Flora Club Hears Of South Island Vegetation

Chronicle (Levin), 27 April 1948, Page 4

Flora Club Hears Of South Island Vegetation

At a speciai meeting of the Levin Native Flora Club ' held recently," those." present had the pleasure of a lecture by Miss .E. Dampbell, of Massey College, on Tnteresting Areas of South [slgnd Vegetation." During active association with the Dunedin Naturalists' Field Club • Miss Campbell visited many places of interest . in ' the southern portion of the South Island, ^ and she described the different kinds of. vegetation 'found -In a variety of habitats. - The coastal regions of Eastern Otago provide a variety of plant associations. Orange sedge -(pingao) is the chief plant of these,' the familiar spinifex (silyery sand grass) of our northern dunes being absent. The dune hOllows have a distinct vegetation. They are sheltered from the ^'ind, and the. upper layers of sand may be. wet or dry. Here are found plants whose low creeping h'abit forms a mat to hold the sand, Patch-forming plants such as the gunneras . are also found. The shof e-gentian and'. Pimelia lyallii play an important part in stabilising the sides of dunes. Totara and matai oceur in more stable hollows, grading back . to forest. • ; The cliffs forming the headlands" have mesembryanthemum, some hebes, linum, coastal flax (Phormium eolensoi) and oth'er familiar herbs/ At the tops of the bays there ' are salt meadows for several miles inland.*' Next to the water's edge are the "jointed rush" and sedges, then comes the reddish glasswort (Salicornia), On the -rising "shoreline of South Otago grows the brightest of the ratas, Metrosideros umbellata (the southern rata). In autumn the flowers of the orchid Earina autumnalis hang in scented sprays from the rata branches. In contrast to those of the North Island, many of the South Island lowlands and lower hills, are naturaily tussock grassland. The high mountains to the iwest rob the prevailing winds of their moistyre, leaving the land .east of the ranges with a very iow rainfall. Where there is sufficient rainfall, sub-tropical rain : forest occurs sim'ilar tq that .of the North Island, with podocarps, creepers and perching plants, but in the -South Island there are not so many different species " of plants- in the forest. In the somewhat drier parts jihere is beech ■ forest, . of ten forming pure associations, The hinteriand of Otago consists. 'of a series of low parallel ranges, each cutting off some of the rainfall. There is an almost continental climate, with extremes of heat and cold and intense evaporation, These cause more or less desert conditions. On the flat soil of the riverbeds a very tiny and inconspieuous grass, Poa maniatoto, is valuable as it is grazed by sheep. In many places there is little else but mats of | scabweed (Raoulia) with or withj out the Poa. In the hills there is | sparse vegetation of small plants, , and in the gullies there are thicki ets, mainly eomposed of the . Olearias, odorata and lineata. An interesting plant of such regions is .the leafless "coral br oojn"

(Corallospartium) the tough branches of which are seamed rwith furiows filled with hairs The beech forest of the hills is very different, as is the very rich mountain vegetation containlng such treasures as mountain buttercups, mountain daisies, gentians and ourisias. Arthur's Pass is a very accessibie region of mountain vegetation. This is an area of tussock grassland, with various cushion plants and other low-growing species, and the beautiful Dracophyllum latifolium (candelabra tree) . Miss Campbell interspersed 'her lecture with lantern sliaes and -mounted specimens of the plants mentioned, making in all a very pleasant and informative talk, which .was much enjoyed. During Miss Campbell's stay in Levin, the club held an outing to a forest reserve in the Tararua iioothills. A warm aspect, with plenty of moisture at all times, nas produced a varisd and luxuriant forest. A specimen of the red rata vine was found, of lmmense sizO and antiquity. A measurement was taken of' its ascending trunk, and it was found to be 6 ins. in girth. Its upper portion was held aloft by an ancient rimu, also of considerable dimensions, both the rimu and the rata vine being still alive and leafy.