Sunday 27 October 2019

Another visit to our Oribi Flats grassland study site (Thursday 24 October 2019)

Having checked on the flowering status of a grassland study site we have been monitoring for several years, we headed to the Oribi Flats area, passing through the Oribi Gorge Nature reserve on the way. After checking in with the farm owners, we drove to the grassland and started enjoying the spectacle in front of us. The grassland here has been divided into two blocks that are burned alternately in a two-year cycle.

Floral splendour on this year's burn - last year's burn in the background.
We set off on foot, with something different at almost every step. Acalypha depressinerva and Acalypha glandulifera abounded. We were pleased to see Callilepis leptophylla, a species far less common here than Callilepis laureola. We found Cucumis hirsutus, Eriosema cf preptum and Dolichos falciformis.

Acalypha depressinerva

Acalypha glandulifera

Callilepis leptophylla

Cucumis hirsutus

Dolichos falciformis

Eriosema cf preptum

Eugenia albens was well represented, with the first flowers showing and the Euphorbia natalensis were looking very robust. There were also numbers of the more delicate Euphorbia striata. Helichrysum were very showy - we saw H. innornatum, H. nudifolium var oxyphyllum and large swathes of H. pannosum.

Eugenia albens

Euphorbia natalensis

Euphorbia striata

Helichrysum cf inornatum

Helichrysum nudifolium var oxyphyllum

Helichrysum pannosum
Bright blue flowers of Rotheca hirsuta caught the eye. We also saw Hibiscus aethiopicus and H. pusillus flowering near each other.

Rotheca hirsuta

Hibiscus aethiopicus

Hibiscus pusillus

We found some very pubescent Hypoxis multiceps. Nearby were a few Ledebouria ovatfolia, some sprawled Indigofera grata and one or two Pachycarpus concolor.


Hypoxis multiceps

Indigofera grata

Ledebouria ovatifolia

Pachycarpus concolor
We found a very determined but small, Pelargonium alchemilloides, some stately buds on Pelargonium luridum and a few Rumex dregeana displaying their red fruits. In a dry watercourse we found patches of bright Monopsis decipiens and a single Ipomoea simplex growing in a track.


Pelargonium alchemilloides

Pelargonium luridum

Rumex dregeana

Monopsis decipiens

Ipomoea simplex
After recording what we could find on this patch, we set off towards the cliff edges above the Umzimkulu River where we sat and had lunch watching the Cape Vultures soaring past effortlessly. On the approach to the cliffs we saw Helichrysum acutatum, Heliophila rigidiuscula and Chrysocoma ciliata and overlooking the cliffs were Trema orientalis, Lycium acutifolia and numbers of Anacampseros rufescens, although none had open flowers at the time.

Heliophila rigidiuscula

Chrysocoma ciliata

Helichrysum acutatum

Trema orientalis

Lycium acutifolium

Gail living dangerously and tempting the vultures

On the way back to the vehicles we made a quick check of a population of Aspalathus abbottii - they seemed to be doing well - and passed a flowering Homalium rufescens.

Homalium rufescens
Heading homeward we paused at the picnic spot at the crossing of the Umzimkulwana River to do a survey of one of our CREW target species, Crinum moorei, along the trail here. We did not have to go far before we found several plants just off the track. Before getting there we were impressed with the numbers of Drimia uniflora growing on top of an exposed boulder. Following the track further we found a Phytolacca dodecandra in fruit, dangling from the forest trees while Samango monkeys barked their displeasure at our invading their territory.

A small forest of Drimia uniflora on the top of a rock

Tracy with a clump of Crinum moorei

Phytolacca dodecandra fruits

Back at the parking area we found Strychnos decussata, Pittosporum viridiforum and Turraea floribunda in flower.


Pittosporum viridiflorum

Strychnos decussata

Turraea floribunda

On the bank of the Umzimkulwana River with the cliffs of Oribi Gorge in the background

Participants: Alf H, Anne S, Dorothy M, Gail B-W, Graham G, Kate G, Mark G, Tracy T.

Lupatana and Mkweni River gorges (19 to 21 October 2019)

With a number of CREW target species on our wish list, we set off to Lupatana for a couple of days to see what we could find. We were accompanied on this occasion by Lize von Staden from SANBI (responsible for the Red Data List) and Anne and Dorothy had gone on ahead. Although Lupatana is only 60 km as the crow flies from our home base, the trip there takes over 4 hours, with much of that time spent on the rough track over the last 5 km. We started seeing Disa woodii flower spikes in damp areas once we reached the rough section.

Disa woodii
We arrived at the cottage, unpacked and then had lunch looking out at the sea, with waves thumping against the natural rock wall in front of the cottage. Dorothy and Anne arrived back from a walk up a tributary to the Lupatana River and once they had refreshed themselves we set off to look at the Lupatana River gorge.

Looking up the Lupatana River gorge

We crossed the river near the mouth and walked through the Drifter's camp onto the grassland and then headed up towards the narrowing gorge. We found Oldenlandia rosulata flowering in the long grass and Morella serrata in fruit. Seeing some flowering trees on the other bank, we crossed back to investigate and were very pleased to find a flowering specimen of what used to be Milletia sutherlandii, now renamed Philenoptera sutherlandii. On a narrow island in the middle of the stream Lize saw two of her target species for re-assessment, and measured out and recorded along a 50m transect.


Looking seaward along the Lupatana River

Oldenlandia rosulata 

Morella serrata

Philenoptera sutherlandii

In the forest shade we found several entanglements of Polygala gazensis. We crossed through this small forest patch and then headed up into the Lupatana gorge. We came upon a few small Aspalathus gerrardii and some difficult-to-reach Lotononis meyeri in flower. As it was starting to get late we turned back, detouring along the seafront where we found what we think is a Dasispermum species.

Polygala gazensis

Aspalathus gerrardii

Lotononis meyerii

Dasispermum sp.

The next morning we set off in bright sunshine, heading towards Goss Point and the Mkweni estuary. Along the route we saw Lobelia alata, Carpobrotus dimidiatus, Delosperma vinaceum, Grewia pondoensis and Helichrysum appendiculatum.

Lobelia alata

Carpobrotus dimidiatus

Delosperma vinaceum

Grewia pondoensis

Helichrysum appendiculatum

Then, noticing a number of flowers on a steep slope we went to investigate and were delighted to find the slope well populated with Kniphofia drepanophylla, interspersed with Cyrtanthus brachyscyphus and Satyrium longicauda. As the Kniphofia was another target species for Lize, she laid out her tape and recorded the plants along that line.

Kniphofia drepanophylla

Lize recording the K.drepanophyllas
On a nearby tumble of boulders, we found Rhipsalis baccifera in flower and close to the sea were several clusters of Samolus porosus. On the adjacent grassland we found some stunted and windswept Tephrosia grandiflora and a Cucumis hirsutus sprawled over the bare ground. There was a small cluster of Basananthe sandersonii and several Pelargonium pulverulentum. We also found a number of robust Euphorbia flanaganii growing in loose, sandy soil, a contrast to the normal rocky substrate where we have found them in the past.


Rhipsalis baccifera

Samolus porosus

Tephrosia grandiflora

Basananthe sandersonii

Cucumis hirsutus

Pelargonium pulverulentum
After winding our way through some patches of dune forest, we reached the Mkweni River estuary, and this proved to be an excellent place to swim and cool down. After eating our lunch in the shade of a large Hibiscus tiliaceus, we headed inland following the Mkweni River upstream.

Mkweni River estuary

Hibiscus tiliaceus


Mkweni estuary from upstream

Mkweni estuary from upstream

In the river basin we found several endemics: Leucadendron pondoensis, Syzygium pondoense and Pseudoscolopia polyantha growing together and beneath them were Gymnosporia bachmannii.


Leucadendron pondoensis

Syzygium pondoensis and Pseudoscolopia polyantha

Gymnosporia bachmannii
We followed the gorge for some distance, enjoying its rugged beauty.  With several kilometers to walk back to the cottage, reluctantly we had to turn back as the wind had gained strength and rain looked imminent. In the gorge we found Eriosema latifolium and Dyschoriste setigera.


Mkweni River gorge

Mkweni River cascade

Eriosema latifolium

Dyschoriste setigera
We staggered back in the teeth of the wind and driving rain, marvelling briefly at the colonies of Crassula and Delosperma eking out an existence on large boulders in the grassland. We were very glad to make it back to the shelter of the cottage and out of the gale-force wind.  There were impressive waves breaking on the rock shelf in front of the cottage. Between the cottage and the rock shelf is a wall of boulders up to the size of a car that have been dislodged from the shelf and deposited on the beach by more extreme weather in the past.

Waves breaking in front of the cottage - spray reaching about 20 meters high

The next morning we set off in strong wind and drizzle to scale the high promontory to the east of the Lupatana gorge. On a rock face near the top of the gorge we found a Streptocarpus in flower - we will need to check whether this is a recently-described species, Streptocarpus lilliputana, so far only recorded from the Lupatana gorge area.

Streptocarpus sp.

Heading to the top of the Lupatana River gorge

A waterfall on a tributary to the Lupatana River

Waves breaking at Lupatana River mouth with the rooftops of Drifter's camp just visible on the left
From the top of the promontory we could look back to the estuary mouth and marvel at the height of the waves breaking against the rock shelf to the east. The height of the dune forest on the left is about 20 m above sea level and that provides a good scale to measure the splash height. And then all that was left for us to do was to pack and grind our way back up the rocky track towards home. On the way Anne made a brief stop to make a count of a colony of Leucospermum innovans near the side of the track.



Participants: Anne S, Dorothy M, Graham G, Lize v S, Kate G.