Custondians of Rare and Endagnered Wildflowers (CREW) volunteers had met with MSB Seed collectors, Sibahle, Fergy, Naomi and Ntsakisi, KZN National Botanical Garden HORT Mpho, and Pretora NBG Groundsman Noki, as well as PHD student Lloyd to join us on this day of recording the plants we saw at Rossmin. This is a piece of land that was offered as an offset to the granting of the mine authorisation. An adjoining farm had put in an application to mine which posed as an extra threat to this area and so in good spirit we set out to explore.
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| Road to Rossmin |
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| Volunteers and students and researchers |
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| Field researchers |
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Field researchers
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Rossmin had recently burnt various areas of the grassland and it was an ideal time to visit in the turn of the season and see what was in flower and what seed could be collected.
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| Eulophia clitellifera |
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Eulophia clitellifera |
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Eulophia hians subsp. inequalis
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| Bulbine capitata |
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Gazania krebsiana
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The weather was quite
unpredictable and feeling quite nippy in the morning one dressed perhaps a
little too warmly and one wasn't sure if it was going to be windy or rainy and,
in the end, it turned out to be a sweltering day especially when climbing up steep
hill's and one wished one had carried more water but the ice in the flask was
quenching and welcoming.
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| Afroaster hispidus |
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| Afroaster hispidus |
We headed up the hill along the road that we had driven down and the Erythrina lysistemon was showing its magnificent petal in red. The Grewia looked as if it were covered in beautiful blossoms and rather oriental in its display.
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Erythrina lysistemon
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An old Vachellia robusta had every branch draped in white flowers as if were getting married. An odd Scadoxus flowered and then as we meandered up the hill one's eye's again fell upon an Aspargus densely packed with minute flowers and giving off the most heavenly scent. One stood around the plant in display admiring its beauty and the structure of the flowers.
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| Vachellia robusta |
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Scadoxus puniceus
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| Asparagus macowanii |
The Hypoxis were on
show. How hairy some were and how densely packed were others with bee's
busily inspecting each flower and going about their business not worried about
all the people looking down at them. Our eyes caught the pop of a soft orange that delicately came
from the Trintonia's and the Gerbera's were en-mass showing our Cape
flowers that they could be equally as impressive as the flowers in
Namaqualand.
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| Hypoxis filliformis |
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Hypoxis filliformis
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Gerbera ambigua (please check)
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As we edged up the hill
and into the forest section, we came across Watsonia seed and the Gymnosporia
was heavily ladened with seed. Dorothy had stayed back with our
collectors and researchers and showed them the miniscule red flowers that where
on the Gymnosporia rubra. One could so easily overlook
it but not to her trained eagle eye. The group stayed in the forest for a
long time while others meandered out and down the rocky terrain which was full
of different flowers to the hill they had just explored.
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| Psycotria capensis |
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| Dorothy assisting in the identification of tree's and pointing out the tiny flowers that were growing on Gymnosporia rubra |
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Gymnosporia rubra
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Here the whisp of the
Tulbaghia acutioba grew unobtrusively. Senecio's brightly waved in
the grass and one Kniphofia coddiana was showing its scruffy little head before
setting to seed. Some Boophone had sadly not survived the fire but others
were peeking out their leaves, others had set seed whilst some flowered away
like pom-poms on the ground.
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| Tulbaghia acutiloba |
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Tulbaghia acutiloba
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Boophone disticha
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We settled down on on
rocks to eat our packed lunches looking at the vast expansion of the quarry engulfing
the land, the stone as white as clouds and all that we looked upon destroyed in
its blasts.
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Tracy and Buyi
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Once we had settled the grumbly tummies some ventured down the steep embankments to places seldom explored as the climb up is quite taxing and Rossmin can deliver the heat. Lasiosiphon anthylloides intense yellow hue could be seen from far which looked like the evening star when the moon is rising in the sky. There was great excitement when coming across an Otholobium and the sight of the unusual looking Trochomeria hookeri left us wondering what we were gazing upon as it had taken on the resemblance of a granadilla. Notobubon's stood head high on the edge and sadly our eyes came upon a Stangeria erioupus which leaves had been left and seeds lying on the earth on which it was stolen. A freshly debarked Rapanea melaophloes stood naked and exposed. With fresh cow dung and buzzing fly’s, we had just arrived after this incident which always leaves one unsettled. It was getting late and as much as we wanted to go further, we had left many at the top who still had a long way to travel and our slow climb began.
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| Decent |
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Lasiosiphon anthylloides
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Otholobium sp.
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The Gymnosporia's were
beautiful and delicate in the show of little flowers and the grass ruffled as
snake tried to hide and so we didn't step in to inspect the branch that
was full. A Bonatea fat with little people fully flowered and we were
lucky to have spotted it. What a delight this orchid is to gaze
upon. Ocinum obovatum grew amongst the rocks and again we came across yet
another Gymonsporia pregnant with seed.
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| Bonatea porrecta |
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| Ocinum obovata |
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| Eriosema cordatum |
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| Gymnosporia buxifolia |
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Gymnosporia sp.
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| Pentanisia prunelloides |
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| Linum thunbergii |
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| Gladiolus longicollis awakening. |
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| Scabiosa columbaria |
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| Scabiosa columbaria |
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| Scabiosa columbaria |
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| Spring's flush of new leaves on a fig. |
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| Gail, Simon, Dorothy, Tracy, Maggie, Anne, Alf and Buyi |
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