We had been alerted to a find of Brownleea parviflora at Beacon Hill and as most of the group had not seen this species before, we elected to see if we could find them nearly nine days after the initial report. In light drizzle we set off and it was soon obvious that we would be getting wet feet as the grass was very wet still from overnight rain. After first walking past the Brownleea population we doubled back and then found them. They are very unobtrusive plants as the flowers lack the typical white of the normal Brownleea parviflora.
We kept on walking on the path until Kate and I branched off to check on the Cineraria dryogeton (VU) population at the forest edge on the way down to the base of Ingrid's Falls. We were able to find several plants in flower before returning to catch up to the group. The falls were flowing quite strongly after the previous night's rain.
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| Brownleea parviflora |
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| Cineraria dryogeton |
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| Ingrid's Falls |
Walking across the grassland we found
Brunsvigia natalensis with the first few flowers open. Nearby was a bicoloured
Pelargonium luridum.
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| Brunsvigia natalensis |
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| Pelargonium luridum |
We kept going up the hill to the Blencathra gate where we saw several
Kniphofia angustifolia. We then followed the path down to where it descends into the gorge. Exposed at the gorge edge was a flowering
Faurea macnaughtonii as well as
Clutia pulchra. Climbing into another shrub was
Ceropegia linearis with many small flowers.
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| Kniphofia angustifolia |
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| Faurea macnaughtonii |
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| Clutia pulchra |
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| Ceropegia linearis |
We headed back to have lunch at the top of Ingrid's Falls, watching baboons sporting in the grassland below us. On the way back to the office we found an unusual white-flowered form of
Indigofera herrstreyi.
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| Mother and child on the rocks below us |
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| Indigofera herrstreyi (ined.) |
Participants: Anne S, Barbara A, Dorothy M, Gail B-W, Graham G, Kate G, Mark G, Tracy T.
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