Today, with rain threatening, we elected to go to the area of the reserve we call the Terraces, a series of stepped sandstone plates that are host to many succulent plants, including PCE endemics. These overlook the small stream that flows from the base of Outeniqua Falls.
The track where we usually leave the vehicles was very overgrown so we waded through chest-high grass to get a little closer to the starting point for our walk. We started walking in light rain but fortunately this was only a short shower and once the rain stopped it held off for the rest of the day.
As expected, the plants on the rock plates were looking splendid after the recent good rains. Bright magenta flowers of Lampranthus fugitans dotted the area and there were hundreds of Ornithogalum juncifolium, little white stars perched on a short stalk. Nearby were scattered Craterostigma sp. nov. in flower giving us further opportunity to take measurements in preparation for a paper describing the species.
 |
| A rock plate with many succulent plants |
 |
| Lampranthus fugitans with a small Craterostigma sp. nov. next to it |
Other plants found on these rock sheets were Asparagus densiflorus, Plectranthus hadiensis, Crassula ericoides and Cyanotis robusta. The latter species flowers much later than the more common Cyanotis speciosa and is found on these rock plates rather than in the open grassland.
 |
| Asparagus densiflorus |
 |
| Plectranthus hadiensis |
 |
| Crassula ericoides |
 |
| Cyanotis robusta |
 |
| Cyanotis robusta |
Another plant we were looking for was Exochaenium grande - these we needed for measurements to support a comparison with a smaller-flowered species, which is currently being referred to as Exochaenium sp. nov. We were lucky to find several of these in flower in the grasslands.
We pressed on to the cliff edges where we could see the Umtamvuna River in spate, with muddy water rushing over the rapids.
 |
| Kate on the cliff edge with the muddy Umtamvuna River in the background |
Nearby, we found a small stream that had disappeared into a narrow cleft. As the water tumbled down into the gorge below, we could clearly hear the sound of the falls, but could not get close enough to the edge of the cleft to see the water.
 |
| The "Invisible Falls" - heard but not seen |
We then decided to head down to the Rennies' Beach grasslands to get some photos of an interesting flower we had come across the day before. This had been identified by SANBI's Apocynaceae specialist, Pieter Bester, as Asclepias navicularis. This is a very slender scrambling plant, just showing its flower head above the grass, and therefore easy to miss.
 |
| Asclepias navicularis |
Participants: Anne S, Dorothy M, Graham G, Kate G, Uschi T.
No comments:
Post a Comment