Today's flowers

We're still no closer to finding a name for the Protea-type (?) which we discovered in the forest last week, but first some others. These ericas (?) give a splash of rusty brown with the green: Detail at the top end of the Saltera sarcocolla flower: Saltera sarcocolla flower Magnificent Restio: Restio It was blustery weather so I had to hold the stem, but it gives an idea how small the bloom is. Each leaf has a three-pointed end with a yellow tip on each: There's a bud or smaller flower just behind this one on the right. There are buds or smaller flowers singly on other stems; The flash picked up the furriness on the leaves here: The whole plant isn't too impressive, we've been walking right past it for years. The flowers have shown no development since last week. Then to the other unknown, just to make sure it's not a Struthiola: The white ones are spent and those on the right have still to open. Definitely no eight white petals, so what is it? This lichen on the sandstone caught our eyes: More Mountain dahlia, Liperia splendens, of the pea family but it is pollinated by the sunbirds. Liperia splendens Sure enough, this one is close to a big stand of Kings, Protea cynaroides. In this area, the leaves are badly spotted: Protea cynaroides Also nearby is this magnificent Othonna quinquedendata, normally difficult to photograph because they grow tall and gangly: Othonna quinquedentata So even in the dead of winter, there's lots to find! :-) A

Easy I thought

We think we have this one at last! (my pic of an earlier one found on Sunday): Struthiola ciliata Stroopbossie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struthiola From the web above, my pic below: But then this one, from the web: looks a bit like: This one of mine, with a slightly different leaf. Let's see if this one shows an open flower: We'll have to go back for this one! :-) A

Yesterday's flowers

I always think there'll be nothing special to photograph when we start walking and land up with lots in the can! But first, back to last week, when we cut down this Silky Hakea, and broke off and took away the four seed pods we found on it. Its needles are unpleasantly sharp!   Still not identified is this one, even though we now have John Manning's Field Guide to Fynbos: Detail of the flower: At one stage we were walking through pine forest which has been established for several years, not expecting to find much, yet it's here that we found the Fire Lily, so you never know..... It looks like a Protea, it's small as you can see from Pippa's hand, and the leaves look Protea-like, slightly furry: There were several flowers at the end of some stems. Again, we haven't tracked it down yet! Further along, also in complete forest cover, this Mountain Dahlia, Liparia splendens, which we've come across before, but in the open: Liparia splendens Its membership of the pea family is apparent here. Bud or pod? We'll see next week! The Saltera sarcocolla seem to flower all year. Here you can see four flowers come out of the single stem: Saltera sarcocolla This Erica begged to be photographed! Erica And this restio to show what a beautiful day it was! A few weeks back I noted some hanging Restio flowers. They're showing delicate yellow tendrils now: Some of the Kings are fully out now: Protea cynaroides Yet there are still buds coming: Protea cynaroides bud And some are half-way! Protea cynaroides We still haven't pinned this one down either: The dam must be full by now! :-) A

Sunday walk, Brunias... and a bonus!

It seems that every walk is dominated by a particular type of flower, this week, Brunias which are looking their best with fresh clusters of 'flowers'. This one was interesting, a single branch had produced a deformed flower: deformed Brunia The King Proteas are still stunning, in their different shades and variations: Protea cynaroides Protea cynaroides This gives an idea of how prolific the flowers are on one bush! Protea cynaroides bush At the very top of the pine tree next to this was the Malachite Sunbird, peeping: 'It was all my work!' The white Helichrysums have been showing fresh growth and the first flowers are coming out now on the sunny side of the hills: The pink one we have been keeping an eye on has shown that what we saw was in fact a bud, not a seed pod: Three little Maids from School: And this is what the seed pods look like, tucked away inside the foliage: In another area, this one again, noticed in two places last week, the bud form below the open flower: We again saw the white-and-yellow flowers on almost leafless stems (although there are leaves flat against the stems), still evading identification: This is what the whole plant looks like: Here's another stranger, growing in the road, is the yellow part a flower? Another which we can't pin down yet: The overcast weather brought out the colour in the Lobelias which never seem to stop giving the veld a splash of violet: We had two hitch-hikers on our walk; we've got used to Blondie by now, but undergoing de-ticking is Boy's daughter as a result of an amorous liaison with Oliver's Staffie: The Bonus was a trip to work on a Caterpillar in Hemel & Aarde between Caledon and Hermanus. We don't see Saltera sarcocolla as bright or as fully open as these, which sprinkle the veld with colour: Saltera sarcocolla In bud form: Saltera sarcocolla bud The pink helichrysums seem more advanced than here: Wachendorfias galore, which should look impressive in flower: Wachendorfia Not found in the books yet, unless it's one of the 145 Agathosmas ?: and a planted Leucadendron Safari Sunset (?), which some insect seems to be enjoying! Babylonstoren looks impressive from there, with a veil of cloud: On the way back, on the Karweyderskraal road, as usual under the power lines, the Protea longifolia are just out: Protea longifolia bud Bud above and open,below: Protea longifolia And this one, a bubble-gum pink compacta (Bot River Protea): Protea compacta :-) A