Clearwater Dam - Forest 19 January 2023

The quickest way to escape the sun, which was relentless, was to go from Maggie's dam at Clearwater and get straight into the forest.  The earth was scorching and even though hats were on heads, one didn't want to mess about with the heat.  With dust billowing in the air, we weaved between Macadamia trees and left our cars to bake in the sun.  Through an open rickety gate, we passed with a brief conversation about a roaming goat escapee and followed the path that led us into the forest.  Even though the sunlight was dappled we found ourselves on idle because once we had seen one leaf or a flower we were so captivated that the world that we knew dissolved and all was good.  

Although we had gone down this trail before, we had never not appreciated all that grew on these rocks and leaves were turned this way and that, every hair, elbow, gland dot and serration observed.  Lenses were taken out and if there's ever scrutiny it lay in the observation of the plant.  How wonderful it is to marvel nature and appreciate everything.  Be it the butterfly that dances and skips above the Cassipourea gummiflua var verticilliatus  and the bee that pollinates the Justicia campylostemon to give us honey.  No flower is too small not to be seen and if it is tiny its magnified by loupes which the naked eye cannot pick-up.  We have eagle eyes everywhere...

There's peace in the forest.  The group divides and then coalesces again.  Distant noises are heard and we respond, "Is everything OK?" after a broken branch is heard or a swear word escapes where one's hands are found covering one's ears.  Everyone is alive.  Exciting things such as the Ochna Pondo are being discovered, thank you to Simon’s sharp eyes in the forest.  This is an important group discovering species that are still being described or things that have not been seen in years.  Each week the passion and the knowledge deepens.  Our teachers are appreciated and vital.

How lovely is it to picnic- to take one's simple food out and eat it quietly beneath the canopy of trees, to have a waterfall nearby to stand under and to sit on cool hard rocks which are comfortable and to hear the chitter-chatter of CREW discussing what they've seen.  The samples are taken and laid out, the books opened, discussions had and questions answered.  It's an open-air school.  Eskom, politicians and politics are forgotten.  The focus is so direct it's like an eagle swooping in on its prey.

One of Simon's "takkie's" left questions and he was asked to go back and find another sample and Gail had to take her camera to record what he had found.  Be it a Eugenia sp. it was all exciting.  A Streptocarpus sp. (possibly formosa) too was growing on the rocks with seepage trickling down.  Cool and soothing.  Flowers were found dried lying on leaf matter of Calodendron capensis pink and beautiful.  Mystacidum aliceae clung to a tree, its miniscule flower dried and gone to seed.  Simon had found Pseudosalacia streyi which is now declared threatened because of habitat loss.  It's not surprising with the mass of Macadamias in the area.  How lovely it was to be able to see both the flower, seed and seed capsule on the plant.

It's quite something to have decided on a place to botanize and then discover endangered, near threatened and vulnerable species.  This makes our blood pump faster through our veins and when the world is consumed by other worldly noises, this is what is important.  Observing and conserving an environment which is almost lost.  We have to remember to respect our environment and to keep passing the knowledge down. 

Pseudosalacia streyi
CELASTRACEAE
Pondo Rock Lemon
Endangered B1ab(iii,v)+2ab(iii,v); C2a(i) 

3 veins from the bottom

Grewia pondoensis
MALVACEAE
Pondo Cross-berry
Status and Criteria:  Near Threatened B1ab(iii,v)+2ab(iii,v)

Eugenia umtamvunensis
MYRTACEAE
Thick-leaved Forest Myrtle
Status & Criterea:  Endangered B1ab(iii,v)+2ab(iii,v)

Mystacidium aliceae
ORCHIDACEAE
Status and Criteria:  Vulnerable D2

Cassipourea gummiflua var. verticillata
RHIZOPHORACEAE
Large-leaved Onionwood
Status and Criteria:  Vulnerable* A4acd
      

Cassipourea malosana
RHIZOPHORACEAE
Onionwood

Dalechampia capensis
EUPHORBIACEAE
Wild Hop

Drypetes arguta
PUTRANJIVACEAE
Water Ironplum 

Apodytes dimidiata subsp. dimidiata
ICACINACEAE
White Pear

Elaeodendron croceum
CELASTRACEAE
 Forest Saffron

Simon having a close inspection at a Eugenia sp.

Eugenia sp.
MYRTACEAE

Ficus craterostoma
MORACEAE
Blunt-leaved Forest Fig

Gymnosporia harveyana subsp. harveyana
CELASTRACEAE
Black Forest Spike-thorn

Observing all that was growing on the cliff's edge before heading down into the forest.

Eugenia sp.
MYRTACEAE

Simon and Dorothy looking at the tree book and going over keys and clues.

Alf observing the finer details on the leaf. 

The books come out after lunch and the "takkies" brought back are inspected closely to get identifications as to what was found.

Ancient fig roots enwrapping huge rocks.

Isoglossa ovata
ACANTHACEAE

Justicia campylostemon
ACANTHACEAE

Maytenus cordata
CELASTRACEAE

Mimusops obovata
SAPOTACEAE
Red-milkwood 

Rinorea angustifolia subsp. natalensis
VIOLACEAE
Narrow-leaved Violet-bush

Roella glomerata
Campanulaceae

Rothmannia globosa
September Bells 
RUBIACEAE

Streptocarpus sp.
GESNERIACEAE

Pondoland C.R.E.W.

Tracy Taylor, Dorothy McIntyre, Simon Hicks, Maggie Abbott, Anne Skelton, Alf Hayter & Gail Bowers-Winters

Let the waters settle and you will see the moon and the stars mirrored in your own being. - Rumi

Meaning: Find your passion and work on it, settle down in your life while doing what you are passionate about and you will notice everything will fall in the direction you want it to fall.