We gathered at Beacon Hill with plans to head toward Cascades, layered against the cold of a biting August wind. But as any seasoned field amateur botanist knows, by midday those layers are peeled off and either left in the car or stuffed into backpacks. And of course, by late afternoon the sky turned a brooding grey, spitting droplets at our heads—because none of us had thought to pack rain jackets or umbrellas.
Still, the visibility was glorious. Weeks of fires had cleared the landscape, revealing sweeping swathes of open grassland bursting into flower—an invitation to botanise. Just two weeks ago, we had scanned this very area in the hope of finding Drimia depressa in flower. Instead, we’d found numerous Drimia echinostachya, a vulnerable species with tall, bristling flower spikes pushing confidently through the scorched earth.
Then a cry of delight from Tracy—she had found it! Drimia depressa, still in bud but clearly awakening. Long, elegant stalks rose from the bulbs in dramatic clusters. It was a breathtaking sight.
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At the same time, Anemone afra, the aptly named “Windflower,” had begun to bloom—its appearance so perfectly timed with the turn of the season that we laughed: Hello, August.
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| Anemone afra Synonyms: Anemone caffra RANUNCULACEAE Windflower South African endemic
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With the grasslands singing in colour after fire and rain, we quickly dropped our plans for Cascades and chose to stay. The earth was rejoicing in wildflowers.
Yet even joy has its shadows. We watched, frustrated, as three dogs charged through the forest of Western Heights— hunting dogs, left unchecked in an area plagued by snares, poachers, and unregulated cattle. It’s a bitter reminder of the ongoing conservation challenges we face.
From the office, we meandered into the veld and were soon rewarded with two exquisite Disa baurii in flower. Lower down the hillside—normally thick with bracken and tall veld grass—we discovered treasures in the marshlands: Senecio coronatus, Merwilla plumbea, and Ledebouria cooperi—each catching the light in its own way.
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| Disa baurii ORCHIDACEAE |
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| Senecio coronatus ASTERACEAE Woolly Grassland Senecio |
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| Merwilla plumbea HYACINTHACEAE Near Threatened A2bd |
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| Ledebouria cooperi HYACINTHACEAE
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| Gerbera ambigua ASTERACEAE |
Down by the stream, Podalyria burchellii was in full flower. We ran soft fingers over the velvet pods and admired the contrast of their silver fuzz against purple flowers. But it was Erythrina lysistemon that truly stole the show. The vivid scarlet of its blooms lit up the grassland—more magnificent, even, than Alberta magna, the “Magnificent Flame.”
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| Podalyria burchellii FABACEAE Hairy Blossom-pea South African endemic |
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| Erythrina lysistemon FABACEAE Sacred Coral Tree |
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| Alberta magna RUBIACEAE Near Threatened B2ab(ii,iii,v) South African endemic |
High in the thick grass, a solitary clump of Aloe maculata was flowering. It took a determined trek to photograph its striking display—and in doing so, we startled a reedbuck resting nearby.
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| Hiliary standing in wathes of dry grass. |
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| Aloe maculata ASPHODELACEAE |
We paused for lunch by the stream. Afterwards, we retraced a route from a recent Thursday excursion, when Anne, Hilliary and Uschi had reported seeing Brunia trigyna in bud. We were hoping for flowers.
On the way, Rothmannia globosa greeted us with richly scented blossoms. And then—Brunia trigyna, dazzling white and heavily perfumed. The baboons had discovered it first, of course, snapping branches in their playful mischief. We could see their work across the grassland: torn leaves, broken stems, and half-chewed Watsonia corms strewn about. They had played havoc with the Watsonia's.
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| Gail, Anne, Tracy, Uschi and Hiliary standing amongst the Brunia trigyna. |
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| Brunia trigyna BRUNIACEAE Pondo Ghost-bush Critically Endangered B1ab(v)+2ab(v); C2a(i); D South African endemic |
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| Rothmannia globosa RUBIACEAE September Bells |
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| Ushi, Anne, Tracy and Gail heading over the rocks exploring the gully. |
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| Hiliary gaurding our bags and enjoying the tranquility of the water tumbling over the rocks. |
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| Utricularia sandersonii LENTIBULARIACEAE Bladderwort South African endemic |
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| Dalbergia armata FABACEAE Thorny Rope |
The pain was quickly forgotten when Uschi spotted something remarkable: Rhoicissus sp. nov—a new species currently under study by Richard Boon. This was our third encounter with it: the first at Hazel Ridge, where Richard had taken us to see it; the second when Gail discovered it on the Mpunzi Trail while searching for Erythrococca sp. nov. Unmistakably different from any known Rhoicissus species, it may one day carry a name of its own.
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| The habatat where we found Rhoicissus sp. nov to be growing. |
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| Rhoicissus sp. nov VITACEAE |
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| Carissa bispinosa APOCYNACEAE |
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| For the love of CREW and to our teachers. |
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| Pondoland C.R.E.W. Hiliary Henderson, Dorothy McIntyre, Tracy Taylor, Anne Skelton, Maggie Abbott, UschiTeicher and Gail Bowers-Winters |
“May the wild places always greet us with the colours and scents of home.”
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