After the Storm Sunday Flower Walk

At 7am the heavens opened and we thought there'd be no chance of a walk today, but the forecast (from Norway!) promised it would clear, but that there'd be a brisk Westerly. Dead right, as it turned out! But it was still gloomy as can be seen from this picture of our Eikenhof Dam, which is filling rapidly. Small wonder, with 40mm more in the gauge today, on top of the 90 and what turned out to be over 60 from last week. In old fashioned language, that's nearly eight inches in a week and a half!

Eikenhof Dam on a gloomy day

We were keen to see what damage might have been inflicted on 'our' plants from the felling of the last trees on the peak we call Darien (from which stout Cortez with his eagle eyes, star'd at the Pacific). A single tree has defied the chainsaws!

Lone pine on Darien Peak

The rock on the right is just waiting to fall down the hill! We were delighted to find that the loggers had set up their chute a reasonable distance from where several Agapanthus walshii are growing, including one which flowers.

Pine logs piled up at the bottom of a chute, not far from Agapanthus walshii

Further up, they've also avoided, by luck or good judgement, most of the red Erica coccinea we found up there.

There's not an awful lot of colour around in the veld, but the pink Ericas haven't completely finished. These Erica multumbellifera or Many-Umbrella Heath should be over by now. Each flower had a hole eaten (?) in the side; is the mouth of this 'umbel' too small for 'normal' pollination?

Erica multumbellifera or Many-umbrella Heath

Other pink Ericas are still to be seen, but most have turned a rusty reddish brown.

Erica spp

We are starting to see the white heathers along a path where we know we'll find them at the right time of the year. Later, each flower develops a distinctive black spot.

White Erica spp

At the end of that path we know to look for 'our' single Muraltia heisteria, which seems never to get any bigger, nor can we find any more in the area! The tiny flowers show up vividly!

Muraltia heisteria

But first we spotted a Gnidia anomala which is in flower now. We had looked for another we know of, at the top of Darien, but it seems to have been swept away with the logs.

Gnidia anomala

Flower detail:

Gnidia anomala flower

A little later, we spotted another example of the Thymelaeaceas, also in flower, the Struthiola ciliata, which grows in the same fashion:

Struthiola ciliata

.... but the flowers are very different:

Struthiola ciliata flower

Anina tells us Winter is the time for Restios, she's right! She says that this one looks like a male Restio egregious, by the branched, untidy culms and pendulous male inflorescence.

Male Restio egregious?

Flower detail:

Male Restio egregious flower?

Close by..... she says that this one could be the female Restio egregious, 'but you would have to check that the culms (stems) are identical to the male'. Not so easy, it seems!

Female Restio egregious?

Flower detail:

Female Restio egregious flower?

Now with the regrowth pines cleared, this magnificent plant stands out even more than it used to! Anina says she's not sure on this one but it's probably a Hypodiscus species.

Hypodiscus spp?

Flower detail:

Flower detail of above 

Looking down on another: 'This looks like a male Hypodiscus argenteus'

Hypodiscus argenteus?

Flower detail. It's only when you look at them up close that you realise how exquisite the flowers are!

Hypodiscus argenteus flower ?

We saw this one below last week, a female Elegia persistens (I think!)(confirmed!).

Female Elegia persistens

Easily overlooked, these smaller reeds also have names! 'This is probably Restio hyalinus (formerly Calopsis hyaline). It's difficult to tell male and female apart until you look at the flowers under magnification to see if there are anthers or styles sticking out.'

Many thanks to Anina Lee for her help with this intriguing subject!

Restio hyalinus?

Much has been said recently about the foam, which even forms a brownish scum, seen in our rivers; blaming all kinds of pollutants, but to a certain extent, it is a natural phenomenon as can be seen here:

Natural foam and scum high up in the catchment

Tomorrow is a Public Holiday and another Gardening Day at Max Harris Park. The weather looks favourable!

:-) A