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| | Story in the plants
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During the ice-ages much of the north-west South Island
escaped the severe climate which destroyed plant-life elsewhere. In many
places hereabouts, but particularly on warmer north-facing slopes, plants
took refuge from snow and ice, and when the climate finally warmed, were
able to recolonise the land. Hence we have a beautiful and interesting
array of plant life today with many species endemic to (found only in) the
north-west South Island.
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The forests are red beech at lower altitude, thriving
on good soils, where some enormous specimens are found. Silver beech grows
higher up, forming the tree-line in places where limestone is present.
Mountain beech occupies the cold, dry, exposed ridges. The understorey is
a scatter of ferns and mosses, far more open than the jungle-like
rainforests nearer the coast.
Above the tree-line is the real glory of this area s
plant life — the nation s richest alpine meadows. The complexity of
landform, underlying geology, slope and aspect produces a wide variety of
microclimates which in turn affects the vegetation.
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The moor-like Tablelands are dominated by red tussocks
which shelter gardens of buttercups, gentians, daisies and herbs, often
quite tiny and armoured against the climate. At Sylvester Lakes there are
tangles of snow totara, pygmy pine and carpet-grass, with the tough,
flower-studded mats of alpine cushion plants in moist hollows. On the
highest and most exposed ridges the marvellously-adapted vegetable sheep
cling to life on outcrops of bedrock. In the scatter of frost-heaved
stones around them you may find the South Island edelweiss.
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Some features identify closely with certain places. On
the Tablelands is a stunted forest of gnarled beech trees, festooned with
hanging lichens. In the Cobb valley are dense patches, meadows even, of
Maori onion which provide a magnificent display of yellow late each
spring. On the banks of Myttons Creek is a ferocious collection of giant
Spaniards, whose flower-spikes top a metre in height. The best time to see
the alpine flowers is generally December/January. |
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