The
weather seemed to keep everyone at bay and Anne, Tracy and Gail braced
themselves into the icy air and headed to Western Heights. The Parks
Board were burning blocks and so we drove in the opposite direction of the fire
and found ourselves at The Iron Crown far from any smoke and fire. In
great excitement Tracy brought us to a halt and we saw a jackal. This was
first in a very long time and it was a joy to see.
The flowers that we came across
that bloomed prolifically was Agathosma ovata. In colonies we found Eulophia parviflora (short-spurred form), that was
certainly the orchid of the day. We were so fortunate to have caught the
spectacular Erica cerinthoides, what a magnificent colour!
The wind howled and we tried to find shelter behind a boulder or a hillside and then drove on thinking we'd go into to forest for protection but the shade was too icy and the forest could not draw us in. On the edge of the forest margin, we admired the a little orchid, Polystachya sandersonni which was both coming into flower and had a seed capsule. We watched the fire burn and the smoke rise thinking of all the new flowers we would see in the coming months and then contentedly headed home with full hearts after spending a beautiful day botanising together.
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| Erica cerinthoides ERICACEAE |
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| Smoke rizing up through the gorge on a very cold day. |
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| Agathosma ovata RUTACEAE  |
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| Eulophia parviflora (short-spurred form) ORCHIDACEAE |
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| The Iron Crown |
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| Tracy photographing orchids gowing inside the rock cavity. |
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| Polystachya pubescens ORCHIDACEAE |
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| Apodytes abbottii Pondo White Pear ICACINACEAE Near Threatened B1ab(iii,v)+2ab(iii,v) |
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| Osteospermum imbricatum ASTERACEAE |
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| Helichrysum lepidissimum and Osteospermum imbricatum growing together. |
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| An eagles eye of the trees growing far below. |
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| Colpoon compressum SANTALACEAE |
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| Aristea abyssinica IRIDACEAE |
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| Helichrysum lepidissimum ASTERACEAE |
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| Anne and Tracy looking down from way up high where vultures fly. |
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| Gerbera ambigua Botterblom ASTERACEAE |
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| Fire blocks being burnt in Western Heights |
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| Zaluzianskya angustifolia SCROPHULARIACEAE |
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| Polystachya sandersonii ORCHIDACEAE |
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| Polystachya sandersonii ORCHIDACEAE |
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| Ochna natalitia Showy Ochna OCHNACEAE |
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| Tricalysia capensis var. capensis Forest Jackal-coffee RUBIACEAE |
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| Pondoland CREW Gail Bowers-Winters, Anne Skelton and Tracy Taylor |
