More plant rescue surveys: Msikaba North (Thursday 12 January 2017)

Fortunately we were able to drive to the point where we stopped the survey previously, so we could get going quickly. On this occasion we were also accompanied by the site staff of Simply Eviro JV. It took some time to work our way through a small forest patch as there was no cleared survey line but only an overgrown cattle trail. In the forest there were also more species to look at so this first section took some time.

In this forest patch there is a big stand of invasive Solanum chrysostrichum. It is unclear what allowed this species to penetrate the forest, but mans' presence is strongly evident in the forest. Here we saw  Stephania abyssinica in fruit and a large Agelanthus krassianus in a tree. There were several Cussonia sphaerocephala in this forest, the one depicted below being particularly obvious. 

Getting started with the survey

Agelanthus kraussianus

Cussonia sphaerocephala

Stephania abyssinica

Once back in the grassland the progress was quicker as these well-grazed grasslands have poor species diversity. As we crossed a small hill we came across a large stand of the invasive (and probably planted) Plectranthus barbatus, in this case sheltering a patch of Transkei Gold. There were a few Syncolostemon densiflorus on this hillside.

Syncolostemon densiflorus

Down this hill and across a small wetland and we were on the last flat section leading to the bridge site. Along this section we saw Leucas lavandulifolia, and apart from a few Pachycarpus species with fruits, there was little else to see other than an Ipomoea simplex  before we reached the edge of the gorge.

Leucas lavandulifolia

Ipomoea simplex

The bridge site from the south bank of the Msikaba river

There were some interesting plants along the edge of the gorge, including some Pondoland endemic species such as Manilkara nicholsonii and Cryptocarya wyliei and Searsia acocksii.

Walking back after completing this part of the survey

On the way back, Dorothy and Anne and Gail came across two orchid species in flower in a small watercourse, Disa polygonoides and Satyrium trinerve. We saw several other dead stalks of unidentifiable orchid species: some seemed to be Eulophia.

Disa polygonoides

Satyrium trinerve

Participants: Anne S, Bjorn W(SE JV), Dorothy M, Gail B-W(SE JV), Graham G, Kate G, Kothiya N(SE JV), Xolani X(SE JV), Zameka T(SE JV).