Escaping from the crowded beaches

We decided to escape from the crowds of visitors who come for their holidays to enjoy the beaches of KZN by heading for the high Drakensberg and staying at Tenahead, not far from the top of Naude's Nek pass. There is a peak by the name of Tina Head as this is where the Tina River, a major tributary to the Umzimvubu River arises. As the altitude near the top of the pass is all above 2500m we were not surprised to be confronted with a suite of unknown alpine plant species.

The drive up the pass is always interesting as the vegetation changes with altitude, particularly over the last climb to the top where the steep slopes tend to provide more shadow and help keep the soil moisture higher, and the plants take full advantage of these conditions. The first of these to catch our eyes was Phygelius capensis with its bright red flowers.

Phygelius capensis

Close by were three orchid species which we had not seen previously, namely the rare Disa oreophila subsp. erecta, Disa thodei and Satyrium ligulatum. Another more familiar orchid species was Holothrix scopularia.

Disa oreophila subsp. erecta

Disa thodei

A common feature of the grasslands is the rather striking high-altitude Berkheya species Berkheya purpurea, but it shares some of this space with other robust, bright yellow (Berkheya multijuga) and white (Berkheya cirsiifolia) flowered members of the genus.

Berkheya purpurea

Berkheya multijuga

Berkheya cirsiifolia

At the top of the pass we explored some exposed basalt sheets and in gravel beds we found Romulea macowanii var oreophila in flower as well as some diminutive Massonia wittebergensis in fruit. There were also two Glumicalyx species on the gravel beds, G. montanus and G. nutans.

Romulea macowanii var oreophila

Massonia wittebergensis with fruit

The interesting thing about the Massonia was that on our first exploration of these gravel beds, there were only plants with fruit between the leaves. After an overnight shower of about 12 mm we found many of these plants to have flowered - presumably in response to the rain. Another interesting observation is that we saw virtually no bees on this trip. Most of the pollinating duties appeared to have been taken over by flies, beetles and wasps.
 

Massonia wittebergensis in flower being pollinated by a fly

One spectacular plant we encountered on this visit was the parasitic Harveya scarlatina.

Harveya scarlatina

Two Dierama species were flowering while we were at Tenahead - Dierama pauciflorum and D. robustum. And having recently had our interest in Thymelaceae stimulated by Lize and Rudi van Staden's visit to our area, we were very happy to find a very hairy Gnidia aberrans in flower.

Gnidia aberrans

There was a good variety of Kniphofia species, both in flower and in fruit. Unfortunately, while we found large patches of K. northiae, we only found fruit on some of these. However, the grassland was liberally dotted with flowering K. caulescens, K. gracilis, K stricta, and K. parviflora.

Kniphofia caulescens

The views from the top towards Maclear were breathtaking

 We also found attractive rosettes of Crassula setulosa growing on rocks and in the gravel beds. 

Crassula setulosa

While Rhodohypoxis baurii was common in damp seeps, we also were happy to find the diminutive Rhodohypoxis deflexa.

Rhodohypoxis deflexa

On the grassy slope were many of the low (shorter than 150 mm) variety of Satyrium longicauda var. jacottetianum.

Satyrium longicauda var. jacottetianum

We saw two recognisable species of Moraea, M. albicuspa and M. alticola and several species of Helichrysum. We came across one Ornithogalum regalis in flower but several plants nearby were in bud.

Ornithogalum regalis

There were several species of Geranium, all flowering well. Most notable were G. brycei and G. robustum.

Geranium brycei

Geranium robustum

We came across several Asclepias humilis in flower, the only member of the Apocynaceae family we found on this trip.

Asclepias humilis

Coming from the warm, humid climate at the coast it was a pleasant surprise to be enjoying a fire in our bedroom each evening, and the comfortable bed and good meals made our mountain escape all the more pleasant. A return trip is a must in a good rainfall year!

Kate with Tenahead in the background

Participants: Graham G, Kate G.