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Ashburton Lakes
Ashburton Lakes () is a region of high-country lakes and wetlands located in inland Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand. The region is a glacial inter-montane basin between the Rangitata and Rakaia rivers. It includes multiple areas of protected conservation land collectively known as the Hakatere Conservation Park, and the lakes, tarns and wetlands provide habitat for nationally significant and threatened species. The region includes 12 lakes, the largest of which are Lake Heron and Lake Clearwater. Both of these lakes are protected nature reserves. The region provides recreational opportunities including camping, sight-seeing, tramping and climbing, skiing, fishing and hunting. ''Ōtūwharekai'' / Ashburton Lakes is an area of cultural importance to the iwi Ngāi Tahu because it was a significant food-gathering area and was also on a main route for travel between Hakatere and the Rakaia trails to Te Tai Poutini. In 2007, the Ashburton Lakes were inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Māori Language
Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost member of the Austronesian language family, it is related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan language, Tuamotuan, and Tahitian language, Tahitian. The Māori Language Act 1987 gave the language recognition as one of New Zealand's official languages. There are regional dialects of the Māori language. Prior to contact with Europeans, Māori lacked a written language or script. Written Māori now uses the Latin script, which was adopted and the spelling standardised by Northern Māori in collaboration with English Protestant clergy in the 19th century. In the second half of the 19th century, European children in rural areas spoke Māori with Māori children. It was common for prominent parents of these children, such as government officials, to us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Canterbury Plains
The Canterbury Plains () are an area in New Zealand centred in the Mid Canterbury, to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in the south they merge into the plains of North Otago beyond the Waitaki River. The smaller Amuri Plain forms a northern extension of the plains. Geology The Canterbury Plains were formed from Quaternary moraine gravels transported from the Southern Alps and deposited here during glacial periods in the late Pleistocene approximately 3 million to 10,000 years ago. The alluvial gravels were then reworked as shingle fans of several of the larger rivers, notably the Waimakariri, the Rakaia, the Selwyn, and the Rangitata. Part of the Canterbury-Otago tussock grasslands, the land is suitable for moderately intensive livestock farming but is prone to droughts, especially when the prevailing wind is from the northwest. At these times, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Aciphylla
''Aciphylla'' is a genus of about 40 species of herbaceous plants in the family Apiaceae, all but two of them endemic to New Zealand (the remaining two species are found only in Australia). They range from small cushion plants to tall flower spikes surrounded by rosettes of stiff, pointed leaves, the latter probably adaptations to prevent browsing by moa. Their common name is speargrass or Spaniard. Most ''Aciphylla'' species preferred habitats are in subalpine or alpine habitats in the South Island. Fragrant oil extracted from some large species, known as ''taramea'', is still used as a perfume by Māori. Description Like other species in the family Apiaceae, speargrasses have taproots and small flowers, which are clustered into inflorescences called umbels. Species can be distinguished by size, habit, flower head and bract size and shape, leaf shape, and the type of stipules growing at the leaf base. Speargrasses in the ''A. aurea'' group (six species and three tag-named tax ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Discaria Toumatou
''Discaria toumatou'', commonly called matagouri, tūmatakuru, or wild Irishman, is a tangle-branched thorny shrub endemic to New Zealand. It is common throughout the South Island and is less common in the North Island. Taxonomy This species was described by French naturalist Étienne Raoul in 1844 from material collected in Akaroa in association with '' Pteridium esculentum''. The generic name ''Discaria'' refers to disc-shaped flowers. The Latinised specific epithet Raoul chose, ''toumatou'', is a corruption of the word ''tūmatakuru'', one of the Māori names for this species, which he transcribed as "toumatou-kourou". Etymology The English name ''matagouri'' is another corruption of ''tūmatakuru''. Other names in the Māori language include ''tūmatakuri'' and ''tūturi''. Another name is "wild Irishman"; the English writer Samuel Butler in 1863 recalled "…a very uncomfortable prickly shrub, which they call Irishman, and which I do not like the look of at all." De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Phyllocladus
''Phyllocladus'', the celery pines, is a small genus of conifers, now usually placed in the family Podocarpaceae.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Timber Press: Portland, OR, USA. .'' ''Species occur mainly in New Zealand, Tasmania, and Malesia in the Southern Hemisphere, though '' P. hypophyllus ''ranges into the Philippines, a short way north of the equator. Characteristics They are small to medium-sized trees, reaching 10–30 m tall, or sometimes small shrubs. The main structural shoots are green for 2–3 years, then turn brown as the bark thickens. The leaves are sparse, tiny, scale-like, 2–3 mm long, and only green (photosynthetic) for a short time, soon turning brown. Most photosynthesis is performed by highly modified, leaf-like short shoots called phylloclades; these develop in the axils of the scale leaves, and are simple or compound (depending on species). Simple phylloclades are rhombic, 2–5 cm long, and compound phylloclades ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Prumnopitys Taxifolia
''Prumnopitys taxifolia'', the mataī () or black pine, is an endemic New Zealand coniferous tree that grows on the North Island and South Island. It also occurs on Stewart Island / Rakiura (47 °S) but is uncommon there. It grows up to high, with a trunk up to 2 m diameter. The leaves are linear to sickle-shaped, 10–15 mm long and 1.5–2 mm broad. The seed cones are highly modified, reduced to a central stem 3–4 cm long bearing 1–6 scales, each scale maturing berry-like, 10–15 mm long, violet-purple with a soft edible pulp covering the single seed. The seeds are dispersed by the New Zealand pigeon (kererū), which eats the 'berries' and passes the seeds in its droppings. Classification The scientific name ''taxifolia'' derives from the resemblance of the leaves to those of the yew (''Taxus''). In the past the species, like the other species of '' Prumnopitys'', was often included in ''Podocarpus''; in this species under the name ''Podocarpus s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Podocarpaceae
Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly southern hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. . It contains 20 genera if ''Phyllocladus'' is included and ''Manoao'' and ''Sundacarpus'' are recognized. The family achieved its maximum diversity in the Cenozoic, making the Podocarpaceae family one of the most diverse in the southern hemisphere. The family is a classic member of the Antarctic flora, with its main centres of diversity in Australasian realm, Australasia, particularly New Caledonia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, and to a slightly lesser extent Malesia and South America (primarily in the Andes Mountains). Several genera extend north of the equator into Indochina and the Philippines. ''Podocarpus'' reaches as far north as southern Japan and southern China in Asia, and Mexico in the Americas, and ''Nageia'' into southern Ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Core Sample
A core sample is a cylindrical section of (usually) a naturally-occurring substance. Most core samples are obtained by drilling with special drills into the substance, such as sediment or rock, with a hollow steel tube, called a core drill. The hole made for the core sample is called the "core hole". A variety of core samplers exist to sample different media under different conditions; there is continuing development in the technology. In the coring process, the sample is pushed more or less intact into the tube. Removed from the tube in the laboratory, it is inspected and analyzed by different techniques and equipment depending on the type of data desired. Core samples can be taken to test the properties of manmade materials, such as concrete, ceramics, some metals and alloys, especially the softer ones. Core samples can also be taken of living things, including human beings, especially of a person's bones for microscopic examination to help diagnose diseases. Methods The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Algae
Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular microalgae, such as cyanobacteria, ''Chlorella'', and diatoms, to multicellular macroalgae such as kelp or brown algae which may grow up to in length. Most algae are aquatic organisms and lack many of the distinct cell and tissue types, such as stomata, xylem, and phloem that are found in embryophyte, land plants. The largest and most complex marine algae are called seaweeds. In contrast, the most complex freshwater forms are the Charophyta, a Division (taxonomy), division of green algae which includes, for example, ''Spirogyra'' and stoneworts. Algae that are carried passively by water are plankton, specifically phytoplankton. Algae constitute a Polyphyly, polyphyletic group because they do not include a common ancestor, and although Eu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, called charcoal burning, often by forming a charcoal kiln, the heat is supplied by burning part of the starting material itself, with a limited supply of oxygen. The material can also be heated in a closed retort. Modern charcoal briquettes used for outdoor cooking may contain many other additives, e.g. coal. The early history of wood charcoal production spans ancient times, rooted in the abundance of wood in various regions. The process typically involves stacking wood billets to form a conical pile, allowing air to enter through openings at the bottom, and igniting the pile gradually. Charcoal burners, skilled professionals tasked with managing the delicate operation, often lived in isolation to tend their wood piles . Throughout histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophytes during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants, or from the male Conifer cone, cone to the female cone of gymnosperms. If pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone, it Germination, germinates, producing a pollen tube that transfers the sperm to the ovule containing the female gametophyte. Individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail. The study of pollen is called palynology and is highly useful in paleoecology, paleontology, archaeology, and Forensic science, forensics. Pollen in plants is used for transferring Ploidy#Haploid and monoploid, haploid male genetic ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Māori Lakes
Māori Lakes () are a group of small and shallow high-country lakes located in inland Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand. They lie within an area of of wetland that is protected as the Māori Lakes Nature Reserve, and designated as a wildlife refuge, under s.14 of the Wildlife Act 1953. The lakes have a maximum depth of . The lakes are a popular location for photography, and are known for birdlife, with common waterfowl such as ducks and swans. However, rare species have also been sighted there, including Australasian bittern, marsh crake, great crested grebe and the white heron (''kōtuku''). The Māori Lakes are part of the wider Ashburton Lakes region (also known as ''Ōtūwharekai''), an area of cultural importance to the iwi Ngāi Tahu because the lakes were a significant food-gathering area and also on a main route for travel between the east and west coasts of the South Island (''Te Waipounamu''). The Māori Lakes can be accessed from the Hakatere Heron roa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
