Flowering now (March 2016)

Begonia geranioides

Brownleea parviflora

Chaenostoma floribunda

Crassula acinaciformis

Cyphia tysonii

Disa brevicornis

Disa nervosa 

Disperis fanniniae

Erica woodii

Gladiolus oppositiflorus 

Habenaria cornuta

Helichrysum platypterum

Hypoxis hemerocallidea

Indigofera micrantha

Itea rhamnoides

Justicia betonica

Lasiosiphon macropetalus

Mentha aquatica

Nemesia sylvatica

Nidorella auriculata

Plectranthus ecklonii

Plectranthus ecklonii

Plectranthus laxiflorus

Plectranthus saccatus var. pondoensis

Plectranthus saccatus var. saccatus

Satyrium macrophyllum

Senecio gerrardii

Stachys tubulosa

Syncolostemon teucriifolius

Tenrhynea phylicifolia

CREW Workshop 2016: Sentinel Field Trip

For some, this field trip required a 05h00 start as the drive from the Backpackers Lodge to the Sentinel car park near Witsieshoek takes two hours. For others, exhausted by the long walk up Tugela Gorge the previous day, a later start was warranted. As it turned out the latecomers caught up to the early risers group within 50 metres of the entry gate to the Sentinel Nature Reserve - when botanising in this high-diversity biome progress is slow. The cold weather and low cloud probably contributed to the slow progress. On a walk at a starting altitude of over 2500m it is hard not to find rare or endemic species and so it proved as we moved along with guidance from Elsa Pooley, whose experience has taught her where to expect many of these special species. 

At the beginning of the trail the soils are derived from the sandstones which underlie the basalt cap of the Drakensberg. The first plant of interest was Brownleea galpinii, an orchid species which mimics Scabiosa columbaria in order to attract pollinators.

Brownleea galpinii

Scabiosa columbaria - the species being mimicked by the Brownleea

It was not long before we came across the rare Drakensberg endemic species Crocosmia pearsii with its bright orange trumpet-shaped flowers.

Crocosmia pearsii

There were several more orchid species at this level, many of which were from the genera Disa and Disperis. We found several sweet-smelling Disa fragrans and one or two Disa sankeyi, Disperis cardiophora, and, higher up the trail, Disperis tysonii.

Disa fragrans

Disa sankeyi

Disperis cardiophora

Disperis tysonii

Once we got closer to the basalt cliffs we found the first of the Nerine bowdenii subsp. wellsii - this population found growing below the Sentinel was recently resurrected as a legitimate subspecies.

Nerine bowdenii subsp. wellsii

A little further up the zig-zag trail we came across Gladiolus microcarpus and protruding from some basal boulders were Ornithogalum regale in flower.

Ornithogalum regale

After a few more zig-zags we were approaching an altitude of 2750m and had gone as far as we wanted to go, so we stopped for lunch near some swathes of Nerine bowdenii growing at the base of the basalt cliffs. Searching the grassland here I found Holothrix incurvata and a beautiful Huttonaea grandiflora, and near the path a Brownleea macroceras nestled amongst the grass.

Holothrix incurvata

Huttonaea grandiflora

Brownleea macroceras

After we returned to the vehicles Elsa suggested we travel slowly down the road and stop occasionally to see what else we could find. Apart from several other showy and interesting species we came across two Kniphofias, K. fibrosa, and a smaller plant which we think might be K. breviflora but this needs to be verified.

Kniphofia fibrosa

Kniphofia cf. breviflora

By that stage the sun was getting close to the horizon so we called it a day and went off to the Witsieshoek Lodge to relax.  

The sunrise on the Amphitheatre mountains the next morning was spectacular! It is almost worth staying at the lodge just to see these sunrises.

Sunrise on the Eastern Butress

Participants: 4x Pondoland CREW plus Elsa Pooley and a small remnant of the CREW Workshop delegates.

CREW Workshop 2016: Tugela Gorge Field Trip

A 07h00 start from the Backpackers Lodge saw us arrive at the parking area below Tendele Camp in Royal Natal National Park at about 07h30 on a damp and misty morning. 

Dew drops on a flowering Stephania abyssinica

The conditions ensured that the path up to Tugela Gorge was muddy and slippery.  This made the walk more onerous and resulted in some minor casualties, causing some of our team to drop out early. The balance however pressed on with the intention of getting to the observation deck before turning back and botanising on the return trip - a difficult thing to do when there were many interesting flowers posing along the sides of the trail. 

We had lunch at a spot overlooking a narrow channel where the river is constrained but which provided a niche for Gladiolus microcarpus on the cliff faces.

The lunch spot

Tugela gorge with Tugela Falls hidden in the background

Gladiolus microcarpus

Gladiolus microcarpus

On the forest floor and growing on rocks in the shade we found several orchid species, amongst which were the following:

Holothrix orthoceras

Huttonaea pulchra

Pterygodium hastatum

We found Anisodontea julii in the grassland alongside the path and Lotononis lotonioides was a common sight amongst the tall grasses. There were also patches of Otholobium caffrum with terminal clusters of purple-tinged flowers.

Anisodontea julii

Lotononis lotonioides 

Otholobium caffrum

Lower down we found a single Papaver aculeata and one Gloriosa modesta

Papaver aculeatum

Gloriosa modesta

The afternoon sun had started drying out the muddy path, brought out the Moraea inclinata flowers and started bruising the older flowers on a Harveya speciosa. We saw Pelargonium dispar and the mountain endemic Scabiosa drakensbergensis.

Moraea inclinata

Harveya speciosa

Pelargonium dispar

Scabiosa drakensbergensis

In the alluvial plain near the river was a solitary but splendid Eucomis bicolor.

Eucomis bicolor

Participants: 4 x Pondoland CREW plus other delegates to the 2016 Summer Rainfall CREW Workshop