Alpine Flower a Day: New Zealand Everlastingflower

Alpine Flower a Day: Day. 10, New Zealand Everlastingflower (Anaphalioides bellidioides)

– same size as a garden daisy but dry and papery, and found on alpine slopes!

– these ones in Arthurs Pass National Park on the side of the Bealey Track

Here's an excerpt and bastardisation of a poem from the flora collection I'm working on!

What the everlasting daisies know

banks run rivulets at our feet, our petals open,

dry as eyelashes, to catch the moth at moon

Maero appears as a fairy; others see

a remnant of the Miocene – a hairy ape

here is the lie you perpetuate:

boots have their say, the tread on your skin

there are more colours for green than weeping –

sphagnum, mountain beech, fungus, fern …

If you're interested in the inspiration behind this month-long series of 'An Alpine Flower A Day' about NZ alpine flowers and poems, you can find more in my first post: An Alpine Flower A Day Enjoy!