Braced in rain gear we
set off from Beacon Hill making our way to a forested gully. In lovely
fresh air we paced ourselves and so see if the Eulopia horsfallii that
stands head high was flowering. The leaves were coming up and Eulophia
streptopetala was found instead. Walking down the brush-cut path
before walking through thick grass Anne discovered the Pachycarpus
linearis which was later identified with great excitement. It
had had a narrow escape with the brush-cutter. This was a species that we
were to look out for. We found our endemic Eriosema umtamvunense and our breath stopped as we admired the little Merwilla
plumbea that flowered in a rock crevice with rain drops dripping off
their heads. Trumper hornbill's cried and baboon's played havoc on the
rocks in their search for grubs.
We had reached the edge
and decided to venture into the forested gully, it was wet and slippery and
orchids grew on branches way up high, the weight of wet heavy branches had made
some fall onto the forest floor. Protorhus longifolia looked
like exclamation marks, quite beautiful in their various shades of drying
colours. Streptocarpus haygarthii were in their
perfectly protected wet environment with a cascading water flowing over huge
boulders.
Anne, Tracy and Alf
tackled the invasive Chromolaena odorata with all their
might which didn't make one want to eat one's lunch. They did an amazing
job of pulling them out roots and all.
We gently meandered back
having, it was once again a lovely day and always good to be in nature and
seeing what's flowering in the reserve.
No comments:
Post a Comment