Thinking there may have been enough time for flowers to get going after the management burn at the Red Desert NR, a big group congregated in the parking area and set off westwards into a cold wind. At first there was relatively little to see apart from a few Gerbera natalensis but then we found this newly-sprouted Boophone disticha inflorescence. On the forested edge we found Brachylaena uniflora in flower and Cassine peragua bearing young fruits.
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| Boophone disticha |
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| Brachylaena uniflora |
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| Cassine peragua fruits |
Back in the grassland area we found another white daisy, Dimorphotheca fruticosa, with the backs of the ray florets tinged pink and, unusually, yellow disc florets. With its roots in a crack between two rocks, a stunted Diospyros scabrida was in flower.
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| Dimorphotheca fruticosa |
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| Diospyros scabrida |
There were a few Helichrysum species taking advantage of the fire to get their flowers out on display: H. aureum var monocephalum, H. allioides and H. griseum. Another flowering shrub on the forest fringes was Polygala myrtifolia. A bit further along we came across the first Ursinia tenuiloba flowers of the season.
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| Helichrysum aureum var monocephalum |
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| Helichrysum allioides |
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| Helichrysum griseum |
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| Polygala myrtifolia |
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| Ursinia tenuiloba |
We found several white flowered Gladiolus, most lacking leaves, and we puzzled over these for some time. We eventually concluded after consulting the literature, that these were Gladiolus inandensis.
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| Gladiolus inandensis |
Having exhausted the relatively lean pickings at the RDNR, we decided to head to Dassie Beach for lunch, stopping briefly at a burned patch on Banner's Triangle where we found Hebenstretia comosa starting to flower. We also found a little patch of Eulophia clitellifera, a few Hypoxis argentea, a single Raphionacme galpinii in bud and a cluster of Nemesia coerulea flowering in the shade of a few trees. Dotted around were many Ornithogalum juncifolium with their terminal white flowers.
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| Hebenstretia comosa |
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| Eulophia clitellifera |
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| Hypoxis argentea |
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| Raphionacme galpinii |
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| Nemesia coerulea |
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| Ornithogalum juncifolium |
We found a sheltered spot at Dassie Beach and enjoyed our lunch in the mild winter sun. On the nearby dunes we found Carpobrotus dimidiatus with a few flowers and draped over the beach sand at the foot of the dune line Ipomoea pes-caprae was sporting fruits on upright stalks.
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| Lunch at Dassie Beach |
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| Carpobrotus dimidiatus |
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| Ipomoea pes-caprae fruits |
Participants: Alex V, Anne S, Colin T, Debbie K, Dorothy M, Gail B-W, Graham G, Kate G, Mark G, Michel B, Rachel B-W, Sarah B-W, Tracy T.
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