Heather

tony
April 16, 2017
Botany / New Zealand / travel

I’m not sure if it is something genetic from my Scottish grandfather or just by association with happy memories, but I just love heather. The dense, springy texture and soft purple pink in a harsh environment bring back memories of exploring the Highlands and Skye. The fatigue of pushing up a steep hill to find a small loch and being rewarded with tiny, picture perfect, Brown Trout while looking across to Raasay in the evening light spring straight back to my mind.

The romantic delusion took a beating on our recent trip to Tongariro National Park. The heather was in full bloom and beautifully pink, providing foreground to images and echoing the warm colours of the volcanic scoria. Nothing wrong with that, so what is the problem? The thing that made an impact on me is how the heather is invading and pushing away native plants. It seems to have progressed much more than in my recollection from previous visits. I have always enjoyed seeing it along the roadside but this is the first time that it seemed somewhat out of place despite colour coordinating so well into the landscape. The stand invading onto the golf course in front of the Chateau as shown in this post really highlighted this for me.

Purple pink echoes the scoria on Ngaruhoe but sadly the foreground is invasive heather and broom with the native toetoe and flax pushed back into the middle ground

Heather was introduced to New Zealand from its native Europe by settlers with presumably similar romantic fondness to what I feel for it. It was planted in Tongariro National Park from 1912 to 1922 to provide habitat for grouse, which fortunately were never introduced. It has since become an invasive weed. Heather beetles have been introduced as a control measure but without great success so far.

Steam venting from Tongariro. This valley floor is choked with broom and heather.

Unfortunately, the flaw in the romance once seen cannot be unseen. While it is sad to have romantic delusions of pink floral perfection founder on the rocky shores of reality, finding the weaknesses in the things we love is just part of life. My love for heather seems destined to be tinged with an element of sadness, unless I qualify things and say that I love heather (but only where it belongs).

Photos with Nikon D810. Heather closeup with Nikon 300 f4PF lens, landscapes with Nikon 24-120mm f4 VR lens and Heliopan polarising filter.