The New Zealand South Island montane grasslands cover the Southern Alps along the spine of New Zealand's South Island, reaching across regions including Canterbury, Otago, and Southland. Above a treeline near 1,200 metres, the dominant cover is alpine tussock herbfield led by snow tussocks of the genus Chionochloa, while southern beech (Nothofagus) forms the montane forest below; near the treeline a belt of woody shrubs includes Dracophyllum, snow totara (Podocarpus nivalis), Hebe, and Coprosma. The climate is harshly alpine, with snow and ice fields in the high Alps and a sharp west-to-east gradient from heavy rainfall on the western slopes to drier conditions in the east. The region is a stronghold of endemism: over 90 percent of its roughly 600 montane plant species are found nowhere else, and it shelters endemic birds such as the kea (Nestor notabilis), the rock wren (Xenicus gilviventris), and the great spotted kiwi (Apteryx haastii). For gardeners, this flora is the native home of cold-hardy ornamentals long grown in rockeries and borders, including Hebe and Coprosma shrubs and the tufted Chionochloa snow grasses.

At a glance

About the montane grasslands & shrublands biome

High-elevation grasslands, meadows, and shrublands above the treeline or in mountain basins, including alpine and páramo systems. Cool temperatures, intense sunlight, and specialized, often endemic flora characterize them.

Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion

Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.

Collections for this ecoregion

Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.

Related ecoregions