We set off for Cubica Heights. The wind was
cold and one looked at the flowers bobbing around thinking how was it going to
be possible to capture what we saw on this day as the photographs would surely all be blurred. We meandered down the
hill with Watsonia densiflorus in flower and heard the sound of the magnificent
waterfall. We'd seen this rock surface almost dry a few years back and
this year it was in full rage. We skirted around the rocks and along the
cliffs inspecting everything that was in flower. We saw Plectranthus
saccatus pondoensis flowering in the shade and Brownleea coerulea was flowering
profusely. Simon and Uschi found Sclerocroton integerrimus which made us
scratch our heads and then it got its name. Botanising can be like piecing
pieces of a puzzle together. Simon found Dorothy's Olea capensis var.
capensis, it's new growth burgundy in colour. This Olea is another one of
those pieces of a puzzle that finally gets placed into the day's game of
plant ID's.
Along the forest edge we came across Aspalathus
dahlgrenii, Anastrabe integerrima flowered and it lured us dangerously in near
a cliff's edge, the little flower resembling a small yellow duck with pursed
lips. Rhynchocalyx lawsonoides flowers like there was no tomorrow.
The scent was glorious too. Minature flowers began to open on
Robsonodendron eucleiforme, they were literally the size of a pin prick. We found Stenoglottis fimbriata flowering in a sheltered spot on a rock
and Polygala macowaniana flowered profusely, it had thrived in all the rainfall
that we'd had lately. In this beautiful spot we found Eugenia sp. C.,
the new red growth incredibly eye catching.
Erica cubica flowered on the edge, the wind gusted
blowing up the water on the cliff's edge onto these little pink flowers.
The views at Cubica Heights are indeed spectacular and always takes one’s
breath away.
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| Pseudoscolopia polyantha SALICACEAE Sandstone Red-stem Near Threatened B1ab(iii,v) South African endemic PC: Simon |
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| Tricalysia capensis RUBIACEAE PC: Simon  |
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| Brachylaena glabra ASTERACEAE South African endemic PC: Simon |
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| Rhynchocalyx lawsonioides RHYNCHOCALYCACEAE False-waterberry Near Threatened B1ab(iii,v) South African endemic |
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| Erica cubica var. natalensis ERICACEAE South African endemic |
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| Senecio bryoniifolius ASTERACEAE |
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| Aspalathus dahlgrenii FABACEAE Vulnerable D2 South African endemic |
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| Anastrabe integerrima STILBACEAE |
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| Robsonodendron eucleiforme CELASTRACEAE |
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| Stenoglottis fimbriata subsp. fimbriata ORCHIDACEAE Fringed Stenoglottis South African endemic  |
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| Polygala macowaniana POLYGALACEAE South African endemic |
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| Sclerocroton integerrimus EUPHORBIACEAE |
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| Helichrysum populifolium ASTERACEAE South African endemic |
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| Brownleea coerulea ORCHIDACEAE |
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| Olinia radiata OLINIACEAE Forest Hard-pear South African Endemic PC: Simon  |
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| Eugenia sp. C MYRTACEAE |
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| Maytenus acuminata var. acuminata CELASTRACEAE |
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| Plectranthus saccatus subsp. pondoensis LAMIACEAE South African endemic
 Olea capensis subsp. capensis OLEACEAE Synonym: Olea enervis South African endemic |
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| Secamone alpini APOCYNACEAE |
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| Pondoland CREW. Gail Bowers-Winers, Anne Skelton, Dorothy McIntyre, Simon Hicks & Uschi Techer. “If I had a single flower for every time I think about you,
I could walk forever in my garden.”– Claudia Adrienne Grandi |
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