Pondoland C.R.E.W. Blog: Weed hunting at Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve (Thursday 7 February, 2019)

When Craig Mulqueeny of KZN Wildlife was at Umtamvuna Nature reserve for a meeting recently, he asked if we could assist one of their interns tasked with undertaking a weed survey at Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve. Since a visit to this reserve was overdue we made arrangements with the intern, Shannon Herd-Hoare, to meet there and thus kill two birds with one stone. Shannon requested that we visit two of the blocks she had marked so we could identify any invasive alien species present. Of course we would record all species seen as is our normal practice. We had not explored either of the blocks selected by Shannon so it was new terrain to all of us.

We first stopped on a 4x4 track and noted many Pseudarthria hookerii starting to flower. We were then delighted to see a large colonoy of the yet-to-be-described Indigofera gogosa, a plant worthy of horticultural attention. Amongst these we found Habenaria filicornis with its green flowers blending into the grass. Heliophila rigidiscula presented its delicate pink flowers above the grass and Hewittia malabarica showed a single yellow flower in the forest undergrowth.

On the fringe of an adjacent small forest patch we found Dalechampia capensis and a nearby Grewia lasiocarpa in flower. While Shannon had managed to identify some of the more common invasive species such as Chromolaena odorata and Lantana camara, we were able to point out several that she had not seen before like Passiflora suberosum and Ambrosia artemissifolia. Fortunately it seems that the open grasslands are largely free of invasive alien species but where they are present, they seem to be concentrated on the fringes of the small forest patches.

Pseudarthria hookerii

Indigofera gogosa (ined)

Dalechampia capensis

Grewia lasiocarpa

Habenaria filicornis

Heliophila rigidiscula

Hewittia malabarica

Another interesting plant found in the forest patch was a budding Putterlickia verucosa, still sporting some of last season's fruits, and Turraea floribunda in fruit.

We set off along another track to inspect the fringe of a different forest patch. Along the track we found Lantana rugosa bearing flowers and fruit. Scattered around were many Syncolostemon parviflorus and a few Teucrium kraussii. We also found one Thunbergia natalensis still in flower, the flower being somewhat hidden amongst its own leaves.

Putterlickia verucosa

Turraea floribunda fruit

Lantana rugosa

Syncolostemon parviflorus

Teucrium kraussii

Thunbergia natalensis

Back at the vehicles, I noticed a flowering plant near a granite outcrop and on inspection, this turned out to be another of the critically endangered Riocreuxia flanaganii var. alexandrina; we have previously found other individuals of this species at Vernon Crookes.

Riocreuxia flanaganii var. alexandrina

By this stage it had started to rain so we went down to the hutted camp and had lunch in the dining area under shelter. With drizzle still coming down we drove to the second of Shannon's plots and started wading through the long, wet grass. This area was similar in degree of infestation by IAPs but we found a flowering Dioscorea sylvatica. Then Shannon and Anne found an unusual plant - we were delighted when this was subsequently identified as an Endangered Brachystelma gerrardii.

Having given Shannon and her colleague Akeel a basic grounding in the invasive species seen during our visit, we left them with the offer to try to do further identifications from photos should they need assistance.