Black South-easter Sunday Flower Walk

Yes, cold and blustery and overcast! But it didn't stop us from seeing what was in flower in 'our patch'!

But first, from during the week: I mentioned before that the Wachendorfia thyrsiflora were about to flower on a farm I work on. Here they are, characteristically with their feet in the water:

Wachendorfia thyrsiflora

Flower detail:

Wachendorfia thyrsiflora flowers

Also on this farm, some of the brightest Vygies Mesembryanthemums I've ever seen!

Vygies Mesembryanthemum

On the way, on the side of the road, a Satyr Orchid Satyrium coriifolium:

Satyr Orchid Satyrium coriifolia

Today, still on the farm, in a tenant's garden, we found this Ixia:

Ixia

Out on the path near the ruins of the railway cottages, a new one to us: (it wouldn't stand still in the wind, but the photo is included to show how the whole plant grows!) Probably a Beetle Lily, Baeometra uniflora:

Beetle Lily Baeometra uniflora ? 

Flower detail:

Baeometra uniflora flower detail

Nearby, a Sparaxis bulbifera:

Sparaxis bulbifera

I still haven't seen a Sundew Drosera flower open!

Sundew Drosera buds

Sundew Drosera buds

On the lower slopes there are literally hundreds of young Wachendorfia paniculata out, yet strangely the more established plants further up have yet to push buds up!

Wachendorfia paniculata

Pink flowers makes this plant a Teedia:

Teedia

In the small area we've found these Drimias (?) there are certainly many of them. But nowhere else! In places the leaves have been eaten (?) off. I plucked and chewed on a leaf, but it tasted like any other plain grass.

Drimia? 

These, first spotted last week, have developed, but we still haven't found a name for them. Some kind of daisy?

Unknown flower

Another one, showing a whole plant:

Whole plant with above flowers

Near it, a pink Metalasia!

Metalasia quinqueflora (?)

Metalasia cephalotes?

Metalasia quinqueflora (?) flower

At last! An open Helichrysum

Helichrysum

'Our' single Erica longifolia (?) is looking a but shabby at the moment:

Erica longifolia (?)

Quite the opposite in the case of the Phaenocoma prolifera! Bud, young flower, and full blown! They can be seen all the way up and down Houw Hoek Pass, here and there.

Phaenocoma prolifera

This gives an idea of the weather (and the terrain!). Yellow daisies are out all over!

Black South-easter and off-white Labrador

We were keen to find the single plant with the cluster of pink flowers we found last week. We still haven't pinned it down, although it might be a Helichrysum. One flower looks fully open.

Unknown flower, a Helichrysum? 

This shows how it grows, and the leaves:

This is what the plant looks like

Back at home, the Sundowners are moving fast, the bee-hives are expected early tomorrow morning!

Sundowner blossom! 

:-) A

Semper Aliquid Novi Sunday Flower Walk

Always something new! Today was no exception. In fact, we have more questions than answers!

Snow on the high peaks!

But first, back to yesterday, going over to Franschhoek in my old Austin Lorry I was compelled to stop on the Pass by a brightly coloured flower on the side of the road.

Muraltia heisteria on Franschhoek Pass

Only when it was in the viewfinder did I recognise the flower itself as a Muraltia. However, this one grows differently from the single example we have found on our walks. Here the flower is more prominent and the plant more scraggly. It has us guessing whether we're correct with the identity of 'our' one as M. heisteria. The one on the Pass looks like that on the Fernkloof  website as M. heisteria. There's a M. stokoei and a M. bolusii which is listed as 'endangered'. There were many of these on the Pass!

Growing pattern, Muraltia heisteria

The rainwater channel had many Drosera growing in it, with buds almost ready to open, but my photos didn't come out. These are from today on our walk:

Sundew Drosera

Last week, on the way home on the Experimental Farm next door, we spotted a white Erica. It was difficult to get to, so this week we cut through the brambles and clambered across a ditch to get up close:

Erica lutea or E. daphniflora?

We think it might be Erica lutea, but it might also be a white version of E. daphniflora. In the pictures on the web and in the books, the leaves aren't shown very well. I bent this branch down to show what these look like:

Erica lutea or E. daphniflora?

We found the single purple bulb we spotted last week and Pippa held the stem to show what the whole plant looks like. It was growing in and held up by a tuft of grass:

Geissorhiza aspera?

Flower and bud detail, what is it? Geissorhiza aspera?

Geissorhiza aspera flower detail?

Close by was something else, a white bulb

White flower bulb, Hesperantha?

Flower detail, possibly a Hesperantha?

Flower detail, Hesperantha (?)

Another one, with flower not fully open:

Opening flower, Hesperantha (?)

We were disappointed to find this Skaapsteker dead in the road, apparently driven over:

Skaapsteker Psammophylax rhombeatus dead

Psammophylax rhombeatus (Spotted skaapsteker, Rhombic skaapsteker, Spotted grass snake). A few hundred metres away, we found one very much alive. More scared of me than I was of it. We just had to keep the dogs away:

Skaapsteker Psammophylax rhombeatus alive!

The Wachendorfias lower down are flowering and in some cases have spent flowers and the beginning of their characteristic turban-shaped seed pods forming, yet a few hundred metres further up the hill, hardly a bud is coming up!

Wachendorfia paniculata

This grey-green furry-leafed plant had no flowers last week. Now some of the bright yellow pea-type flowers are out:

Liparia vestita?

There are plenty of buds to open still. The closest we get to identifying it is Liparia vestita:

Liparia vestita?

These Everlastings Helichrysum which had pink buds last week are now more open and snow-white:

Everlasting Helichrysum

Here's a 'new' one! The centre flowers are open, surrounded by buds-in-waiting!

Unknown flower and buds

This is how the plant grows:

Unknown plant and flowers

Detail of the sparse leaves. What could it be?

Unknown flower head

The wonders of Nature! How can this Daisy (Euryops?) survive and thrive in this crack in a rock?

Daisy Euryops (?) in crack in rock!

Where before we had one flower per plant open, for many weeks, they're in full bloom now!

Daisy Euryops (?) in road

We had some difficulty finding our single example of what we think is Erica longifolia. The Daisy plants are getting thicker and taller around it.

Erica longifolia (?)

Then I spotted another 'new' plant!

What is this plant?

Flower detail. The petals look papery, and the leaves reminded me of chameleon paws in shape and texture. What might it be?

Flower detail

These flowers look white but are pink, so that should make them Teedias

Teedia with flowers

Here and there a Pelargonium flower is out.

Pelargonium flower

We have been seeing these Gladiolus debilis for a few weeks now. This one is growing in a stand of large Restios:

Gladiolus debilis flower

In one area there is a sea of China Flowers Adenandra uniflora. There are still many buds waiting!

Adenandras!

Flower detail:

Adenandra uniflora flower

Something else 'new'! I found myself almost standing on this plant, covered in buds. Leaves are sparse, short and close to the stem and the flower clusters are at the ends of each branch:

Unknown plant and flowers

Some of the buds are opening as white flowers

Flower / bud detail

Branching detail of flowers

Always worth a detour into the veld, Saltera sarcocolla:

Saltera sarcocolla

The strange plant growing out of corms again, which never seems to do anything! Maybe we'll get a pleasant surprise yet!

Unknown plant growing from corms

This picture shows the size of the Lobelia tomentosa flowers which colour the veld throughout the year, it seems!

Lobelia tomentosa

Finally, this episode is dedicated to Gay Prevôst who passed away in this last week. She was an avid follower of these reports and had opened files for the different plants. We shall miss her!

Andy