on them—quite a different story from the rare gentian with delicate, velvety blue flowers I remember from Switzerland.

Many visitors to New Zealand remark on the lack of colour in the flowers of alpine plants. In fact, almost 80% of alpine plants have white flowers, which is twice the world average. It is thought that the reason for that is New Zealand’s lack of specialised insect pollinators, such as long-tongued bees which respond well to blue. Since there are no native long-tongued bees in New Zealand, colour offers no advantage to the plants. The main pollinators are flies, moths and short-tongued bees which are readily attracted to white flowers.

Nevertheless, there is at least one species of gentian that decided to be extra special and dresses up in pink! Meet my special guest, the Pink gentian, aka Gentiana tenuifolia:

Pink gentian - Gentiana tenuifolia

To meet other members of the gentianaceae family please visit my gentian gallery.

Stegostyla (Caladenia) lyallii—a New Zealand orchid with White Fingers

25 January 2009 in Kahurangi, Photography | 1 comment

Years ago, not long after immigrating to New Zealand, I was walking along a track in the hills behind Nelson when a person said in passing, “Watch out for orchids—they’re lovely!”

Orchids? In New Zealand? Sure enough, further along the track, after paying constant attention to anything that looked like a flower, I spotted the tiniest of orchids I had ever seen. Later I found out it was a Slender Forest Orchid—Adenochilus gracilis. Ever since, I’ve been fascinated by the fact that there are over 140 species of native orchids in New Zealand.

White Fingers—Stegostyla lyallii

Stegostyla lyallii with its artistic markings on the dorsal-sepal (top petal).

One of the locally common orchids, the Stegostyla lyallii (formerly classed as Caladenia) also goes by the name of White Fingers. The portrayed one below, I photographed last December on Gordons Pyramid between the Tableland and Arthur Range in Kahurangi National Park. To discover and appreciate the orchid’s beauty, you do need to get on your hands and knees and take a close look. While the flower measures a mere 20 mm across, it is amazingly beautiful and gracefully elegant.

White Fingers—Stegostyla lyallii