Christmas
was in the air and there were lots of flowers everywhere. Wishes were granted and in great Christmas spirit we met
armed with cameras, magnifying glasses and bathing costumes. It was hot and humid and Cascades seemed the
ideal place to botanise as well as cool off in the clearest and cleanest of
waters where ground water pooled high up in Western Heights and ran into these
beautiful pools and into the gorge below. Protea roupelliae dipped its heavy boughs above cool waters.
 |
Protea roupelliae |
 | |||||||||||||
Cascades This
was Debbie's favourite spot and as she's a teacher she doesn't have the
opportunity to botanise with us as frequently as she'd like to unless it's a
school holiday. She and her husband have a farm near the Umtamvuna NR and are keenly interested in getting to know more about the fauna and flora in her area. Her delight is infectious when she knows that
were going swimming and like a Labrador puppy she dips into pools wherever
possible joyfully.    Dorothy's family had
travelled up from Gauteng to spend the Christmas holidays with her and her
husband Dan and with little children in tow they gathered down with Dorothy
leading the way to show them this gem of a spot in which to swim. I had
not seen the water level so high as the rocks are normally exposed. How wonderful
to see the water cascading down and the riverine lush. In the grasslands we came across Satyrium trinerve, Satyrium sphaerocarpum, Satyrium longicauda, Dipcadi marlothii, Sisyranthus virgatus.
Along the waters edge we saw Schizochilus zeyheri and Xyris capensis. As we walk past the Ochna and various trees one is always amazed in observing the dried grass mimicking unruly hair that's wildly wrapped around tree trunks, indicating the water level in flooded areas.
|
 |
Sisyranthus virgatus |
 |
Dipcadi marlothii |
 |
Streptocarpus sp |
 |
Hypoxis angustifolia |
 |
Maytenus cordata - Milky Silky-bark (makes threads when pulling the leaf). |
 |
Submerged rocks flowing into Cascades. |
 |
Anne taking a peek at what's growing on the rock surface. |
 | ||
|
 |
Syncolostemon rotundifolius |
 |
Smilax anceps flowers |
 |
Indigofera natalensis |
 |
Memecylon bachmanni - Pondo Rose Apple |
 |
Stangeria eriopus |
 |
| Back: Natalie, Trevor, Connor and Anabelle & Dorothy McIntyre, Anne Skelton, Debbie King and Gail Bowers-Winters |
No comments:
Post a Comment