Spenser Mountains

{{Short description|Mountain range in New Zealand}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox mountain | name=Spenser Mountains | other_name= | image=Alpine tarn on Lewis Pass in front of Spenser Mountains.jpg | image_size =250px | image_caption=Alpine [[tarn (lake)|tarn]] on the Lewis Pass in front of the Spenser Mountains | country=[[New Zealand]] | region_type=Region | region=[[Tasman Region|Tasman]] | region1= | region2= | borders_on= | geology= | age= | orogeny= | area_km2= | length_km= | length_orientation= | width_km= | width_orientation= | highest= Mount Una | elevation_m=2300 | coordinates={{coord|42|15|S|172|30|E|display=inline,title|region:NZ_type:mountain_source:GNS-enwiki}} | map=New Zealand | map_size= | map_caption= }}

The '''Spenser Mountains''' is a topographic [[landform]] in the northern [[South Island]] of [[New Zealand]]. Located at the southern end of the [[Nelson Lakes National Park]] and north of the [[Lewis Pass]] they form a natural [[border]] between the [[Canterbury, New Zealand|Canterbury]] and [[Tasman Region|Tasman]] regions. Several peaks are named after characters in [[Edmund Spenser]]’s allegorical poem, [[The Faerie Queene]]. Many of the early explorers were evidently literate men. For example, Frederick Weld (a surveyor) named [[Lake Tennyson]]; [[William Travers (New Zealand politician)|William Travers]] (a solicitor) named the Spensers and Faerie Queene; [[Julius Haast]] named Mt Una.

Within the range prominent peaks include [[Mount Una]] and Mount Humboldt.<ref>Thomas Adolphus Bowden and James Hector. 1869</ref> The Spenser Mountains are the northern limit of the [[Glaciers of New Zealand|glaciers]] within the [[Southern Alps]].<ref>Chinn, Trevor J.H., (1988), [https://books.google.com/books?id=rgElAQAAIAAJ&dq=spenser+mountains+glaciers&pg=SL8-PA25], in ''Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world'', U.S. Geological Survey professional paper; 1386, {{ISBN|0-607-71457-3}}.</ref>

Much of the forest cover is beech/[[podocarp]] with understory of a variety of ferns and shrubs; [[Lomaria discolor|crown fern]] (''Lomaria discolor'') is one of the dominant understory ferns.<ref>C. Michael Hogan. 2009</ref>

==See also== * [[Rimu]]

==References== * [[Thomas Adolphus Bowden]] and [[James Hector]]. 1869. ''Manual of New Zealand geography'' * C. Michael Hogan. 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120213134120/http://www.globaltwitcher.com/artspec_information.asp?thingid=95431 ''Crown Fern: Blechnum discolor'', Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg]

==Notes== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Mountain ranges of the Canterbury Region]] [[Category:Mountain ranges of the Tasman District]] [[Category:Nelson Lakes National Park]]