New Zealand plant life

Besides birds, the next most interesting thing in New Zealand is the native vegetation. As with the birds, much of the vegetation is extinct or nearly extinct, thanks to introduced plant and animal species. It seems that immigrants were more interested in building a "better Britain" than in adapting to a new, unique ecosystem. Here are some of the unique plants that I stumbled across.


The aptly named "vegetable sheep".



Poroporo, a plant traditionally used by the Maori for medicinal purposes. The berries are poisonous until they become ripe. (In Finnish, poroporo would mean "reindeer reindeer".)



New Zealand Edelweiss - just a little bit different than the real thing.


The flower of kotukutuka (tree fuchsia), one of the only native deciduous trees in New Zealand.



New Zealand flax...


and a flax flower, which grows on a stem that is much longer than the rest of the leaves.


Lancewood (I'm having trouble finding the Maori name), a plant that looks different during its juvenile stage than during its adult stage. During the juvenile stage, the sharp leaves point upwards; as the tree gets taller the leaves start to point downward and become fleshier. It is thought that this was to discourage browsing by moa. When the plant is short, its leaves are to sharp for a bird to eat, and when the plant becomes taller to it is too high off the ground for the moa to reach.



Very few native plants in New Zealand are edible; this is one of them. The leaves are very spicy and would probably be nice on a salad or soup, but apparently nobody uses them.


The Mt. Cook Lily, high alpine flower found on the south island..