The first fungus we found was on a road in the experimental farm, a Common Earthball Sclerodermia citrinum. Don't eat it!
This Prickly Pear, Opuntia continues to flower, but only one or two are open at the moment:
I asked for identification on this shrub a few weeks ago, growing between two Brunais. It has been crudely broken off on most of the stems, leaving only the base of the plant!
This is what it looked like a few weeks ago. Who would do this, why, and what is it?
At last, the light green / white Erica we have been watching for several weeks has started to show its full colours!
The whole plant will be covered in these little orange stamens (?) in a week or two! Could it be an E. plukenetii?
There are carpets of these Oxalis, particularly the pink ones, the bright yellow ones are seen just here and there.
A white Erica, still in full bloom. Some of the pink and mauve ones have turned a rusty red colour with spent flowers.
In the same area is another white one with a flower-within-a-flower, which looks like an E. lutea (apologies for the poor photos!)
This plant growing against a rock looked interesting, with tiny serrated leaves:
Up close, the flowers show a Lobelia arrangement of petals. We have seen this before and it looks like L. jasionoides:
A cry from above, a Jackal Buzzard!
After a long wait, the Protea cynaroides are looking at their best now; they really are photogenic!
And they live up to their common name, King Proteas!
They are found here in the yellowy green above and pink:
One of the first Liparia splendens or Mountain Dahlias we found is now looking considerably different from the rest! The flowers don't hang as much, they are smaller and more regular in shape:
Compare that with what we are more used to, a short distance away:
Is it the same species?
Another fungus, growing amongst the dead pine sticks, gilled with a longish stem:
And another on the way home in an orchard:
I wouldn't be in a hurry to eat either!
A bit of feedback on the shrub with red berries and Maple-shape (and colour!) leaves which we found in Max Harris Park last week:
It had us guessing and the nearest was one of the Crataegus or Hawthorns, particularly C. Phaenopyrum, or Washington Hawthorn. I went back to look for the thorns and wasn't disappointed!
Whether the Phaenopyrum, meaning 'looking like fire' refers to the leaves in Autumn or the berries themselves, we shall have to wait a week or two to find out!
:-) A
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Just a short note from the UK, Andy has photos here of a White Erica which I find extremely interesting, Here we refer to Ericas as Lings or Heathers and the white is considered very lucky. Going on I have lived in a village formed by the construction of a wartime airfield which required the demolition of a small hamlet called Ling one of the last known habitats of the famous wild White Heather in the British Isles. Today the name continues on a lane, a farm, 2 cottages and a huge sand quarry, sadly the plant has gone..
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