Why is there a Sub-Antarctic House? Is its purpose to keep the plants cold in summer? Or would the plants actually not survive a German winter? I'm assuming there are only plants in here? Presumably they aren't using just sub-Antarctic plants either, as I don't believe there would be any tree ferns on sub-Antarctic islands. Happy to be corrected though.
there's a great subantarctic plant house in the Hobart Botanic Gardens if you make it down to Tasmania, with plants from Macquarie and Campbell Islands. They have recordings playing of elephant seals. The most southerly range for tree ferns is the Auckland Islands (where the soft tree fern Cyathea smithii grows). There are also Metrosideros forests etc down there. I think the purpose of a house is to maintain a cool environment year-round (maybe).
Its hard to imagine tree ferns living in such a harsh environment, but there must be some sheltered valleys, and I guess it doesn't get as tall as on the NZ mainland. When I make it to Tassie I'll be sure to check out that garden, sub-Antarctic plants are amazing. I think there were some impressive megaherbs in a garden at Wilton's Bush, in Wellington, but I'll have to check that.
there's a nice photo of forest on the Auckland Islands here: Overgrown Enderby Settlement at Hardwicke (1849-1852), Auckland Islands, NZ Sub Antarctic District, NZ Sub Antarctic Region, New Zealand (NZ). Stock photo from New Zealand (NZ). Photos and Stock Photography by Rob Suisted
if you don't get to Tasmania while you are living in Melbourne then you'll regret it. It is an amazing place. You can see some of the endemic birds (like yellow wattlebird) in the Hobart botanic gardens too, so double the gain. I actually went to the gardens specifically for the subantarctic plant house, because I'd never seen any of the megaherbs before.
That actually looks like quite nice forest, not quite the barren scrub I was imagining. The "tree" ferns are fairly short though! I would love to do a trip to some of the sub-Antarctic islands someday, its definitely on my wish-list.
We have a semi-planned trip for Tasmania, via ferry, but not a date for when that will happen. Have a lot of trips like that actually After checking my photos, I don't think Wilton's Bush does have any sub-Antarctic megaherbs, just Chatham Island Forget-me-nots, which are still pretty big. According to wikipedia, a 2011 study found that they're closest relatives are Meditteranean species, which is rather unusual.
same, but its a little out of my price range unfortunately. Trip-length versus price is extravagant, but species-list versus price makes it more bearable. One day.
