Sunny Winter Sunday Flower Walk

Well, it ended up sunny, anyway! But before leaving home, the Lesser Double Collared Sunbird was being shy in the Wilde Dagga, Lion's Tail, Leonotis leonurus and wouldn't let me get a good view!

Lesser double-collared Sunbird in Wilde Dagga, Leonotis leonurus

Then just below, I noticed movement! This Streepmuis, Striped Field-mouse or 'GT' Mouse was not being fooled for one moment by the plastic snake, and carried on nibbling off the poppies Pippa has planted, in vain!

Streepmuis ignoring plastic snake

We picked up the green/yellow Erica coccinea we found first and cut across country directly into the wind and found the bigger and better one quite easily. In fact it was difficult to miss!

Erica coccinea

It's still completely covered in blooms! The way the leaves grow in tufts is clearly visible in the photo below:

Erica coccinea flower detail

Hypodiscus aristatus flower

Hypodiscus aristatus flower

This looked like a pair of Hypodiscus aristatus: Anina agrees and says: 'If you look closely at the stamens you will see they are cup-shaped to hold the pollen until the wind blows.'

Hypodiscus aristatus male and female

Surprise! Still some low-growing pink Ericas around!

Pink Erica, still in flower

The Sulphur-tufts have split around the edges, making attractive stars. Some have dried up:

Sulphur Tufts

We had some difficulty finding this tiny plant, spotted last week. It's a single specimen and we've marked it now. It's right in the track of a road, but as I mentioned, felled trees have been pulled across on both sides. What could it be?

Unknown tiny plant growing from corms

An impressive Leucadendron:

Leucadendron spp

Detail of the flower/fruit:

Leucadendron flower/fruit

I turned round and was confronted by this enormous stand of Restios, easily 6 feet tall:

Large stand of Ceratocaryum argenteum

Flower detail. Again from Anina: 'Yes, very impressive. It's the male Ceratocaryum argenteum.'  

Ceratocaryum argenteum flower detail

Here's another low growing pink Erica:

Another small pink Erica

Different again, with dark red stamens:

Flower detail

We were on the way to check up on a plant we think is Amphithalea tomentosa, when we came across a number of them, quite some distance away from the one we found before! Tomentosa means felt-like or hairy, so I preume this refers to the flower:

Amphithalea tomentosa?

It's a sprawly plant, and the green doesn't quite match the other greens around. We are looking forward to how the pea-like flowers look when they come out!

Amphithalea tomentosa plant?

Nearby was what at a distance looks like a white Erica, but we know now to look close for the dark brown to black centres to the flowers. You don't notice them easily from above:

White Erica with dark centres

Also close by were some stunning female Elegia persistens:

Elegia persistens female

There was a male close by, but the strong winds we've had recently have stripped them bare!

We thought the King Proteas Protea cynaroides were over for the year; far from it!

Protea cynaroides bud

This one below is on a bush near the previous one, which we've never seen before. It's now exposed by the clearing of the pines.

Protea cynaroides 

We went to look at a pink Erica I'd found a couple of weeks ago and Pippa hadn't studied closely.

Erica plukenetii? 

It's a single specimen, growing right next to a path we've walked on a hundred times! The leaves are not growing in tufts like the E. coccinea above and the longest are almost 2cm long. Probably E. plukenetii?

This Mesemb looks as if it's been soaking up all the rain of late, the red triangular leaves were as bright as a Vygie flower itself!

Mesemb

For comparision we looked in at this old Erica which we think is E. longifolia, with its trumpet shaped flowers.

Erica longifolia? 

It never seems to stop pushing out new flowers!

Erica longifolia buds?

While checking out one of 'our' Agapanthus walshii, we noticed this, which at a distance looked like another white Erica. Not so! It looks like a Struthiola possibly S. ciliata. The Northwester was blowing strongly and it wouldn't stand still!

Struthiola ciliata? 

Turning around, I was struck by a carpet of blue! We're used to Lobelias in this area, and I thought it was yet another different kind. But then we noticed that the flowers are upside-down for a Lobelia!

Viola decumbens

Viola decumbens!

Viola decumbens flower

So that was our 'find' for the day!

Pippa's just heard the screech of a Barn Owl, so that GT Strepie had better be quick off the mark if it's out!

:-) A

Sunday Flower Walk through the Week

We had a Christmas in July party today so I'll have to pick out what we found in the week. I had a job on at Karweyderskraal and although I didn't have time to stop under the Eskom powerlines for the Protea compacta, Bot River Protea, which are at their very best at the moment, there were interesting flowers in the farm-yard.

We are used to the white Metalasia here, so a pink one was a novelty: M. erubescens?

Metalasia erubescens?

Near it in the yard was a Lobelia, also different from the ones we know here. To the right behind is a white Erica:

Unknown Lobelia

This bush with yellow flowers caught my eye, possibly with a pea-type flower.

Unknown plant

The triangle at the turn-off to our Country Club is looking impressive at the moment. These Proteas are a bit hidden behind the billboards:

Proteas at the Country Club turn-off

A distinctly paler one near them:

More Proteas at the Country Club turn-off

Leucadendron with yellow flowers, L. laureolum?:

Leucadendron laureolum?

And the red one! Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset'. This one obscures the signboards and has to be cut back every year, but it seems to thrive on it!

Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset'

It was too wet to do our 67 minutes for Mandela at Max Harris Park yesterday but I popped in to see what was in flower. The Japanese Flowering Quince Chaenomeles speciosa started flowering a couple of weeks ago. It was severely cut back at our first Gardening Day, so it should be fuller than it is. Nevertheless it is striking with its deep pink blossoms and no leaves:

Japanese Flowering Quince Chaenomeles speciosa buds

There is a single pink bloom on the otherwise white Camellia:

A single pink Camellia flower on an otherwise white bush

If you ignore the rubbish and tangled fencing under them, the Aloe arborescens are stunning. The NGK spire is having a face-lift. They're wasting their time looking for eggs under the cock!

Aloe arborescens

This bush has looked familiar all along; now that its colours are coming through, it looks like a Fiddlewood Citharexylum quadrangulare. The word 'guitar' can be picked out in the Greek!

Fiddlewood Citharexylum quadrangulare?

There are still lots of Proteas to come, with several buds like this:

Protea bud in Max Harris park

Is this a Blue Daisy, Blue Marguerite or Felicia amelloides?

Blue Daisy, Blue Marguerite Felicia amelloides?

So easily overlooked are the Crassula ovata or Jade Plant flowers! The leaves of this one are riddled with holes and it looks quite scruffy, but up close the flowers are exquisite!

Crassula ovata flower

We did go for a short walk yesterday. I took this picture of a white Metalasia to compare the foliage with the pink one. This one certainly has the 'axial tufts' referred to in some of the guides. The M. erubescens above (if that's what it is) has plainer leaves, more like a rosemary plant.

White Metalasia flower showing foliage

Here is an Erica we're not familiar with, we found several in one patch only:

Unknown Erica

Here's that plant with the red flowers again!

Unknown plant with red flowers

Amongst it and nearby is a tough-growing plant with almost Cedrus-type leaves, now covered in round white flowers:

Unknown plant with white flowers

In the middle of the road, right on the track was this unusual tiny plant. Felled trees had been dragged across the road on both sides of it, could it be something special?

Tiny plant in road, growing from corms

The Retios are numerous, impressive and complicated. At first they all look the same, until you look up close. The flowers particularly are beautiful if you study them closely, each one very different! Anina has kindly identified the three specimens in the photos below: 'This one is a Hypodiscus aristatus male flower'.

Hypodiscus aristatus male flower

Anina says of this below: 'Possibly another Hypodiscus aristatus male, but a younger flower. The female flowers are similar, but usually only a single inflorescence. (Yes, these are a whole inflorescence with lots of little flowers hidden by the spine bracts) and slimmer'.  

Younger Hypodiscus aristatus male flower?

Again, thanks to Anina, 'Thamnochortus lucens male.'

Thamnochortus lucens male flower

The much-hacked Buchu, Agathosma betulina has come back with a bang! We have to be careful where we stand near it, for its numerous babies! Two can be seen coming up at the bottom of the picture.

Buchu Agathosma betulina with babies

On the way home we found the remains of a Bolete (?) with scaffolding!

Old Bolete?

And close by, some impressive orange Cinnabar brackets, Pycnoporus spp?

Cinnabar Bracket fungus Pycnoporus spp?

On the subject of fungi, on the driveway at home we have been watching this Fairy Circle:

Fairy Circle at home

The bare ring is where they were growing and the grass in the middle was mown at the same time as the rest around but has grown vigorously in comparison with that on the outside of the ring!

:-) A