ALPINE SEEDS

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21139, 14 April 1934, Page 15

ALPINE SEEDS

I ♦ | A QUEST OF 1300 MILES J i (SPECIALLY WRITTEN TOR. THE PRESS.) [By PROFESSOR ARNOLD WALL.] j During the last four or five years, I have devoted the latter part of every season to the collection of the seeds of New Zealand plants, especially of alpines, at first for transmission to an agent in Sussex, but latterly the spoil has been sent i direct to buyers abroad, from [ Christchurch. The seed has gone not only to enthusiasts in many parts of Great Britain, but also to America, Italy, Austria, Germany, and Japan, and some, of course, goes to gardeners in New Zealand itself. The latter part of March and the early days of April were chosen for an ambitious expedition this year, and this has just been brought to a successful close. Itinerary I was accompanied by two friends, brothers, who took turns in driving the car, managed the camping, and generally made things easy for the botanical worker. The whole journey ran to more than 1300 miles, and the travellers were favoured with fine, still weather for 15 days out of 17— no complaints. The route followed was from Christchurch to Cave, where a night was spent with friends; thence to Mount Cook, where a comfortable camp was established for three nights, the brothers sleeping in the car and the collector in an alpine tent; thence to Cromwell by way of Omarama and the Lindis Pass, where we used the motorists' camp; thence to Queenstown, where I branched off by boat to Cecil Peaks for two ngWs (and this is where the wet spel cam upon us); thence the car was shippc to Kingston, and a suiter '« a bad night was found with a and Rivers- thence on to 10 '"';" , the end of the -Eglinton road Gunn, where by the kindncs oi chief engineer M. dav our objective being Cuuo Bay he-' extreme southern point of the South island, where T hadl to coßcc seeds of some coastal plants, ami thence we turned homewards, spending one night at Balclutha and two n DunedhC which we left on April 3, arriving :n Christchurch the same CV The" g car behaved like an angel; roads proved to be excellent throughout especially the new road up the Eglinton Valley, the only exceptions be.ng the short stretch of new - metalled road to Curio Bay. and the long hill road through the Catlins Bush, which is narrow and very rough. So we accounted ourselves very fortunate. , , Nearly all the country traversed was already familiar to me, for m order to facilitate the work attention was devoted almost entirely to places where I could be quite sure to find the desired plants without delay; vet the whole experience was delightful and enviable, involving rapid and easy transit from point to point through most of the finest scenery of New Zealand, from the great glaciers and snow-clad peaks of Mount Cook to the glorious forests of the Eglinton Valley, with a sight of all the major lakes of the South Island—Tekapo, Pukaki, Wakatiou, Te Anau and Manapouri, nearly all under ideal weather conditions. Nature of the Work I The collector of alpine seeds in this ! country is beset on every hand by ' special' difficulties, and h.s results dei pend largely upon luck. If only all I the plants seeded at the same time the work would be easier, but I find myself at it from Novemoer to May, and I have been obliged to visit one localitv already eight times and have not finished with it yet, and each visit requires a rough walk of three or tour miles, a climb to 6000 feet or more, and return in the day. S> me plants ripen their seeds quickly and shed them quicklv, and if you are not on the spot at the right moment you lose a vear. Thus I lost the seeds of Monro's Buttercup this season. Other plants, in a given season, do not flower at all, or only very sparingly. Thus during this season very few of the Spaniards (Aciphyllae) of any species have flowered, and I have tried four localities, with a range of more than 300 miles, with very little success. Some things grow in situations which make collection very risky, especially for the solitary climber, such as the great Buttercup of Buchanan, an inhabitant of precipitous rock chimneys. Then there are the winds which blow the seeds away, even from between the fingers and the envelope, and the rains which may soak them on your only available day, and Ihe sheep, deer, chamois, and thar, which take toll of them and sometimes leave nothing at. all; and certain insect pests sometimes destroy them. The way of the collector is, indeed, hard, and if one take 3 into consideration the expenditure of time, energy and money; the expert knowledge required, not only of localities and seasons, but also of the flora itself; the wear and tear on boots, clothes, patience and temper; and the fatigues and risks and disappointments; why. one would be justified in asking Lo for each packet of seeds, and even then would be out of pocket. To counterbalance all these drawbacks and disabilities the work is carried on amid splendid and inspiring surroundings, in the companionship _ of the great rocks and cliffs and glaciers and torrents, and if there are disappointments, so also there are pleasant surprises and fortunate hauls of unexpected treasures to gladden the I heart and salve the wounds of mind and body. Mount Cook District j r come now to details of expeditions and results. Altogether I secured nearly 90 sorts of seeds some coastal, some sub-alpine collected at the camps, but most of them alpines, from the higher regions visited on six occasions. At Mount Cook attention was devoted first to the Stocking Glacier and the adjacent slopes and cliffs. The fine Buttercup (Ranunculus Godleyanus) which I sought here disappointed me; the rock-chamber at the edge of the glacier in which it used to grow seems to have fallen away, and I was only able to find a few voting plants. However, the locality is fairlv rich and I consoled myself with four species of Celmisia and two of Myosotis, and half-a-dozen other useful things. Here I found the only seeding head of the giant Span-i iard (Aciphylla Colensoi) which I have seen all this season, though I must have seen hundreds of thousands , of the plants. \ The second day was spent on the Sealy Range in ideal weather and amid the most august and soul-satis-, tying scenery; avalanches from the, hanging glaciers thundered down on j the Mueller continuously all day. j Here I obtained seeds of the lovely! Celmisia compacta, whose brilliant silvery rosettes form great patches in immense quantities all along the range. I also got both seeds and a good photograph of the pretty white Gentian (Gentiana patula) which makes such a liberal show of blossom in the Eastern Alps late in the season. But the deoredations of chamois, or thar, or both, on this ground had been dreadi'ul and I was unable to find any seeds at all of certain much desired alpines which had flowered freely

here. The beasts themselves were to be seen at their nefarious work in plenty. I am informed by Captain Yerex that at Arthurs Pass the chamois, when opened, were found to have fed almost entirely on the leaves of the celebrated Buttercup ("Mount Cook Lily"), so that I have good , ground for regretting that they were ever brought to this country. Cecil Peaks On my first dav, which was only a half, dav, at Cecil Peaks, I followed the pretty stream up for a few miles to the beech bush at its head, which was a disappointment, and then went uo a spur of the mountain to the steep rocks at about 5000 feet. II rained, but I got a few valuable things, including a very attractive little Veronica (V. Biggarn) which adorns the shelves of these very curious rocks, and the small, fine-leaved Anisotome (A. capillifolia) which abounds all over the mountains of the far south. . My second day was given to the main mountain, and it was both my best and my worst day. Ram set in before mid-day and became a steady downpour, accompanied, at the top (about 6500 feet), by a heavy gale, which bit like a dog. I kept as far as possible to the lee side and in spite of these adverse conditions did an excellent day's work. The list was not long, but it included things which I could get nowhere else. I got less of the Buttercup of Buchanan than I wished, and if I had been able to go to the other end of the mountain, where I had seen a magnificent show of it on a previous occasion, I might have done better, but fog made this impossible. This fine plant, only second (if second) among our Buttercups, to the better-known Ranunculus Lvallii, stands about three feet high, with large leaves beautifully cut like those of a Larkspur and very large white flowers, nearly three inches in diameter. To get it I had to climb a slippery face and drop my two or three heads of seed to the ground below with inevitable loss. I also got plenty of fine species of Celmisia, four of which are peculiar to the south, including the beautiful Celmisia of Hector and the curious shrubby C. Ramulosa. Among my treasures were the lovely little Ourisia glandulosa. and my own Nasturtium (N. Wallii) which has been hitherto recorded. I think, only here. And so home, drenched, but satisfied, not to a cold tent, but to a comfortable house and a hot bath. Never, 1 think, shall f forget the delights and distresses of this day: the steep long tedious climb through the bracken in the pleasant sunshine; the onset of the rain: the loss and recovery of the precious magnifier; the lunch under a dripping rock; the cruel wastes of broken fragments of schist, hateful to the eye and treacherous to the foot; the mournful trailing mists in the deep ravines; the pitiless rain and driving blast; the grey tarn all ruflled and restless under the wind; the disintegrated boots breathing their last; and the thrill of unexpected and un-hoped-for discoveries. The Eglinton Valley Since I first visited this locality on the journey from the Routebum to Glade House, Lake Te Anau. the great road has been carried through to the divide, new facilities are offered to the traveller, and several splendid new tracks have been opened up, and the old half-obliterated trails renovated, for all which I am devoutly thankful and grateful to those who have done the work. As we had left the bad weather behind us. we enjoyed outbrief stay immensely. The beech forest of the region is, in my opinion, the most beautiful in New Zealand; robins, nearlv extinct elsewhere, abound in it, and "l also saw blue duck and parrakeets. On my first day 1 followed the newly cut track up the Mistake Creek, on the western side of the Eglinton, and when I reached the open, after two hours' walking, left the stream and climbed up on grassy slopes to the steep rocks at about 5000 feet. I came upon a splendid stag with Ins hinds, and had leisure to admire him and count his points, 14, I think, while he stood gazing at me for fully a minute. 40 yards oil. T notice that thev still speak of •'deer-stalking." I was told that this was probably one of the red deer of French extraction which were liberated in that district, not a wapiti. t came back with a do/.i.'ii : oris of seeds, three Olearius, a local Gentian and an Euphrasia. Nc::l day we all three walked up the well-graded easy track to the Key Summit, on the eastern side of the valley, whence a very noble view is to be obtained, of Tutoko, Christina, the Hollyford Valley—upon which the road is just entering—and as many as seven lakes, or parts of them. Here I secured seeds of the great Cehnisia of Pctrie, and those of the very peculiar ''Grasstree" ( Draeophyllum Meir/.iesii) a little brother of those wonderful trees which are so conspicuous at Arthurs Pass iD. Traversiii. This was the last of my mountain excursions, and after it the car turned her head homewards for the long run by way of Wyndham, Curio Bay, Balclutha and Dunedin. The success of my expeditions was largely due to the kindness of others, and J am glad to acknowledge my obligations to my two travelling companions, who worked so hard in my interests, to Mr Walker, who helped us so nobly on the Eglinton road, and to Mr L. G. D. Acland for the hospitality of Cecil Peaks. I have but one regret, r wish I had not told any one at the Eglinton camp about the big stag on the Mistake Creek, the biggest I ever saw, for by now T. expect that all those gentle hind.'; of his are widows.