Clearwaters - Umtumvunae - 23 September 2021

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It was a beastly day weather wise.  The wind howled and we decided to try and find shelter in a forest.   Our tribe had been thinned out this Thursday and with the howling wind we decided to find refuge in a forest.  We had decided on a route and that was to see the if the Clivia's were in flower.  

Paying tribute to the great Tony Abbott who had passed away on the 22 September many years ago this was both a special place for both Tony and our dear Maggie and we decided to pay our respects there. 

Clivia miniata var. miniata

The grasslands were full of beautiful flowers, Senecio’s and Helichrysum’s, Ocinum’s, Callilepis, Merwilla’s and  Berkeya’s and all waved in the wind mingling as one.

A field of wild indigenous flowers

We meandered along the Umtumvuna’s reserve edge from Clearwater and then dipped into the forest to escape the wind.  

Inspecting the edges of this gorge.

 

How on a day with relentless winds the wind can become un-unnoticed when following one’s passion.

 

Thunbergia atriplicifolia 

Callilepis laureola

Helichrysum pallidum

 

Merwilla plumbea

Psychotria capensis

Diospyros scabrida

Maggie, Alf and Tracy inspecting the deceased remains of a rodent.

A little grave-yard

Passed on.

Afroaster serrulatus 

Hypoxis angustifolia 

Hypoxis filiformis

A Christmas beetle on Tracy's hat!  Christmas is coming.

Bottomnizing.

Linum thunbergii 

Argyrolobium tuberosum 

Argyrolobium tuberosum  

Raphionacme galpinii 

Raphionacme galpinii 

Drosera natalensis

How beautiful the giant trees were and the dried leaves which had made a carpet on the forest floor.  It was a Shongololo day and insects were on mass.

The Clivia's were spectacular with their fiery orange.  Trumpeter hornbills cried like Siamese cats and the Olive sunbird called along with the African Golden Oriole. The wind could be heard in the rustle of leaves above,  and below the sounds of the river bubbling over boulders.  The rocks so large that one felt dwarfed walking between them.

A flush of green leaves in a beautiful forest.

Even trees can make promises.

An amphitheater of Clivia miniata var. miniata's

Tribe Phromniini - A member of Planthoppers Superfamily Fulgoroidea

Tracy showing us the next stage of the Planthopper.

Stenoglottis fimbriata subsp. fimbriata

Maggie, Tracy and Alf

Psilotum nudum

Homalium dentatum

Homalium dentatum- Brown Ironwood

Our little tribe.

Cassipourea malosana - Ironwood

A tree-hugger - Tracy

Maggie.  Lunch time amongst the clivia's.

Clivia miniata var. miniata

As we meandered hotly back up the hill with the wind reminding us that it was still with us we admired the Lydenburgia abbottii and Calodendrum capensis in flower which had expelled it's seed looking like kudu droppings.   To think of the beauty that lies within this black seed.  It's quite magical.

Lydenburgia abbottii

Calodendrum capense

Our thoughts went to Dorothy as we knew she would have loved to have been with us but was in hospital recovering from a painful shoulder operation.  This great woman has so much life in her and she's been a pivotal teacher.  We wish her well and may she heal quickly so that she can put on that heavy back-pack and botanize again.

Gail, Maggie, Tracy and Alf
Pondoland C.R.E.W.

"Men do not mirror themselves in running water, they mirror themselves in still water. Only

what is still can still the stillness of other things."

                                                                                  -Zhuangzi.

Please note that errors may occur in the learning process of identification.