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It's not about whether we are tropical or not. The question wasn't, who is more tropical? People on here know that Florida etc is warmer than NZ.(at least I hope they do)
What I was saying ( and I wasn't talking about Australia) is that the flora here is of tropical origin. Much of it looks tropical, more so than Florida. Much of the the forest of the US Southeast has always struck me as having a cold climate look.
I would have to agree with TOM77FALCONS on the above:
The coastal lowlands of the Southeast are mostly covered with hardwood evergreens (live oaks, magnolias, cypress swamps, etc) and palms. Much of the coastal plain of the Gulf/South Atlantic, while classified as Cfa –Humid Subtropical, is really more Subtropical Wet/Dry Cw. Florida has a wet/dry rainfall pattern and winters can be very dry, so the “jungle look” is not very common, since sunshine and heat rule for much of the year. I would expect in a damp/cooler climate like New Zealand to even be more green "lush" the subtropical (Cf) or even tropical savanna climates (Aw). Of course in the Southwestern USA - this is even more the case, much of the subtropical zone is classified as Cs/Csa (Subtropical Mediterranean) so the last thing it is lush (lol). Also, as far as the flora of New Zealand being of “tropical origin” not real sure about that one. From what I understand, despite all the palms cultivated anywhere in New Zealand – there is only one “native/wild palm” nīkau palm. Not sure if that is still the case.
My larger point was really how palms look in Temperate climates/environments (esp the man-made) vs Subtropical/Tropical climates:
For example, much of the architecture in tropical/subtropical climates has a certain “look’ that gives away its low latitude, hot, sunny location. Most buildings in the deep subtropics/tropics have large shutters to block the strong sun, are often raised off the ground for ventilation/cyclones, have long porches for sitting and catching a breeze, are often colored in bright colors, etc. Palms seem (?) to fit better in areas with this look. This concept might be a little more difficult to grasp in the southern Hemisphere, but I would guess that I mean the typical “Queenslander” style …vs… the style one might find in a typical building in deep South Island, NZ. I don’t really have a good picture of what I mean, but something like these would be a basic example here in the Northern Hemisphere:
House in the Portland area of the Pacific Northwest:
House in the Melbourne area of Florida:
When you take the difference in the man-made environment between the subtropics/tropics and the temperate zone …then added in with the difference in the look/feel of the weather between these zones (low latitude = hot, sunny, bright, high sun angles, tall convective clouds…etc/high latitudes = cool, more cloudy, low sun angles, horizontal stratus clouds, chill/damp/snow…etc)… my question is do palms fit in the look (both man-made and natural) of higher latitude temperate climates?
I would have to agree with TOM77FALCONS on the above:
The coastal lowlands of the Southeast are mostly covered with hardwood evergreens (live oaks, magnolias, cypress swamps, etc) and palms. Much of the coastal plain of the Gulf/South Atlantic, while classified as Cfa –Humid Subtropical, is really more Subtropical Wet/Dry Cw. Florida has a wet/dry rainfall pattern and winters can be very dry, so the “jungle look” is not very common, since sunshine and heat rule for much of the year. I would expect in a damp/cooler climate like New Zealand to even be more green "lush" the subtropical (Cf) or even tropical savanna climates (Aw). Of course in the Southwestern USA - this is even more the case, much of the subtropical zone is classified as Cs/Csa (Subtropical Mediterranean) so the last thing it is lush (lol). Also, as far as the flora of New Zealand being of “tropical origin” not real sure about that one. From what I understand, despite all the palms cultivated anywhere in New Zealand – there is only one “native/wild palm” nīkau palm. Not sure if that is still the case.
My larger point was really how palms look in Temperate climates/environments (esp the man-made) vs Subtropical/Tropical climates:
For example, much of the architecture in tropical/subtropical climates has a certain “look’ that gives away its low latitude, hot, sunny location. Most buildings in the deep subtropics/tropics have large shutters to block the strong sun, are often raised off the ground for ventilation/cyclones, have long porches for sitting and catching a breeze, are often colored in bright colors, etc. Palms seem (?) to fit better in areas with this look. This concept might be a little more difficult to grasp in the southern Hemisphere, but I would guess that I mean the typical “Queenslander” style …vs… the style one might find in a typical building in deep South Island, NZ. I don’t really have a good picture of what I mean, but something like these would be a basic example here in the Northern Hemisphere:
House in the Portland area of the Pacific Northwest:
House in the Melbourne area of Florida:
When you take the difference in the man-made environment between the subtropics/tropics and the temperate zone …then added in with the difference in the look/feel of the weather between these zones (low latitude = hot, sunny, bright, high sun angles, tall convective clouds…etc/high latitudes = cool, more cloudy, low sun angles, horizontal stratus clouds, chill/damp/snow…etc)… my question is do palms fit in the look (both man-made and natural) of higher latitude temperate climates?
Whoa that Portland house is eerily strange. Doesn't fit in compared to many other houses in Portland lol. Probably a seriously mountain-family lives in there hahah. I'm from Portland, Oregon. That metal roof seems means it is in the Cascades (due to insane amount of annual snow totals), it has to slip off roof, or it is in outskirts of East Portland (far East, in foothills of Cascades between 1,500 to 3,000 ft)
Can't see the top 2 pictures but the bottom picture looks like it has a windmill palm (perhaps the same kind they grow in Vancouver?), and is that a tree fern on the left? Nice!
Can't see the top 2 pictures but the bottom picture looks like it has a windmill palm (perhaps the same kind they grow in Vancouver?), and is that a tree fern on the left? Nice!
This is about 7 or 8 miles away from me in Long Beach (NY).
I agree they won't. Continental climate of East Coast is unique because that large area is found nowhere anywhere in world, where Summer feels like it is in an absolute tropical climate, humid, warm-hot summers, lows from 65 to 75 degrees. But Winter time, it is different story... Gets cold! Blizzard blasts, etc.
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