TRIP REPORT : Orongorongo Station

 Saturday 6 March 2004 :   Orongorongo Station, Wainuiomata

Clematis afoliata.   Photo: Jeremy Rolfe.

A chilly wind blew down the Wainuiomata Valley as we crossed the bridge that leads to Baring Head Lighthouse.   Our plan was to botanise the hill shrubland on the true-right of the river from the bridge to almost the end of the slope 500m from the sea, then on the TL, a narrow strip of shrubland above and parallel to the Coast Road, and the 40m hillock between the road and the river.   Coprosma propinqu var. latiuscula was the main cover on these dry, steep, scree-covered hills.   A bonus too, was that these plants were smothered with colourful fruit that varied between bushes, from white and shades of blue and purple, to almost black.   Other shrubs of interest were Brachyglottis greyi / Grey’s groundsel, Discaria toumatou matagouri, and Muehlenbeckia astonii (uncommon).   Lianes were well represented and included Scandia geniculata / climbing aniseed, still common here, Rubus squarrosus / leafless lawyer, and Clematis afoliata / leafless clematis, (uncommon).   The fern Pellaea rotundifolia was found growing in association with Cheilanthes distans / woolly rock fern, and C. sieberi / rock fern, on sunny sites.   Two mistletoes were also present: Ileostylus micranthus / common mistletoe, which was struggling to survive here owing to animal browse, and Korthalsella lindsayi / dwarf mistletoe, which is abundant at a number of sites.

We thank Steve and Margaret Rairi for permission to botanise this botanically interesting part of the Wainuiomata River Valley.

Participants:   Barbara Clark, Rae Collins, Penny Currier, Barry Dent, Sue Freitag, Chris Hopkins (leader / scribe), Chris Horne, Brenda Johns, Gordon and Sheelagh Leary, Rodney Lewington, Cath Mathews, Pat McLean, Barbara Mitcalfe, Mick Parsons, Darea Sherratt, Julia White.