Mr. K. Gaze's Farm - 17 August 2023

It truly was a gentle day; we met at Maggie and drank our coffee on her veranda before meandering down to the dam.  Piles of macadamia nut shells lay on the ground and we looked at the shimmering opaque blanket that covered it, it moved gently in the wind and when we inspected it more closely, we found it to be a massive spider web and it was filled with tiny spiders.  It truly was incredible and quite magical.  

We meandered down onto Ken Gaze's property.  It was one of the first farms to be burnt and we expected a plethora of wildflowers.  It was a little disappointing, but I suppose the earth was waiting the spring rains.  As we walked, we noticed a grumpy looking Bersama lucens that was being attacked by a Suicide beetle.  Carissa macrocarpa was looking equally unhappy showing unusual autumn colours.  Down in the grassland we found Merwilla plumbea, Boophone disticha, Drimia echinostachya, Cyrtanthus brachyscyphus, Acalypha peduncularis, Gladiolus inandensis, Indigofera rubroglandulosa and a mass of Dimorphotheca fruticosa growing behind a cluster of rocks.  Gail found Bonatea porrecta growing on the rocks amongst Smilex anceps, her least favourite plant.  

We meandered back up to the dam for lunch and sat quietly chatting away.  We all seemed to need a gentle day.  Back at Maggie's house we found her Lydenburgia abbottii in flower after many years of being dormant.  The Calodendrum capense was still flowering, it seemed to have been months.  This tree was incredibly happy.  Her Erythrina latissima was both in flower and in bud.  A striking tree to say the least.  The Alberta magna flowered too beside it.

We all went home with hearts content and grateful for the beautiful day shared together.

 

Merwilla plumbea
Blue Squill
HYACINTHACEAE
Near Threatened A2bd

Lydenburgia abbottii 
Pondo Bushman's Tea
CELASTRACEAE
Endangered D

Erythrina latissima
Broad-leaved Coral Tree
FABACEAE

Erythrina caffra
Coastal Coral Tree
FABACEAE

Calodendrum capense
Cape Chestnut 
RUTACEAE

Bonatea porrecta
ORCHIDACEAE

Asparagus africanus
Wild Asparagus
ASPARAGACEAE

A spiders web wrapped around a blade of grass.

A spider web draped over macadamia nut shells and alive with baby spiders.

Bersama lucens
Glossy White Ash 
MELIANTHACEAE

Dimorphotheca fruticosa
ASTERACEAE

Boophone disticha
 Poison Bulb
AMARYLLIDACEAE

Helichrysum allioides
ASTERACEAE
South African endemic

Acalypha peduncularis
EUPHORBIACEAE

Helichrysum aureum var monocephalum
ASTERACEAE

Drimia echinostachya
HYACINTHACEAE

Albuca setosa
Soldier-in-the-box
HYACINTHACEAE 

Gladiolus inandensis
IRIDACEAE
South African endemic

Cyrtanthus brachyscyphus
Orange Ifafa Lily 
 AMARYLLIDACEAE
South African endemic

Indigofera rubroglandulosa 
FABACEAE
South African endemic

Carissa macrocarpa
Large Num-num 
APOCYNACEAE 

Dietes grandiflora
IRIDACEAE
South African endemic

Dietes bicolor ssp. bicolor
IRIDACEAE

Maggie, Alf and Mark in Maggie's garden.

Pondoland C.R.E.W.
Maggie Abbott, Mark Getliffe, Tracy Taylor, Alf Hayter and Gail Bowers-Winters

A simple white daisy. The plainest of flowers, perhaps the purest” ― J.R. Tompkins

Fosters Folly 10 August 2023

Fosters Folly it was!  We bounced around over gravel roads before finally winding our way to a fence that once stood between a community farm and the nature reserve.  Cows now freely grazed and as they frolicked, they loosened plants, ate and trampled all the flowers that we held dear.  It is disheartening to have cattle graze a pristine area.  One feels helpless.  

Fosters Folly is a special place, it filled with magic and orchids.  They were not in flower but it was still wonderful to be there.  Moss, fungi, lichen all grow on these rocks that's like an island. 

Fosters Folly gets its name after Dick Foster who was afraid of heights attempted to climb the vertical wall of rock and did. 

Keith Stanard shares that early days of the exploration of the MNR can be remembered. That would have been very early 70. Dick Foster was an avid amateur indigenous nursery man under the mentoreship of Mr Nick, was very successful in germinating collected seed at his plot in Marina Beach. 

In the protected canopy we found Trichocladus grandiflorus,Tricalysia capensis  var. capensis, Schrebera alata, Peddiea africana and our endemic and near threatened Pseudoscolopia polyantha in flower.

Along the stream we found at least 50 Disa baurii growing.  Their beautiful blue heads quite iridescent in the light and Tracy found one pink one growing in the stream.  Eulophia parvilora were in flower and was busy setting seed and Erica cerinthoides were going over with some still irritating their magnificent coral-orange colour.  Disa tripetaloides grew along the stream looking like floral angels.

We found Gerbera natalensis in two variations of colour, the one cluster completely white.  We observed this at Beacon Hill too. We found Moraea stricta flowering in the late afternoon sun, it's single cylindrical (terete) leaf can grow up to 60cm and hardly noticeable when growing in the grass 

We had had a wonderful day and with content hearts we headed home knowing we'd return sooner than later.

Disa baurii  
ORCHIDACEAE

Cotyledon orbiculata
CRASSULACEAE

Mark and Hillary playing caution to the wind and looking over the edge of the earth and gazing at the Mtamvuna River below.

Mtamvuna River

Trichocladus grandiflorus
Green Witch-hazel
HAMAMELIDACEAE

Cladonia
Fungus

Crassula sarmentosa var. integrifolia
CRASSULACEAE
Rare
A habitat specialist known from a few subpopulations. Its habitat of rocky cliffs is not threatened.

Tricalysia capensis  var. capensis
Forest Jackal-coffee
RUBIACEAE

Peddiea africana
Poison-olive
THYMELAEACEAE

Caputia medley-woodii 
ASTERACEAE

Pseudoscolopia polyantha
Sandstone Red-stem
SALICACEAE
Near Threatened B1ab(iii,v)
South African endemic

Schrebera alata
Wing-leaved Wooden-pear
OLEACEAE

White form

Gerbera natalensis
ASTERACEAE
Two colour variations. Pink and white.

Gazania krebsiana subsp. krebsiana
ASTERACEAE

Tracy, Anne and Hillary herding the cows out of the reserve.

Western Heights

Mooooove.

Tritonia gladiolaris
IRIDACEAE

Hypoxis argentea  var. argentea
Small Silver Star-flower
HYPOXIDACEAE

Argyrolobium harveyanum
FABACEAE 

Disa tripetaloides
ORCHIDACEAE

Erica cerinthoides
Fire Heath
ERICACEAE

Eulophia parviflora
ORCHIDACEAE

Disa baurii  

ORCHIDACEAE

Mark admiring the orchids growing along the stream.

Haemanthus albiflos
 AMARYLLIDACEAE
 &
Rhipsalis baccifera subsp. mauritiana
CACTACEAE

Stangeria eriopus
ZAMIACEAE
Vulnerable A2acd+4cd

Sanbi's Red List:  At least 20% of the habitat has been lost over the last three generations (150 years) and harvesting for the traditional medicine trade has caused at least a further 10-20% decline in population size. It is a sought-after medicinal plant that is over-exploited in much of its range. It is likely to be threatened in future by habitat loss and increased harvesting as a result of the proposed N2 highway being extended through the Eastern Cape.

Moraea stricta
IRIDACEAE

Pondoland C.R.E.W.
Gail Bowers-Winters, Anne Skelton, Tracy Taylor, Mark Getliffe and Hillary Henderson

“I must have flowers, always, and always.” — Claude Monet