It was an
exciting day as we had not been to Western Heights for a very long time and
with the rural road that is not maintained it can be quite hairy to get stuck
in one of the dips with no-one around to tow another vehicle out. With the road being dry we arranged with Simon to use his vehicle as
back-up. Alf and Gail climbed into the back of the bakkie and we found ourselves as
youthful as children and happily with the breeze blowing through our hair, we
chattered merrily all the way and surprisingly we had no Eucalyptus trees to
drag off the road and with no hiccups we arrived at Western Heights full of
cheer.
We first explored the Protea Forest and meandered around all the rocks finding what grew there. Gail found Psoralea abbotii, the Vulnerable B1ab (I, ii, iii, iv, v) growing fragile in the grass. We came across two Erica’s in this area, Erica cubica and Erica aspalathifolia var. aspalathifolia which grew prolifically amongst the rocks. Sadly, we had missed this white Erica in its full magnificence flowering and had one to look at to confirm its colour. The Aloe arborescens were in full flower and quite the show stopper. Time was ticking and we drove on as our destination was The Iron Crown. We came across Erica cerinthoides. It’s not called the Fire heath for nothing. The coral-red colour is just too beautiful for words.
We sat on the rocks looking at the rolling hills on the Transkei side that looked velvety in the light and Simon had brought us desert! It was the honey comb that his bees had made which he shared amongst us and we savoured it. This was food for the Gods. Suddenly the wind picked up, it huffed and it puffed and blew some of us down into the forest’s edge where we were protected from the gale that blew. Simon pointed out the difference between the Strychnos mitis when holding up the leaf that has 3-5 veined from the base, compared to the identical leaf of the Memecylon bachmannii which margin rolls under. The Memecylon bachmannii is very similiar to Eugenia natalitia who's leaves have a secretory cavities. We saw these three tree's together and confusing was an understatement to a beginner.
On the rocky ledge Gail found the endangered Tephrosia pondoensis. (B1ab(iii,v); C2a(i) an endemic to the area and growing on the slopes was Eulophia parvilfora. The wind was so awful that when Gail, Simon
and Alf returned we found the rest of the group tucked up in the cars waiting
to go. We had had a feast of a day with
special plants in this pristine reserve and set off home.
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| Psoralea abbottii Pondo Fountain-bush FABACEAE Vulnerable B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v) |
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| Psoralea abbottii Pondo Fountain-bush FABACEAE Vulnerable B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v) |
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| Delosperma sp. |
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| Delosperma sp. |
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| Genus: Delosperma AIZOACEAE |
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| Eulophia parviflora ORCHIDACEAE |
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| Eulophia parviflora ORCHIDACEAE |
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| Clutia sp. nov EUPHORBIACEAE |
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| Clutia sp. nov EUPHORBIACEAE |
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| Clutia sp. nov EUPHORBIACEAE |
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| Athrixia phylicoides Bush tea ASTERACEAE |
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| Simon handing Alf his takkies to take back to Dorothy for ID's before dipping into the forest's edge. |
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| Senecio deltoideus Canary Creeper ASTERACEAE |
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| Searsia pondoensis Many-veined Currant ANACARDIACEAE |
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| Searsia pondoensis Many-veined Currant ANACARDIACEAE |
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| Alf on top of the koppie where the wind howled. |
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| Zanthoxylum davyi Forest Knobwood RUTACEAE |
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| Zanthoxylum davyi Forest Knobwood RUTACEAE |
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| Zanthoxylum davyi Forest Knobwood RUTACEAE |
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| Ekebergia capensis Cape Ash MELIACEAE |
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| Ficus ingens Red-leaved Rock Fig MORACEAE |
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| Psydrax obovata subsp. obovata Coastal Pioneer Quar RUBIACEAE |
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| Simon about to get blown off the rock. |
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| Debbie getting ready to fly with the vultures. |
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| The pet rock standing on it's perch wanting protecting its territory from the other side. |
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| Maggie walking in the gale. |
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| Wahlenbergia capillacea subsp. capillacea |
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CAMPANULACEAE |
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| Erica cerinthoides Fire Heath ERICACEAE |
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| C.R.E.W. looking at the beautiful Erica cerinthoides. |
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Blue Fluff-bush ASTERACEAE |
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| Lopholaena dregeana |
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| Exochaenium grande GENTIANACEAE |
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| The winding road leading to The Iron Crown. |
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Phymaspermum acerosum GeelblombosASTERACEAE |
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| Aloe arborescens Kranz Aloe ASPHODELACEAE |
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| Anne waiting for all her students to re-group before heading on. |
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| Dorothy always patient and willing to help with ID's. |
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| Moss growing between the rocks. |
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Carissa bispinosa var. bispinosaForest Num-NumAPOCYNACEAE |
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| Helichrysum populifolium ASTERACEAE |
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| Erica aspalathifolia var. aspalathifolia |
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ERICACEAE |
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| Oldenlandia tenella RUBIACEAE |
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| Gerbera ambigua ASTERACEAE |
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| Crassula pellucida subsp. brachypetala CRASSULACEAE |
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| Crassula pellucida subsp. brachypetala CRASSULACEAE |
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| Bulbine latifolia Water Glass ASPHODELACEAE |
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| The tiny little flower that's caused some confusion as to what it is. It's possibly a Jamesbrittenia sp. |
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| Euryops leiocarpus ASTERACEAE |
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| Diospyros scabrida var. scabrida |
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| Maesa lanceolata False Assegai MAESACEAE |
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| Maesa lanceolata False Assegai MAESACEAE
|
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Alepidea peduncularis leavesAPIACEAE |
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Alepidea peduncularis leavesAPIACEAE |
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| Aspalathus chortophila |
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| Maggie taking notes and Dorothy our teacher with a memory like an elephant. |
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| Cineraria albicans ASTERACEAE |
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| Cineraria albicans ASTERACEAE |
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| Alf with an eagle view looking down into the valley below. |
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| Places to explore |
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| Simon descending and going to explore the other side way down below. |
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| Erica cubica ERICACEAE |
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| Exochaenium grande GENTIANACEAE |
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| Exochaenium sp. nov GENTIANACEAE |
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| Inulanthera leucoclada ASTERACEAE |
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| Inulanthera leucoclada ASTERACEAE |
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| Lotononis eriocarpa FABACEAE |
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| Lotononis eriocarpa FABACEAE |
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Alepidea peduncularis APIACEAE.JPG) Memecylon bachmannii Pondo Rose-apple MEMECYLACEAE
 Forest Myrtle MYRTACEAE |
.JPG)
 Pondoland C.R.E.W. |
| Gail Bowers-Winters, Simon Hicks, Maggie Abbott, Dorothy McIntyre, Debbie King, Alf Hayter, Anne Skelton and Tracy Taylor. |
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