A scramble around Aspalathus Amble

This was a new area for us to walk in and Maggie was given the honour of naming the walk. With the preponderance of Aspalathus chortophylla in flower around us it did not take her long to come up with the name Aspalathus Amble, and true to the name, in the hot and windy conditions we did no more than amble along the cliff edges.

Aspalathus chortophylla

There were still a few Watsonia inclinata in flower in the dessicated grassland. 

We dropped down into a valley to cross a stream and saw a flash of orange in a tree. This determined this to be Agelanthus gracilis after we collected a specimen; strangely, this is a species not previously collected in the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve. 
 

Agelanthus gracilis

On the slope beyond the stream, Uschi found a Monsonia praemorsa with its delicately etched outer petal surfaces and very hairy stems and leaves.  
 

Monsonia praemorsa

A little further on we came across a rather large Manilkara nicholsonii with the remnants of this season's fruits. A useful character for this species is the presence of woody galls on most of the branchlets. This time we also noted the presence of galls on the leaves.
 

Manilkara nicholsonii fruits

Galls on leaves of Manilkara nicholsonii 

Uschi, Dorothy and Maggie hotly debating the identity of Dichrostachys cinerea

On the route back to the vehicle we paused to admire the many hungry pollinators on the bright yellow Helichrysum acutatum flowers.
 

Pollinators on Helichrysum acutatum 

Participants: Anne S, Dorothy M, Graham G, Kate G, Maggie A, Uschi T.