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The Antarctic flora is a distinct community of vascular plants which evolved millions of years ago on the supercontinent of Gondwana. It is now found on several separate areas of the Southern Hemisphere, including southern South America, southernmost Africa, New Zealand, Australia and New Caledonia. Joseph Dalton Hooker was the first to notice similarities in the flora and speculated that Antarctica had served as either a source or a transitional point, and that land masses now separated might formerly have been adjacent.
Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rainfall.
The Sabine River is in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located in Nelson Lakes National Park.
The Travers River is in the South Island of New Zealand.
The Kaikōura Ranges are two parallel ranges of mountains located in the northeast of the South Island of New Zealand. The two ranges are visible from a great distance, including from the southern coast of the North Island.
Malherbe's parakeet, usually known as the orange-fronted parakeet, is a small parrot endemic to New Zealand. In New Zealand it is always known as the orange-fronted parakeet, a name it shares with a species from Central America, while in the rest of the world it is known as Malherbe's parakeet. Restricted to a few valleys in the South Island and four offshore islands, its population declined to around 200 in the 1990s, and it is considered critically endangered.
Nothofagus menziesii, commonly known as silver beech, is a tree of the southern beech family endemic to New Zealand. Its common name probably comes from the fact that its bark is whitish in colour, particularly in younger specimens. It is found from Thames southwards in the North Island, and throughout the South Island. Silver beech is a forest tree up to 30 m tall. The trunk, which is often buttressed, may be up to 2 m in diameter. The leaves are small, thick and almost round in shape, 6 to 15 mm long and 5 to 15 mm wide with rounded teeth which usually occur in pairs, 1 or 2 hair fringed domatia are found on the underside of each leaf. Its Māori name is tāwhai. It grows from low altitudes to the mountains. Nothofagus menziesii was proposed to be renamed Lophozonia menziesii in 2013.
Nothofagus truncata, or hard beech, is a species of tree endemic to New Zealand. Its common name derives from the fact that the timber has a high silica content, making it tough and difficult to saw. Hard beech is a tree up to 30m tall occurring in lowland and lower montane forest from latitude 35°S to 42°30'S, that is, from the north of the North Island southwards to Marlborough and south Westland in the South Island. In Taranaki it forms almost pure stands on the rugged sandstone country there and is partially deciduous, dropping many of its leaves at the end of the winter. N. truncata became known as Fuscospora truncata after 2013 in New Zealand.
Hamilton Ecological District is part of the Waikato Ecological Region in New Zealand's North Island. It occupies the Hamilton basin and surrounding foothills, and has been heavily modified with less than two percent of its indigenous vegetation remaining. This location has been studied significantly including the process of restoration ecology.
Dicranoloma is a genus of mosses in the family Dicranaceae. The Dicranoloma mosses are distributed in the Southern Hemisphere, while the Dicranum mosses are found in the Northern Hemisphere. Species within this genus are dioicous. Another genus in this family is Campylopus. Example occurrences of the genus Dicranoloma is in the form of mats on beech/podocarp forest floors of New Zealand's northern South Island. Dicranoloma dicarpum has a wide distribution in both hemispheres.
Phyllocladus alpinus, the mountain toatoa or mountain celery pine, is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is found only in New Zealand. The form of this plant ranges from a shrub to a small tree of up to seven metres in height. This species is found in both the North and South Islands. An example occurrence of P. alpinus is within the understory of beech/podocarp forests in the north part of South Island, New Zealand.
The Spenser Mountains is a topographic landform in the northern South Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern end of the Nelson Lakes National Park and north of the Lewis Pass they form a natural border between the Canterbury and Tasman regions. Several peaks are named after characters in Edmund Spenser’s allegorical poem, The Faerie Queene. Many of the early explorers were evidently literate men. For example, Frederick Weld named Lake Tennyson; William Travers named the Spensers and Faerie Queene; Julius Haast named Mt Una.
Raukaua simplex is a species of evergreen plant in the Araliaceae family. This species is native to New Zealand. The species occurs in certain lowland, montane and subalpine forests from the Waihou River southward to Stewart Island and the Auckland Islands. An example occurrence in Westland forests includes associates such as Cyathea smithii and Dicksonia squarrosa.
Austroblechnum durum, synonym Blechnum durum, is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae. The fern is endemic to New Zealand.
Austroblechnum lanceolatum, synonym Blechnum chambersii, is a species of fern within the family Blechnaceae, found in Australia, New Zealand, Samoa and Fiji.
Pseudopanax colensoi is a species of evergreen plant. This species is native to New Zealand. An example occurrence in central Westland podocarp/broadleaf forests includes flora associates such as Cyathea smithii and Dicksonia squarrosa, Rumohra adiantiformis, Ascarina lucida, Pseudowintera colorata and Blechnum discolor. The maximum height of this plant is 5 meters and it is the preferred food of possums.
Pseudopanax edgerleyi is a species of plant which is native to New Zealand. An example occurrence in Westland District Podocarp/broadleaf forests includes flora associates such as Cyathea smithii, Dicksonia squarrosa and Blechnum discolor.
Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides, commonly called mountain beech, is a species of Southern beech tree and is endemic to New Zealand. Mountain beech grows in mountainous regions at high altitudes. In New Zealand the taxon is called Fuscospora cliffortioides. Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides occupies a wider range of habitat than any other New Zealand tree species and it shows a corresponding range of life form, seeding habits, regenerative patterns, growth habits, growth rates, stand replacement and mortality patterns.
Peter Wardle was a New Zealand botanist.
The Westland temperate forests, also known as the Westland temperate rainforests, is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion located along the central west coast of New Zealand’s South Island, also known as Te Waipounamou. These forests are found in the region of the Westland District, which spans approximately 11,880 square kilometers. It is bounded on the west by the Tasman Sea, and on the east by the Southern Alps. Much of this area is protected by the Westland Tai Poutini National Park.
References
- C. Michael Hogan. 2009. Crown Fern: Blechnum discolor, Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
- Peter Wardle. 1991. Vegetation of New Zealand, Published by CUP Archive, ISBN 978-0-521-25873-9
Coordinates: 42°00′S172°42′E / 42.000°S 172.700°E
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