With permissions in place, we met at Broadmoor and after gaining access we drove through a Macadamia nut farm that was in flower and parked just a little further into the reserve through the gates that takes one to Smedmore and Cubica Heights.
We went in search of Hesperantha mtamvunae, a Pondoland endemic, having discovered it a few years back with Kate and Graham we decided to try and find it again as it would be flowering now. It had been growing at the bottom along the grassland edge of the cliff forest margin but today was not our lucky day in finding it as it was not showing it's delicate and pretty flowers.
Simon like in The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton disappeared into the forest and magically retuned with "takkies" at the very end where he and Dorothy sat happily on a rock identifying all that he had found.
Anne with beady eyes had miraculously found a colony of Disperis wooddii growing on the slopes of a damp grassland. We counted six and then found another two towards the end along the same gradient before we meandered back up around the gorge. This orchid is so small that to truly appreciate it one needs a magnifying glass. If only we had eyes like a strong magnifying glass at all times, we would see the world differently. The leaves were maroon underneath and the head of the flower lilac. It could have been so easy not to have seen this tiny orchid shyly growing in the grass. Well-done Anne for spotting this vulnerable orchid which is under threat because of loss of habit to development and Sugarcane or Macadamia nut farmers.
The Agathosma ovata were in full show and their flowers so pretty that even a bride could carry them as a posy. Buzzards flew in the valley below and the cattle could be heard from the hillside of the Transkei.
Gail had an exact size of an Herbarium map printed out in vinyl after an ancient map had been found in the Beacon Hill Herbarium which the late Hugh Nicholson must have drawn up showing all the places that he and Tony Abbott must have explored with plant enthusiasts. C.R.E.W. had given it to Maggie Abbott on her 80th birthday. At the end of the walk, Gail unrolled the map and to everyone's delight took a look and saw where we were on the map on the day, we botanized at Braemar.
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 Disperis woodii Monocotyledons ORCHIDACEAE Vulnerable B2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v) Photo credit: Dorothy |
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| Dorothy observing the Dispris. |
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| An exciting find! |
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| 2 leaves, sub-opposite near the base. |
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| Grassland habitat where Dispris woodii is found. |
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| Uschi and Tracy having a look. |
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| Heading out from the vehicle's to see what is flowering now. |
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| Dorothy, Uschi and Anne inspecting the Pittosporum viridiflorum growing stunted on the rocks. |
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| Anne and C.R.E.W. coming out from the forest edge into the grassland area. We are looking for Hesperatnha mtumvunae, an endemic to Pondoland. |
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| Searching for Hesperantha mtamvunae Photo credit: Graham Grieve |
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| Erianthemum dregei Mistletoe LORANTHACEAE Photo credit: Tracy |
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| Trichocladus ellipticus subsp. ellipticus White Witch-hazel HAMAMELIDACEAE Photo credit: Tracy |
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| Trichocladus ellipticus subsp. ellipticus White Witch-hazel HAMAMELIDACEAE Photo credit: Tracy |
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| Hybanthus enneaspermus VIOLACEAE Photo credit: Tracy |
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| Gerrardina foliosa Krantz-berry ACHARIACEAE Photo credit: Tracy |
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| Gerrardina foliosa Krantz-berry ACHARIACEAE |
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| Gnidia woodii THYMELAEACEAE Photo credit: Tracy |
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| Gnidia woodii THYMELAEACEAE |
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| Lasiosiphon anthylloides THYMELAEACEAE Photo credit: Tracy |
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| Lasiosiphon anthylloides THYMELAEACEAE |
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| Moraea elliotii IRIDACEAE |
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| Moraea elliotii IRIDACEAE |
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| Moraea elliotii IRIDACEAE Dorothy pointing out it's long blade leaf. |
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| Lotononis meyeri FABACEAE |
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| Agathosma ovata False Buchu RUTACEAE |
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| Agathosma ovata False Buchu RUTACEAE |
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| Tenrhynea phylicifolia ASTERACEAE |
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| Tenrhynea phylicifolia ASTERACEAE |
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| Mtamvuna River |
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| Alf |
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| Exochaenium sp. nov GENTIANACEAE |
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| Selago tarachodes leaves SCROPHULARIACEAE |
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| Psoralea arborea (Psoralea latifolia) Mountain Fountain-bush FABACEAE |
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| Psoralea arborea (Psoralea latifolia) Mountain Fountain-bush FABACEAE |
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| Tracy admiring the forest below. |
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| Indigofera herrstreyi var. helodes FABACEAE |
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| Indigofera herrstreyi var. helodes FABACEAE |
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| Indigofera herrstreyi var. helodes FABACEAE |
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| Gnidia coriacea THYMELAEACEAE |
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| Gnidia coriacea THYMELAEACEAE |
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| Oldenlandia tenella RUBIACEAE |
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| Hypoestes forskaolii ACANTHACEAE |
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| Hypoestes forskaolii ACANTHACEAE |
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| Dorothy and Gail |
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| Pittosporum viridiflorum Cheesewood PITTOSPORACEAE The leaves have a wavy margin and when looking through a magnifying glass it has 3 viens inside of the petiole. When crushing the leaves it has a resinous smell and the bark smells of liquorice, bitter-tasting and used medicnally. |
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| Aspalathus chortophila Tea Bush FABACEAE |
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| Aspalathus chortophila Tea Bush FABACEAE |
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| Zaluzianskya angustifolia SCROPHULARIACEAE |
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| Zaluzianskya angustifolia SCROPHULARIACEAE These flowers only open up in the late afternoon sun otherwise tightly closed hence the name after it looks like Zulu drum-stricks. |
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| Uschi and Dorothy meandering back to the vehicles. |
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| Simon taking a look at the edges of the Maytenus undata leaf. |
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| Allocassine laurifolia Bay-leaved Saffron CELASTRACEAE |
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| Dorothy and Simon going through all the "Takkies" he brought back from the forest. |
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| A map of the reserve and Tracy is pin-pointing where we were. |
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| Our area we botanised at Braemar. |
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| Pondoland C.R.E.W. with the map. Simon Hicks, Anne Skelton, Uschi Teicher, Alf Hayter, Maggie Abbott, Tracy Taylor, Gail Bowers-Winters and Dorothy McIntyre. Special thanks to all our teachers who made the ID's possible. "At the end of day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling." - Shanti |
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