We had a request from a visiting overseas tour group to provide some local knowledge on a field trip to noteworthy botanical sites in our area. We met at Beacon Hill and set off walking through the grassland towards the Beacon. As normal, progress was slow as the visitors enjoyed getting to grips with some of our local species -- plants, birds and insects.
The first we noted was
Crotalaria globifera and then
Stangeria eriopus with an old male cone. We saw several
Habenaria dives and
Hypoxis angustifolia on the way across the grassland towards the track to the beacon. At the first rock outcrop there was a procumbent
Brachystelma australe growing next to
Tulbaghia acutiloba.
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| Crotalaria globifera |
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| Brachystelma australe |
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| Tulbaghia acutiloba |
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| Tephrosia grandiflora |
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| Zornia linearis |
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| Chironia albiflora |
Once the group had seen the
Chironia albiflora and the few orchids growing on or near the rocks at the Beacon, we turned back heading down Mr. Nic's gorge to see the
Streptocarpus. Unfortunately none of these had sufficiently good flowers to justify the group scrambling into the stream gorge. So, with a quick look at some of the local endemic tree species, we headed back to the offices, finding a single
Eulophia horsfallii growing in a small forest patch on the way. With the hot sun, the visitors were very relieved to stop for lunch in the shade of one of the shelters.
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| Eulophia horsfallii |
In the vicinity of this forest patch we also found Indigastrum fastigiatum, Indigofera tristis and Tephrosia shiluwanensis. Growing over a small shrub was a tangle of Dioscorea multiloba in flower.
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| Indigastrum fastigiatum |
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| Indigofera tristis |
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| Tephrosia shiluwanensis |
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| Dioscorea multiloba |
After lunch we drove down towards the Rennie's section of the Red Desert Nature Reserve, stopping briefly on the way to look at a subpopulation of Eulophia angolensis. Once at the reserve we set off over the grassland towards a rock outcrop where we found Euphorbia flanaganii and Ceropegia carnosa. Growing next to a rock was a flowering Erythrina humeana and down into the marshy area near a stream we found two Brunsvigia grandiflora in flower.
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| Eulophia angolensis |
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| Ceropegia carnosa |
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| Erythrina humeana |
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| Brunsvigia grandiflora |
We saw a very pale-flowered
Abrus laevigatus and once over the brow of the hill spotted a few of the very obvious
Disa polygonoides. Next to some of these normal intense red-coloured flowers was an unusual yellow-flowered form.
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| Abrus laevigatus |
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| Disa polygonoides |
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| Unusual yellow-flowered form of Disa polygonoides |
Near a small patch of Strelitzia nicholai we found several stems of the geo-suffrutex Eugenia capensis subsp. guenzii with axiliary clusters of white flowers and nearby was a single Eulophia schnelliae. That marked the end of the day for the tour group.
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| Eugenia capensis subsp. guenzii |
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| Eulophia schnelliae |
The following morning the Pondoland CREW group set off to look at the
Eulophia horsfallii and then spent some time following the path towards the Bulolo River. In addition to several of the species noted above for the previous day, we also found
Drosera natalensis, Hypericum lalandii, Utricularia subulata and a single
Morea brevistyla.
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| Heading to the Eulophia horsfallii |
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| Following the path to the Bulolo cliffs |
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| Drosera natalensis |
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| Hypericum lalandii |
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| Moraea brevistyla |
Participants: Day 1; Green Tours, Graham G, Kate G.
Day 2; Anne S, Dorothy M, Graham G, Maggie A, Mark G, Tracy T.
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