On the spur of the moment Kate and I decided to squeeze in one last field trip for 2018 to Ntsikeni Nature Reserve. Leaving just after 06h00, the traffic on the N2 highway was quiet and we soon reached the turnoff to the much quieter road to Singisi. However, once we reached the sawmill and turned onto the gravel road, the going became much rougher as clearly there must have been heavy rain in the area and the road was badly eroded.
We crept past a colony of flowering
Cyrtanthus epiphyticus flowering on the cliffs at the side of the road and continued until we reached the tarred road from Franklin. However, once we turned off this road towards Ntsikeni the road deteriorated again, so we bounced and rock-climbed for the next 10 kilometers until we reached the gate of the reserve. On the way we made a brief stop for photographs of
Gloriosa modesta, Stachys tubulosa and
Begonia sutherlandii, getting a good sighting of a pair of Bush-blackcaps close to us.
 |
| Cyrtanthus epiphyticus |
 |
| Gloriosa modesta |
 |
| Stachys tubulosa |
Once inside the reserve it did not take us long to find noteworthy views, a slope covered in a display of
Watsonia densiflora being the first. We drove on to the top of the hill and stopped to explore the grasslands here. A yellow
Aloe ecklonis was interesting as we more often see orange versions of this species.
 |
| Slope covered in Watsonia densiflora |
 |
| Aloe ecklonis |
We found
Pachycarpus plicatus close to the vehicle and below us was a swathe of
Watsonia pillansii. There were large patches of
Wahlenbergia krebsii surrounded by hundreds of
Lobelia flaccida.
 |
| Pachycarpus plicatus |
 |
| Slope with a swathe of Watsonia pillansii |
 |
| Watsonia pillansii |
 |
| Wahlenbergia krebsii |
Across the valley we could see the stream that drains the wetland opposite May Lodge. This small gorge looks worthy of a visit next time we make it to Ntsikeni. Amongst the dolerite rocks we found
Schizoglossum bidens subsp. bidens,
Senecio citriceps and
Indigofera woodii.
 |
| The stream draining the swamp opposite May lodge |
 |
| Mountain cascade |
 |
| Schizoglossum bidens subsp. bidens |
 |
| Senecio citriceps |
 |
| Indigofera woodii |
Also clustered near these boulders there were several
Xysmalobium parviflorum and we found a large
Calpurnia sericea shrub in flower. We continued down to the wetland where the road crosses the stream and put on gumboots to explore.
 |
| Xysmalobium parviflorum |
 |
| Calpurnia sericea |
In the trickles of water we found a few Aponogeton junceus, some Gladiolus papilio and Kniphofia ichopensis. Walking up to the upper reaches of the wetland there were a few Disa scullyi and a display of Disa chrysostachya. On the fringes of the wetland there was a small group of Chironia krebsii.
 |
| Aponogeton junceus |
 |
| Gladiolus papilio |
 |
| Kniphofia ichopensis |
 |
| Disa scullyi |
 |
| Chironia krebsii |
 |
| Disa chrysostachya |
We drove past May lodge and then scaled the next hill looking at dense clusters of Dierama dracomontana and the occasional white-flowered Dierama argyreum. We also found several Xysmalobium involucratum and a short daisy, which we determined after much consulting of books and websites to be Lactuca tysonii. We also found a single Miraglossum pulchellum.
 |
| Dierama argyreum |
 |
| Lactuca tysonii |
 |
| Miraglossum pulchellum |
We drove on again to a ridge that has been botanically productive in the past and here we saw our first
Disa cornuta for this trip. Near the bottom of the slope we found
Brunsvigia grandiflora in bud,
Hypoxis costata,
Satyrium hallackii subsp. ocellatum as well as a few
Senecio polyodon var. subglaber.
 |
| Disa cornuta |
 |
| Hypoxis costata |
 |
| Satyrium hallackii subsp. ocellatum |
 |
| Brunsvigia grandiflora |
 |
| Senecio polyodon var. subglaber |
The sense of space you get at this reserve is amazing. In the far distance we could see a few of what is almost a trademark species for the reserve, Wattled cranes.
 |
| The wonderful grasslands of Ntsikeni |
 |
| Wattled crane |
Returning back along the ridge we found a cluster of
Kniphofia laxiflora, Pachycarpus dealbatus, several of the yet-to-be-described
Xysmalobium sp. nov. and
Zantedeschia albomaculata flowering from its nook between two rocks. Some
Agapanthus campanulatus had found a similar niche and were pushing out buds.
 |
| Pachycarpus dealbatus |
 |
| Xysmalobium sp. nov. |
 |
| Zantedeschia albomaculata |
 |
| Agapanthus campanulatus buds |
At a final stop at a stream crossing we found
Ranunculus dregei in flower.
 |
| Ranunculus dregei |
Participants: Graham G, Kate G.
