With a forecast for lots of rain during the day, we headed up to Beacon Hill anyway, with the option of work in the herbarium should the forecast prove to be true. While it was heavily overcast when we arrived, it was not raining so we decided to take a chance and set off on foot towards the Beacon. Climbing up the hill to the helicopter landing pad we came across the first Eucomis autumnalis flower for this season and nearby was a Stangeria eriopus with a very substantial underground tuber exposed.
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| Eucomis autumnalis |
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| Stangeria eriopus tubers and old male cone |
Passing a Gnidia baurii, Hybanthus enneaspermis, and the odd Argyrolobium rotundifolium we came across a depression where there was a cluster of Geranium flanaganii flowers.
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| Gnidia baurii |
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| Hybanthis enneaspermis |
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| Argyrolobium rotundifolium |
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| Geranium flanaganii |
We crossed over the hill and worked our way down towards a small dam, seeing Eriocaulon dregei and Satyrium trinerve on the way down.
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| Eriocaulon dregei |
Posed on top of the clear water in the dam were lots of Nymphoidea thunbergiana with their feathery yellow flowers and in the seeps along the side of the dam were numbers of Genlisea hispida and Utricularia livida. While we were looking at these we startled a pair of Marsh Owls. Draped over the long grass at the dam edge we saw the slender creeper of Caesia contorta.
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| Nymphoidea thunbergiana |
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| Genlisea hispida |
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| Urtricularia livida |
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| Caesia contorta |
Ascending the opposite slope we saw Disa sagittalis emerging from horizontal fissures in the rocks and some Brachystelma australe flowering amongst the moss. On flat parts of these rocks we found Delosperma subpetiolatum, and in between other rocks were several Asclepias praemorsa.
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| Disa sagittalis |
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| Delosperma subpetiolatum |
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| Asclepias praemorsa |
Further up the slope there were many Crassula vaginata and on a rock outcrop at the top of the hill we found a Ceropegia linearis with a single flower.
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| Crassula vaginata |
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| Ceropegia linearis |
By this stage it seemed like we had pushed our luck far enough as far as the weather was concerned and decided to turn back. On the way back we found a very small but brave Burchellia bubalina flowering in a crack and an Apodytes abbottii full of flower. We got back to the offices still dry but the afternoon delivered the promised rain. By that stage we were doing sorting in the herbarium so we could enjoy the sound of the rain without suffering its effects.
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| Apodytes abbottii |
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| Ophrestia oblongifolia |
Participants: Anne S, Graham G, Jean P, Kate G, Maggie A
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