Having first checked that our destination, the Cubica Heights area, was not scheduled for firebreak burning, we set off and for safety, parked in the farmland adjacent to the reserve boundary. Today, in cotrast to our usual habit at this location, we set off westwards down towards the stream dividing this grassland from the Smedmore grasslands. Across the gorge we could see the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve fire team busy doing firebreaks in block 10.
On the way down we saw Buchnera dura and Cephalaria oblongifolia in flower as well as Searsia pondoensis with a terminal cluster of fruits.
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| Buchnera dura |
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| Firebreak burning in operation |
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| Cephalaria oblongifolia |
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| Searsia pondoensis fruits |
At a rock outcrop just before the forest alongside the stream we found one
Dianthus mooiensis, Gerradina foliosa covered in flowers and a neat cluster of small
Crassula nudicaulis.
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| Dianthus mooiensis |
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| Crassula nudicaulis |
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| Gerrardina foliosa |
Walking along the forest edge we found
Allophylus dregeana in fruit. In the cleared trace line in the adjacent grassland there were a few
Pentanisia prunelloides. Following the forest margin further along,we found the plant we were hoping would be flowering on this outing:
Hesperantha sp. aff. grandiflora, an as yet unpublished species. Over the course of the day we found several sub-populations of this species - so far only known from this and the adjacent Smedmore grasslands. In all today, we probably saw at least 100 of these plants flowering on the Cubica Heights grasslands. One had a white crab spider lurking in wait on the flower.
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| Allophyllus dregeana fruits |
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| Pentanisia prunelloides with butterfly visitor |
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| Hesperantha sp. aff grandiflora |
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| Hesperantha sp. aff grandiflora with crab spider in readiness |
Further along the forest edge we came across several
Neocussonia umbellifera (the new name for
Schefflera umbellifera) with ripening fruits, much appreciated by a large flock of Red-wing Starlings. From here we had a good view down into the Umtamvuna river gorge.
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| Neocussonia (Shefflera) umbellifera |
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| Umtamvuna River gorge |
We reached the entrance to the Outeniqua Trail and walked some distance down until we found a suitable set of rocks on which to perch for lunch. We found ourselves sitting under a fairly large Podocarpus falcatus and the understory was filled with Buxus natalensis, Garcinia gerrardii, Ochna arborea and Clutia abyssinica var nov. On the way back out of the forest we came across a single splendid example of Holothrix orthoceras in flower.
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| Clutia abyssinica var. nov. fruit |
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| Holothrix orthoceras |
Participants: Alf H, Anne S, Debbie K, Gail B-W, Graham G, Kate G, Jean V, Mark G, Tracy T.
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