{"id":11927,"date":"2015-04-01T13:07:54","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T18:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stage.palms.org\/?p=11927"},"modified":"2020-09-19T08:16:34","modified_gmt":"2020-09-19T13:16:34","slug":"vol-3-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/","title":{"rendered":"April 2015 Newsletter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lord Howe\u00a0Island and Mt. Gower Climb<\/strong>
\nby Troy Donovan<\/em>
\n________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"

Darold Petty contemplates Mt. Gower on Lord Howe Island.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cLord Howe Island: The paradise of the Tasman” was the title that I saw in the dusty old National\u00a0Geographic from 1935 that I read\u00a0as a 6\u00adyear\u00adold boy in 1977. After many years of dreaming and procrastination and growing all the Lord Howe Island palms in my yard, the dream became a reality. Many months ago I had organized\u00a0the three\u00adnight stay on Lord Howe with my cool\u00adclimate palm mentor Darold Petty from San Francisco. Lord Howe Island has 320 residents and only allows 400 tourists on the Island at a time. The Island was designated a World
\nHeritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. Howea forsteriana is by far the most
\ndominant palm species on the Island and grows from the beaches in dense
\nstands that are sometimes nearly void of any other vegetation due to fallen frond mulch, growing in very sandy calcarenite soils, a form of limestone (or dolomite). Howea growing in this soil were perfectly green and lacked the characteristic potassium deficiency\u00a0evident in some Mediterranean climates. Some older Howea were approximately 20 m tall.<\/p>\n

The Mount Gower Climb is rated as the most difficult but most enjoyable of all the hikes on Lord Howe Island, and most of the island\u2019s rare and endemic palms and plants can be viewed on the way up. At 875 m (2900 ft), it is the Mt. Everest of Lord Howe Island.<\/p>\n

“The Man,” Jack Shick, operator of Sea to Summit Expeditions, is a fifth\u00ad generation\u00a0Islander and, like his father and grandfather, has expertly guided many visitors up the unforgiving slopes of Mt. Gower. To the uninitiated Jack would just seem like\u00a0another everyday Aussie bloke, but put him on a mountain and he\u2019s like a combination of a Special Forces soldier\u2019s agility and fitness combined with the flora and fauna knowledge of Sir David Attenborough.<\/p>\n

After arriving, we proceeded in single file through a Kentia forest that was adjacent to the coastline. It wasn’t long before we were climbing up a steep slope that comprised of Pandanus forsteri, Metrosideros and of course Howea forsteriana and belmoreana. Strategically placed ropes made the climbing easier. Then it was on to the lower road, which is a tiny track worn into a steep cliff face with rope all the way along. Our guide Jack was very liberal in explaining the island\u2019s local flora and fauna. We then had a short break where Jack demonstrated how easy it was to
\nclimb the trunk of Howea forsteriana using a hessian strap to collect ripe seeds.<\/p>\n

View This Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lord Howe\u00a0Island and Mt. Gower Climb by Troy Donovan ________________________ \u201cLord Howe Island: The paradise of the Tasman” was the title that I saw in the dusty old National\u00a0Geographic from 1935 that I read\u00a0as a 6\u00adyear\u00adold boy in 1977. After many years of dreaming and procrastination and growing all the Lord Howe Island palms in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2673,"featured_media":18153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nApril 2015 Newsletter - The International Palm Society<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"April 2015 Newsletter - The International Palm Society\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lord Howe\u00a0Island and Mt. Gower Climb by Troy Donovan ________________________ \u201cLord Howe Island: The paradise of the Tasman” was the title that I saw in the dusty old National\u00a0Geographic from 1935 that I read\u00a0as a 6\u00adyear\u00adold boy in 1977. After many years of dreaming and procrastination and growing all the Lord Howe Island palms in […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The International Palm Society\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-01T18:07:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-19T13:16:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/304_01.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"455\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"293\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ari Hartung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ari Hartung\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/\",\"name\":\"April 2015 Newsletter - The International Palm Society\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/304_01.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-01T18:07:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-19T13:16:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/#\/schema\/person\/d9f22cc6c3678dc347bacf4bd5f102ef\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/304_01.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/304_01.png\",\"width\":455,\"height\":293},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"April 2015 Newsletter\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/\",\"name\":\"The International Palm Society\",\"description\":\"The International Palm Society, Inc. is operated solely and exclusively for scientific and\/or educational purposes related to the study of palms, their propagation, culture, conservation, care, and development.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/#\/schema\/person\/d9f22cc6c3678dc347bacf4bd5f102ef\",\"name\":\"Ari Hartung\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3eaa3ed1505b936cb1f96bdf50b49278?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3eaa3ed1505b936cb1f96bdf50b49278?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ari Hartung\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/palms.org\/author\/100000\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"April 2015 Newsletter - The International Palm Society","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"April 2015 Newsletter - The International Palm Society","og_description":"Lord Howe\u00a0Island and Mt. Gower Climb by Troy Donovan ________________________ \u201cLord Howe Island: The paradise of the Tasman” was the title that I saw in the dusty old National\u00a0Geographic from 1935 that I read\u00a0as a 6\u00adyear\u00adold boy in 1977. After many years of dreaming and procrastination and growing all the Lord Howe Island palms in […]","og_url":"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/","og_site_name":"The International Palm Society","article_published_time":"2015-04-01T18:07:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-19T13:16:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":455,"height":293,"url":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/304_01.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Ari Hartung","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ari Hartung","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/","url":"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/","name":"April 2015 Newsletter - The International Palm Society","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/palms.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/304_01.png","datePublished":"2015-04-01T18:07:54+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-19T13:16:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/palms.org\/#\/schema\/person\/d9f22cc6c3678dc347bacf4bd5f102ef"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/304_01.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/304_01.png","width":455,"height":293},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/palms.org\/vol-3-4\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/palms.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"April 2015 Newsletter"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/palms.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/palms.org\/","name":"The International Palm Society","description":"The International Palm Society, Inc. is operated solely and exclusively for scientific and\/or educational purposes related to the study of palms, their propagation, culture, conservation, care, and development.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/palms.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/palms.org\/#\/schema\/person\/d9f22cc6c3678dc347bacf4bd5f102ef","name":"Ari Hartung","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/palms.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3eaa3ed1505b936cb1f96bdf50b49278?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3eaa3ed1505b936cb1f96bdf50b49278?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ari Hartung"},"url":"https:\/\/palms.org\/author\/100000\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11927"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2673"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palms.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}