After tea (with a Christmas flavour) in one of the shelters at Beacon Hill we set off with a few species in mind. The first stop was at a spot where we know some Eulophia horsfallii grow but there was no sign of them yet. Nearby, we did however find a flowering Dioscorea multiloba draped over a shrub.
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| Dioscorea multiloba |
We then walked across the grassland looking for Exochaenium grande (formerly Sebaea grandis) and headed towards some rocks where we expected to find Stenoglottis macloughlinii. Near what we know as Mr. Nic's stream, we found a small population of Aspalathus dahlgrenii (ined.), and just beyond that, in a small dam, there were Nymphoides thunbergiana pushing their furry yellow flowers out above the water.
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| Aspalathus dahlgrenii |
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| Nymphoides thunbergiana |
While at the dam we saw that earlier efforts to eradicate some invasive Hedychium gardnerianum (a flowering ginger) had not been fully successful so we dug up the sprouting tubers and subsequently hammered them to pulp on some nearby rocks.
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| Anne "hammering the ginger" (now a euphemism for going beyond the call of duty!) |
On these same rocks we found the Stenoglottis macloughlinii we were looking for with many of them flowering in south-facing rock crevices
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| Stenoglottis macloughlinii |
On the way back to the office we finally found the Exochaenium grande we had been looking for. Measurements of this species might help to resolve whether the small-flowered form we also see in this area is a separate species or not.
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| Exochaenium grande |
We decided that eating lunch out in the wind was unwarranted and headed back to the shelters at the office. Pondoland CREW would like to wish all our readers a happy Christmas and may 2016 bring an end to the sub-optimal rainfall we have experienced over the last two seasons.
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| Christmas greetings from Pondoland CREW |
Participants: Anne S, Dorothy M, Graham G, Kate G, Maggie A, Uschi T.
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