Southern Hemisphere Garden

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Southern Hemisphere Garden

Southern Hemisphere Garden

Erica's Original Notes
In this area we have plants native to the Southern Hemisphere. Although many are too tender to plant here generally, our fairly mild climate permits us to grow several of them, especially those that come from the alpine areas where temperatures are similar to our own.

Acaena

Acaena from New Zealand, the smallest member of the Rose family and a useful ground cover, especially Acaena inermis which is lacking the bristly seed heads.

Monkey Puzzle Tree

Araucaria araucana comes from the dry hinterland of Chile, where the Araucanos Indians live; the nut-like seeds from the cones were a staple of their diet, being under the control of the wise men, harvested according to religious rites. Archibald Menzies (botanist with Captain Vancouver of H.M.S. Discovery) slipped some seeds into his pocket at a feast they attended, planted them at once on board, and four of them germinated before they reached England. During Victorian times they became very popular trees, many of which can be seen in Vancouver. They are dioecious. Araucaria excelsa is the famous Norfolk Pine, grown here as an indoor plant. (See notes 1 and 2 below.) [2018]: More about Araucaria araucana.

Darwin's Barberry

Berberis darwinii, found in the Chilean Garden, was actually collected by Darwin on his second voyage. [Added 2018]

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus: brought from Australia to California in 1856, planted as a wind break and soil stabilizer and became naturalized. They are very drought resistant and have no pests (in California). The leaves hang vertically in the heat to avoid the sun (a twisted leaf petiole allows for this); in a forest of eucalypts in Australia, there is, therefore, really no shade. They usually have two types of foliage: juvenile, used in floral arrangements, and adult. An adult Koala will eat two and a half pounds of eucalyptus nightly; there is a narcotic in the leaves, which presumably allows him to have a good sleep during the day, whereas we associate it with cough lozenges, chest rubs and runny noses!
[2015:]
Eucalyptus pauciflora subsp. niphophila, the Alpine snow gum, is quite hardy here, and we have two young trees in the Southern Hermisphere Garden.

Joint Fir

Joint Fir: Ephedra andina belongs to a genus of great botanical interest, providing a link between conifers and angiosperms. In the Ephedraceae family. (See note 3 below.)

Fuchsia magellanica

Fuchsia magellanica: brought back to England from South America by a sailor who gave it to his mother in Wapping; here it was seen on her window sill by James Lee, a nurseryman, who in 1793 gave her 80 golden guineas for three of her plants. (See note 4 below.)

Gaultheria mucronata

Gaultheria mucronata: Chilean heath, from Tierra del Fuego, where it takes full coastal conditions which are very inhospitable. Note its tough, leathery leaves. It belongs to the Heather family and is dioecious, therefore needing a male plant amongst the female ones in order for them to produce those lovely berries that stay on all winter because the birds don't find them tasty. These plants used to be part of the Pernettya species, which has been merged with Gaultheria.

Hebe

Hebe: named after the Goddess of Youth, wife of Hercules. The 'woody veronicas,' as they are also called, have no dormant terminal bud.

Hesperantha coccinea

Hesperantha coccinea: Native to South Africa, this plant was formerly Schizostylis coccinea. It is sometimes called "Kaffir" lily, but this name is considered offensive in some parts of Africa. Other common names are scarlet river lily and crimson flag. Coccinea means "bright red." [Added 2018]

Antarctic Beech

Nothofagus dombeyi is also called Coigüe or Dombey’s southern beech. The word 'notho' means 'false'. It makes rapid growth; in experiments in England, they found it grew 20 feet from seed in four years. There are other species of Nothofagus in this garden as well.

New Zealand Flax

Phormium tenax, fibres used commercially; Maoris make them into skirts - 128 for a 28-inch waist!

Podocarpus

Podocarpus: P. lanceolata, P. nivallis, from New Zealand, a country where there are no pines. (See note 5 below.)

NOTES Updated 2013 (RP):

For more information about Monkey Puzzle trees visit: http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/garden-attractions-A-Z/monkey-puzzle.htm
Just to make the geographic placement of this tree clear, Araucaria heterophylla (synonym A. excelsa) is also known as the Norfolk Island Pine. It is endemic to Norfolk Island, a small island in the Pacific Ocean between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. (As with the comment below (6), it is a conifer but not a true pine)
The plant division Gnetophyta poses interesting flowering plant development hypotheses. Extant (living) Gnetophyta comprise some 70 species across the three genera Gnetum (family Gnetaceae), Welwitschia (family Welwitschiaceae), and Ephedra (family Ephedraceae). The exact link between gymnosperms (conifers in Erica’s notes) and angiosperms (flowering plants) is under debate. Recent research by Lee EK, Cibrian-Jaramillo A, et al. (2011) suggests that the Gnetophyta are a sister group (closer) to the rest of the gymnosperms, contradicting the anthophyte hypothesis, which held that gnetophytes were sister to the flowering plants.
There are two conflicting versions as to the introduction of Fuchsia to England. One attributes it to the French botanist Charles Plumier (1646 -1704). He first described the genus in 1704 and is said to have brought seeds back to France after his expedition to the West Indies. The species he collected was Fuchsia triphylla flore coccinea and specimens are recorded in France at this time.

However Professor Philip Munz, in his A Revision of the Genus Fuchsia, 1793, wrote that the fuchsia, one of the short tubed species such as magellanica or coccinea, was first introduced into England by a sailor who grew it in a window. Here it was observed by a nurseryman from Hammersmith, a Mr. Lee, who succeeded in buying it and propagating it for the trade. Other reports name the sailor as Captain Firth, from Hammersmith, who gave it to his wife. Later on James Lee of St. Johns Wood, nurseryman and an astute businessman, heard of the plant and purchased it for 80 guineas. He then propagated as many as possible and sold them to the trade for prices ranging from 10 to 20 guineas each.

In the Floricultural Cabinet, 1855, there is a report which varies slightly from the above. Here it says that F. coccinea was given to Kew Garden in 1788 by Captain Firth and that Lee acquired it from Kew.
Podocarpus lanceolata (plum pine), Podocarpus nivalis (mountain or snow totara) – hence Erica’s comment about this plant coming from a New Zealand, which is a country with no pines. The common name ‘plum pine’ is misleading. It is a conifer but not a pine. True pines are not found in the southern hemisphere.