We met at Beacon Hill and decided to look for a rare
Pachycarphus and headed out through long un-burnt and an uninteresting grassland
which didn't make one's heart soar with excitement. Gail inspected
a Dierama igneum remembering how beautiful it was to look inside the
flower only to find a dead bee. Had it been trapped or did it decide that
that was its place to finally rest and leave this earth in the gentle petals of
a Die..rama? After inspecting the cliffs and with the group quite divided some
decided to go where the grass was greener and where there was a rainbow of
colours.
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| A dead bee in a Dierama igneum IRIDACEAE |
Apodytes abbottii was quite showy with its new flush of
red leaves and then its flowers. One can't resist taking a leaf and
snapping it into two, it's a bit like popping wrapping bubble plastic.
Snap.
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| Tilted earth. Steep slopes. |
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| Apodytes abbottii ICACINACEAE Pondo White Pear Near Threatened B1ab(iii,v)+2ab(iii,v)
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Psoralea glabra was in full flower. The blue so
pure and quite iridescent.
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| Psoralea glabra FABACEAE Narrow-leaf Fountain-bush |
Eulophia horsfallii was awakening and hip high.
This orchid can grow up to 2.3 m! It's buds still firmly closed and soon when
it reaches head height its flowers will stare one in the face, "Mirror
mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of us all?" "Daleen Roodt is
the fairest in the land".
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 Eulophia horsfallii ORCHIDACEAE |
   Daleen Roodt received best artwork and a gold medal at the RHS 2024 for her water colour painting of Eulophia horsfallii. This image is just part of her painting. |
Nemesia denticulata was found growing along the path, a
pretty little flower which is always rewarding. Stachys nigricans
was quite prolific and when looking at it closely the flower looks like it’s
all dressed up for Halloween in its sheet of white. If one looks closely,
there's little people in some flowers.
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Nemesia denticulata SCROPHULARIACEAE   |
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| Stachys nigricans LAMIACEAE |
Senecio variabilis was aptly named and the flower heads
could be seen in royal blue, pale blue, ruby and white. It's like little
pin cushions on stalks.
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In the grasslands the group could be seen far apart, each person lost in their own world of flowers and each looking closely at what was flowering in front of them. Cephalaria oblongifolia was abundant and one certainly didn't want to be that flower if one came back as it was a delicacy for insects which could be seen head down and bottoms up.
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The group spread far and wide looking at all the flowers in the grassland.
 Cephalaria oblongifolia DIPSACACEAE |
Silene burchellii, Crotalaria globifera, Dianthus zeyheri and Eucomis autumnalis were all found along with Senecio's and Helichrysum's and if one looked very carefully Sisyranthus imberbis and Sisyranthus virgatus flowered alongside one another.
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Silene burchellii
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| Dianthus zeyheri CARYOPHYLACEAE |
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| Eucomis autumnalis HYACINTHACEAE Pineapple Lily 
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On the rocks we found Merwilla
plumbea, Polystachya pubescens, Cyrtorchis arcuata subsp. arcuata
and Brachystelma australe. It's always amazing how much one finds
growing on rocks.
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| Merwilla plumbea HYACINTHACEAE Near Threatened A2bd Blue Squill
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| Geranium flanaganii GERANIACEAE  |
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| Hibiscus trionum MALVACEAE |
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| Ochna serrulata gall OCHNACEAE |
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| Dorothy and Tracy looking at Brachystelma australe APOCYNACEAE South African endemic
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| A birds nest that fell out of the tree at the office. |
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| A birds nest found in the grasslands near the flat rocks. |
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| C.R.E.W./The Thursday Group Maggie, Arman, Alf, Anne, Dorothy, Uschi, Buyi, Gail and Tracy. |
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