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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Looking seaward along the Lupatana River |
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| Oldenlandia rosulata |
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| Morella serrata |
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| 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
.
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| Polygala gazensis |
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| Aspalathus gerrardii |
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| Lotononis meyerii |
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| 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.
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| Lobelia alata |
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| Carpobrotus dimidiatus |
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| Delosperma vinaceum |
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| Grewia pondoensis |
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| 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.
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| Kniphofia drepanophylla |
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| 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.
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| Rhipsalis baccifera |
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| Samolus porosus |
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| Tephrosia grandiflora |
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| Basananthe sandersonii |
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| Cucumis hirsutus |
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| 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.
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| Mkweni River estuary |
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| Hibiscus tiliaceus |
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| Mkweni estuary from upstream |
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| 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.
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| Leucadendron pondoensis |
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| Syzygium pondoensis and Pseudoscolopia polyantha |
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| 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.
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| Mkweni River gorge |
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| Mkweni River cascade |
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| Eriosema latifolium |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Streptocarpus sp. |
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| Heading to the top of the Lupatana River gorge |
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| A waterfall on a tributary to the Lupatana River |
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| 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.
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