Hamish Brown (New Zealand)

Botanical highlights of the Southern Alps (New Zealand alpines)

Hamish was born and raised on a high country sheep and cattle station on the iconic Pisa range (Otago, New Zealand) and had an interest kindled in alpine plants from the earliest age.  Studying and working with broad acre crops on the canterbury planes has left no room for alpines in his career.  Instead, it has spilled over to dominate the spare time of he and wife (Mika) in their home gardening and recreational pursuits.  They are avid cultivators of alpine plants, focusing mostly on raising exotics from seed and developing unique gardens to house them.  On top of that, Hamish gets into the mountainous back bone of the South Island (Southern Alps) as often as possible to photograph the unique and fascinating botanical inhabitants.

Hamish’s talk will provide an overview of the best plants that he has come across in his extensive travels along with tales of adventure in getting to them and friendships formed with fellow plant explorers.  The genus Ranunculus formed a common objective for many expeditions, providing both photogenic specimens and a tantalising challenge of access to the botanist.  This will form the heart of the talk, supplemented with a hearty dose of Celmisia, Raoulia, Haastia, Aciphylla, Anesotome, Veronica, Myosotis and other exquisite specimens encountered high up in the alps.  The southern Alps offer a wide diversity of species in all these genus and while none are new to science, few have taken foot in cultivation for a variety of reasons.  So here is a great chance to get to know some more about these special plants.