Panpack Beacon Hill

 

We met, as we do, at Beacon Hill—this time to a smoky start. Hands wrapped around steaming mugs of coffee, we shared stories and laughter as the morning gathered itself around us. Maggie had us in stitches recounting her recent holiday aboard the Blue Train in Zimbabwe, her vivid tales painting bright pictures against the muted morning haze.

Meanwhile, Enoch was burning on the Western Heights side, and smoke billowed thickly into the sky. The landscape became soft-focused and ghostly, wrapped in a haze that made everything feel dreamlike and distant.

Deciding to escape the smoke, we headed a little further up the hillside and began botanising from Panpack. It proved a wise choice—just one week after our last walk, the grasslands had transformed. Where we’d once trudged through knee-high dry grass, we now wandered freely through a green flush—lush and alive after welcome rain.

The landscape told a layered story of contrast. New, verdant grass pushed confidently through a carpet of blackened leaves. The visual palette suggested autumn more than spring—fire and renewal locked in a quiet, seasonal dance.

Western Heights in smoulder—ash and sky blending into a smoky veil.

Rust coloured leaves after the burn.

Pondoland CREW

Anne admiring a beautiful rock that are millions of years old.

The Msikaba sandstone rocks scattered across the hillside were striking in their character, as if sculpted by time. One couldn't help imagining them in a garden, perhaps with a hollowed bowl collecting rain for bathing birds.

The flowers were a joy, even at this early stage of their awakening. In the grassland, we found a scattering of botanical gems beginning to stir with colour and life: Ursinia tenuiloba, Othonna natalensis, Gerbera ambigua and the ever-striking Senecio speciosus.

Ursinia tenuiloba
ASTERACEAE
South African endemic

Othonna natalensis 
ASTERACEAE

Gerbera natalensis
ASTERACEAE

Senecio speciosus
ASTERACEAE

Scattered among them, Gazania krebsiana gleamed yellow. At a glance, it could be mistaken for Hypoxis angustifolia—both share a similar height, yellow flowers, and slender leaves—but careful observation reveals the difference.

Gazania krebsiana
ASTERACEAE

Hypoxis angustifolia
HYPOXIDACEAE

We found Helichrysum odoratissimum and Athrixia phylicoides already in seed, while on the rocky outcrops, the last of the Crassula nudicaulis blooms held on, their leaves reddened by stress.

Crassula nudicaulis
CRASSULACEAE

Emerging confidently through the damp soil, the first fresh leaves of Merwilla plumbea kraussii promised a spectacular show in the weeks to come. These hardy bulbs, often growing in rock crevices or seepage areas, never fail to impress with their resilience.

Merwilla plumbea kraussii
HYACINTHACEAE


Ornithogalum juncifolium
HYACINTHACEAE

We paused often to inhale the heady perfume of Tricalysia capensis, its creamy-white flowers filling the air with their sweet scent. In stark contrast, Eriospermum mackenii pierced the charred earth with vivid red stems—startling against the blackened soil. Nearby, Acalypha peduncularis unfurled its miniature, strawberry-like blooms, delightful to the observant eye.

Tricalysia capensis
RUBIACEAE

Eriospermum mackenii
RUSCACEAE

Burchellia bubalina
RUBIACEAE

Acalypha peduncularis
EUPHORBIACEAE

Ledebouria revoluta
HYACINTHACEAE

Signs of wildlife always enrich a botanising walk. We found spoor of Grey Duiker and Reedbuck etched into the soft earth, and fresh porcupine droppings marked a well-used trail heading toward the forest. Martins flitted through the smoky air, feasting on tiny midges.

A startled troop of baboons barked aggressively upon spotting us. They had clearly been feasting on Watsonia densiflorus—torn bulbs and tubers scattered as evidence of their destructively thorough appetite.

With contented hearts and dusty boots, we cheerily said our goodbyes—already counting the sleeps until we’d botanise together again.

Uschi, Alf, Hiliary and Anne.

At the gorge’s edge, a weathered Ficus—likely Ficus sur—was beginning to bud, the early signs of spring visible on its twisted limbs.

Tracy looking down to the river below and embracing her love of nature.

Pondoland CREW
Gail Bowers-Winters, Maggie Abbott, Dorothy McIntyre, Anne Skelton,
Hiliary Henderson, Uschi Teicher, Tracy Taylor and Alf Hayter

"Indigenous flowers carry the memory of the land—they’ve weathered fire, drought, and centuries, and still they bloom."

Let this be a quiet reminder of resilience, beauty, and the joy of walking gently where wild things grow.

Smedmore, Umtamvuna Nature Reserve

Thursday’s Pondoland CREW excursion was made all the more memorable by the participation of Kate and Graham, visiting from Renishaw Hills. Together, they co-authored the recently published Botanical Bounty of the Pondoland Centre of Endemism.

Kate, a talented botanical illustrator, had a specific goal for the day: to find a flowering specimen of Hesperantha mtamvunae to illustrate. This rare and delicate species is endemic to the Pondoland region and known only from the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve—making it a fitting subject for her detailed and sensitive work.

We met at Beacon Hill, and in a convoy of three Dusters and one Jimny, wound our way toward Smedmore. Plumes of dust rose behind us, curling through the air as we navigated our way into the reserve. Despite the fierce coastal winds that had swept through the area the previous week, we were thrilled to find a sheltered slope. Hesperantha mtamvunae is a rare, delicate flowering plant found only in the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve in southern KwaZulu-Natal. This slender, bulbous geophyte grows in damp grassland and forest margins and flowers between June and July. Because Hesperantha mtamvunae exists in such a limited area and specialized environment, it’s considered vulnerable and is protected within the reserve. 

We came across Lasiosiphon anthylloides, known for its fine-textured inflorescences and velvety stems, and Gnidia woodii, a member of the Thymelaeaceae family often noted for its medicinal value. Pimpinella caffra, with its fragrant umbels of white flowers, mingled with the cheerful yellow blooms of Argyrolobium harveyanum, a tough legume adapted to nutrient-poor soils.

The lavender-blue flowers of Scabiosa columbaria—beloved by pollinators—stood out against the dry landscape. Delicate pink bells of Dierama igneum swayed in the wind, while the dainty Polygala refracta, with its recurved petals, nestled shyly among taller grasses.

After a relaxed lunch sitting in the grass—while doing our best to avoid pesky ants—we spotted Osyridicarpos schimperianus in flower. This is a  hemiparasitic shrub of the Santalaceae family. Kate kindly shared her knowledge about Indigofera tenuissima, a fine-leaved legume with delicate rosy flowers, well adapted to open, well-drained grasslands and valued for its nitrogen-fixing abilities.

Ipomoea ficifolia caught our attention with its large mauve flowers and distinctive fig-like leaves. Dorothy and Ushi immediately began examining the foliage closely, carefully turning over the leaves to observe key identifying features. The species name ficifolia means “fig-leaved”—and it’s a perfect description. The palmately lobed leaves, typically divided into three to five deep lobes, closely resemble those of fig trees (Ficus spp.). This leaf shape is quite unusual within the Ipomoea genus, where heart-shaped or ovate leaves are much more common.

We eyed Triumfetta pilosa with some distaste—its persistent burrs are known to cling stubbornly to trousers, socks, and the fur of our four-legged companions. It’s nature’s clever seed-dispersal strategy, though decidedly less appreciated by those of us who have to pick them off, one by one, at the end of the day.

As the light softened and we called it a day, we made one last stop to admire Lotononis lotononoides—a somewhat elusive legume with purple flowers and bristly, slightly inflated hairy pods.

As we left the reserve behind, a quiet sense of gratitude lingered—grateful for rare flowers, for shared knowledge, and for days spent learning from the land. 

Kate carefully recorded all the fine details of Hesperantha mtamvunae in situ, capturing its delicate features with an artist’s eye and scientific precision.

Corm with woody tunic.

Stem unbranched.

Hesperantha mtamvunae
IRIDACEAE
Endangered D
South African endemic

Gnidia woodii 
THYMELAEACEAE

Pimpinella caffra
APIACEAE

Lasiosiphon anthylloides
THYMELAEACEAE
South African endemic

Scabiosa columbaria
DIPSACACEAE

Lotononis lotononoides
FABACEAE

Dimorphotheca fruticosa 
ASTERACEAE

Our lunch spot.

Ipomoea ficifolia 
CONVOLVULACEAE

Osyridicarpos schimperianus
SANTALACEAE

Indigofera tenuissima 
FABACEAE

Pelargonium luridum
GERANIACEAE

Vachellia natalitia 
FABACEAE
 Pale-bark Sweet Thorn

Watsonia densiflora

Anemone caffra
RANUNCULACEAE
Windflower
South African endemic

Polygala refracta 
POLYGALACEAE

Argyrolobium harveyanum
FABACEAE

Athrixia phylicoides
ASTERACEAE
Bushman's Tea

Colpoon compressum
SANTALACEAE

Ctenium concinnum
POACEAE
Sekelgras

Triumfetta pilosa
MALVACEAE

Pondoland CREW
Gail Bowers-Winters, Alf Hayter, Uschi Teicher, Anne Skelton, Graham and Kate Grieve, Maggie Abbott, Hiliary Henderson, Dorothy McIntyre and Tracy Taylor.

“The more you look, the more you see—and in places like Pondoland, there’s always more waiting to be discovered.”