These photos were taken from the path in front of the propagation house, only a few years old, of the Dunedin Botanic Garden. On the opposite side of the road is the native plant collection. The long narrow garden in front of the propagation facility, shown below, is planted in natives. It’s lovely! New Zealand.
Click on any photo to enlarge.
The nīkau (Rhopalostylis sapida) is a palm tree endemic to New Zealand.
“It holds an important place in the hearts and minds of many New Zealanders, including children, who have been known to use the discarded fronds as natural toboggans to race down grassy slopes.”
Yes .. I’ve done that! The quote is from this page which offers more information and photos.
I took this photo on 12 June …
Nigel photographed me ‘working’ 🙂 See the strongly patterned fronds of young nīkau trees.
Propagation facility. See the native passionfruit to the right of the lancewoods. Photos taken 20 May.
Nigel, and the front of the propagation facility. Divaricating shrubs in foreground.
Nigel taking photos of the native passionfruit.
Text by Liz, photos by Liz and Nigel; Exploring Colour (2021)
The natural toboggans sound like fun – kids can be very resourceful! 🙂
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Where I grew up we all knew to look for an old nikau frond lying around! Otherwise we’d use a piece of cardboard .. great fun 🙂
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If only I’d known about the native plant collection in the Dunedin Botanic Garden I’d have made a point of visiting it when we spent a couple of days in Dunedin. We did get to see fierce lancewood once, at Õtari Native Botanic Garden in Wellington, as well as a nīkau palm at the Parry Kauri Park in Warkworth.
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It’s a shame you didn’t know Steve! It’s way up a hill – not down near the park entrance, cafe and info centre that most visitors head toward. It’d be hard for visitors to simply come across it by wandering around as it’s a long climb uphill. Unless we’re feeling fit we’d usually drive up to the top carpark.
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