With the reserves still not open to the public, this week we arranged to walk along the cliffs overlooking the Umzimkulu river at Oribi flats. As we drove the last short distance along a barely visible track across the grassland, we could see many Cape Vultures on the ground sunning themselves and we had a good sighting of three Oribi as they ran off.
We reached the edge of the cliffs and parked. As we climbed out of the vehicles the vultures took off and circled around to see what we were doing.
Despite the dry conditions there were several species flowering amongst the dry grass. We saw Agathosma ovata, Osteospermum imbricatum and a solitary Gladiolus inandensis. Tucked up against the ground was a single Indigofera rubroglandulosa - usually one of our harbingers of spring.
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| Osteospermum imbricatum |
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| Gladiolus inandensis |
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| Indigofera rubroglandulosa |
At the cliff edge we found a tangle of the leafless
Cynanchum gerrardii in flower and a little further along was
Capparis fascicularis var fascicularis also sporting several flowers. On a rock plate we found
Delospermum subpetiolatum flowers protruding from some very desiccated-looking leaves. This was very much a
Crassula habitat as we quickly found
Crassula perfoliata, Crassula obovata var dregeana, Crassula perforata, Crassula cultrata and hiding under the cliffside shrubs there were clusters of delicate
Crassula cordata. Another fleshy succulent under the shrubs was
Delosperma tradescantioides and this was accompanied by
Haemanthus albiflos, Huernia hystrix subsp parvula and
Kalanchoe rotundifolia.
Hanging off the cliff face was an Olea capensis subsp enervis covered in white inflorescences and there were several Pterocelastrus echinatus in flower too.
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| Olea capensis subsp enervis |
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| Pterocelastrus echinatus |
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| Crassula cultrata |
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| Crassula cordata |
We came across a very impressive cluster of
Cotyledon velutina growing on top of a large rock and just below us growing up the cliff face was a large
Euphorbia ingens. At this stage the vultures returned to give us an eye-level fly-past. It is always a great thrill to see these huge birds soaring past with hardly any wing movement.
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| Cotyledon velutina |
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| Euphorbia ingens |
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| Under the watchful eye of a Cape Vulture |
We reached a broad, forested fissure in the cliffs where red-leafed
Combretum kraussii made splashes of colour in the canopy. We found our way under the trees and stopped for lunch. There was an easy animal track into the forest so we scrambled down to investigate. We were gratified to find some orchids either in bud or flowering: there were
Angraecum pusillum, Mystacidium pusillum and an unusual
Mystacidium venosum with a single flower. Earlier we had also found
Polystachya pubescens with a bud and in this section of forest were many clusters of dormant
Polystachya modesta. There were several, very obvious, tubers of
Petopentia natalensis perched in the leaf litter.
Back out of the forest the wind had picked up but we pushed on, finding Mystroxylon aethiopicum in flower, Tetradenia riparia shrubs with sprays of pale lilac flowers, Senecio helminthoides and Dicliptera cernua. We pressed on out into the full might of a strong wind, seeing some impressive vistas and finding a lonely Anacampseros rufescens flower emerging from some very dry looking leaves.
We turned back to the vehicles to get out of the cold wind. Driving home down into the Umzimkulwana gorge, we stopped along the roadside to look at a few
Coccinia hirsuta fruits hanging in a dry shrub and on the opposite side of the road there were a few very large
Crassula ovata trees.
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| Mystroxylon aethiopicum |
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| Tetradenia riparia |
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| Senecio helminthoides |
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| Dicliptera cernua |
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| The view up the Umzimkulu River valley |
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| Anacampseros rufescens |
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| Coccinia hirsuta |
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| Crassula ovata |
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| Crassula ovata |
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| Masked up and socially distanced as required |
Participants: Alf H, Dorothy M, Gail B-W, Graham G, Kate G, Mark G, Tracy T.
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