Re: Obscure Astelias and others
Tim Longville wrote:
>
> Moira - Many thanks for geography and plant-distribution lesson! Much
> appreciated and v. enlightening. Though, as is usually the way with
> such things, it also uncovers further areas of darkness - mine, that
> is! Viz: if Aa nervosa and nivicola - ah, and A solandri as well -
> don't come from NZ, yet are reasonably hardy in the UK (so not,
> presumably, from Mauritius!), whence, pray, cometh they? One of the
> smaller islands, such as Chatham?
Tim
We must have got our lines crossed somehow. All three of the Astelias
you mention here -nervosa, nivicola and solandri- are good New
Zealamders, and I am sure I have already sent you detailed descriptions
of each (if you can't find them I can repost them, but you might have to
wait awhile, as I am a bit snowed under just now). Both nervosa and
solandri are even occasionally grown in gardens here though nivicola
doesn't seem to be. Nervosa is from montaine areas and certainly pretty
hardy, Solandri grows in lowland forests, but some of these are in the
far south, so it is probably quite hardy too. Nivicola is described in
the flora as "montaine to sub-alpine".
Apart from the two sites in the Indian Ocean and the one species in
Australia the remainder presumably come from various islands around the
Pacific (Some of which do have quite extensive highland areas as well as
the trad. palm trees/coral sands).
And while I am writing to you - Dracophyllums or Grass Trees NOT Tree
Grasses) 48 species of shrubs and trees, 35 of which are NZ endemics
with the remainder native in Australia and New Caledonia. Family
Epacridaceae (Close cousins of Ericaceae)
Of the three you mention pronum and menziesii are NZ all right, but the
other I would guess as an Australian.
There is only one strictly local one, not particularly exciting, (D
longifolium) which occurs in scrub, but I have seen several more
distinctly nicer ones up in the mountains. If one could get it I should
say D latifolium would be one to go for, as it appears from pictures to
have a noticeable reddish cast to the foliage, especially when the
leaves are young. It is said to like cool conditions, being a
forest-dweller in nature.
As to the flowers, they sprout out from the ends of the branches, are
bell-shaped and produced in racemes. They appear to be quite showy and
may be white or sometimes yellow.
My book says
"they are generally slow-growing and can be difficult to establish, but
their striking form makes them well worthwhile if conditions are right.
They are not widely available and details of their performance under
cultivaton are often sketchy . They are very prone to root rot and
should be given a cool rootrun and a well-drained site. In some cases
success has been achieved by planting them in a mix of road gravel and
friable clay with compost adde for nutrients".
No wet feet or artificial fertilizers it would seem!!
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata (near Wellington, capital city of New Zealand)
