Vehicles were packed full of happy people heading off to the far side of the reserve near Gogoza to a place through locked gates to Devil's Backbone. It was on the spine we botanised on a cool day which looked ominous where one could expect an unexpected burst of rain.
This part
had been burnt by the Parks Board and we had experienced some terribly winds
which might have explained the scorched forest. One could smell the burn
in the air even though it had been done several weeks before.
The grassland was a plethora of colour in pale yellow and soft pink. We thought how sad it was that the Cape is known for its wildflowers and we are not. We had not seen Eriosema kraussianum put on quite a show like this before. Beautiful pockets of these little shrubs scattered around bringing in the colour of joy like the sun. "
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| Eriosema kraussianum FABACEAE Pale Yellow Eriosema |
Indigofera
rubroglandulosa is one of the first flowers to flower in the spring. It's
an endemic and the colour is crimson and ruby like. It's a tiny plant but
it makes one take notice of its splendour and quite long lasting.
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| Indigofera rubroglandulosa FABACEAE South African endemic |
We had
never seen so many Lotononis bachmanniana scattered around. One could see how
pollination occurs. This purple gem was a sight for glad eyes. t's
one of our endemics and "Near Threatened".
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| Lotononis bachmanniana FABACEAE Near Threatened A4c; B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii) South African endemic |
The
Graderia scabra was prolific. So soft in pink. They known as Ground
Bells. Sopubia simplex complimented this colour in the veld. The
only orchid we saw as Eulophia hians var. hians.
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| Graderia scabra OROBANCHACEAE Pink Ground-bells
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 Eulophia hians var. hians ORCHIDACEAE | ||
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Butterflies skipped around the Ocimum obovatum subsp. obovatum. Its delicate bright white petals are fringed in lilac and whispery, hence the name, "Cat's whiskers". It always catches one's eye and makes a good garden plant.
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| Ocimum obovatum subsp. obovatum LAMIACEAE Cat's Whiskers |
Pentanisia
prunelloides subsp. prunelloides, Helichrysum acutatum, Helichrysum nudifolium
var. pilosellum, Gladiolus longicollis and Hypoxis angustifolia var. angustifolia
were all found in the grasslands.
Heading back towards the car and watching a
looming dark cloud approach we were brought to a halt when
observing Watsonia inclinata. This is a "Vulnerable" South
African endemic and grows leaning to one side.
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| Watsonia inclinata IRIDACEAE Vulnerable D2 South African endemic |
We saw both Acalypha depressinerva
and Acalypha peduncularis. The sexes on these plants are found on separate
plants.
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| Male |
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| Acalypha depressinerva EUPHORBIACEAE Bearded-leaved Brooms and Brushes Female
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As we were leaving Anne spotted Drimia echinostachya. It was still in bud and this too is a South African and "Vulnerable" endemic and saw the tiny flowers on Euphorbia gueinzii.
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| Drimia echinostachya HYACINTHACEAE Synonym: Drimia cooperi Vulnerable A2ad; C2a(i) South African endemic  |
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| Euphorbia gueinzii EUPHORBIACEAE |
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| Grass owl feces |
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| Cycnium adonense OROBANCHACEAE Blotting Paper Flower |
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| Helichrysum acutatum ASTERACEAE Sticky Everlasting |
.JPG) |
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| Helichrysum nudifolium var. pilosellum ASTERACEAE |
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| Searsia lucida ANACARDIACEAE |
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| Gerbera ambigua setting seed. ASTERACEAE |
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| Burchellia bubalina RUBIACEAE Wild Pomegranate |
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| Pentanisia prunelloides subsp. prunelloides RUBIACEAE |
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| Hypoxis angustifolia var. angustifolia HYPOXIDACEAE Yellow Star |
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| Alf and Uschi with the magestic view beyond. |
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| Hypoxis angustifolia var. angustifolia THYMELAEACEAE Lesser Yellow-head |
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| Afroaster serrulatus ASTERACEAE
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| Alepidea peduncularis APIACEAE Photo credit: Tracy |
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| Hilliary gently taking the beautiful scenery in. |
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| De-barking invasive Wattles that are growing in the reserve. OUT! Photo credit: Tracy |
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| A scorpian. Photo credit: Tracy |
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| "Hello!" |
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| Pondoland C.R.E.W./The Thursday Group Gail, Buyi, Tracy, Hilliary, Uschi, Anne, Arman and Alf “What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.” ― |
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