Fire Asparagus Sunday Flower Walk

It is now 4½ weeks since the fire and we were today discussing the plants which have recovered, in order of their appearance.

Within days the Fire Lilies Cyrtanthus ventricosa were up, and at the same time the green shoots of Lanaria lanata were pushing up their burned ends. Various grasses were quick to follow. We were happy to see the Agapanthus walshii shooting from burned stumps. Then we found the Fire Asparagus Asparagus lignosus and it's all over! Recognisable by the dense light green splash it makes on the burned background, it's standing out and the earliest are now in flower:

Asparagus lignosus flowers and leaves

The flowers are tiny, the leaves firm, almost like short pine-needles and the thorns in the axils needle sharp!

Asparagus lignosus branch

What is surprising is that it seems to have been there all the time and we've never noticed them! Look at the base of this one; there are plenty of burned-off stems. The 'woodiness' of the name 'lignosus' is apparent here:

Base of Asparagus lignosus plant showing burned-off stems

This is what the whole plant looks like in the bleak landscape:

Asparagus lignosus plant

I mentioned the Agapanthus walshii, we have been watching them for years now and know where to find them. But what is very satisfying is to see others in their vicinity now shooting, which we were unaware of.

Agapanthus walshii

They are very rare; in SANBI's Red List, they are EN B1ab(ii,iii); C1

"Known from a restricted range (35 km²) in the Elgin valley, recorded from less than five locations with continuing decline of the largest subpopulation occurring as a result of informal settlement expansion." It's pleasing to know that they will have survived the fire. It took some looking to find a bunch we have been keeping an eye on for years. We knew where to look and knew that it should be sprouting. The fire must have been very 'hot' there, but today we found it and packed stones around to make it easier it find in future. There were five flowers on it when the fire came through, including one which we had put a stocking over, to catch a few seeds. Agapanthus walshii, an old stand, recovering Elsewhere, they're thriving! More Agapanthus walshii The Pelargoniums are recovering fast in places, some straight out of the ground: Pelargonium out of the ground ..... and some from the bases of burned bushes: Pelargonium recovering from the base of a burned bush This shows the stage that Lanaria lanata has reached so far, this one recognisable by the remains of flowers:

Lanaria lanata with the remains of flowers

All over, the Palmiet is pushing out green shoots, not only from the burned stems, but from the base too:

Palmiet, shooting

So far this is the only Fire Lily Cyrtanthus ventricosa we have found which has set seed. The leaves are showing, but from our observations, they don't get much bigger than this:

Fire Lily Cyrtanthus ventricosa with seed pod

One side of the pod is open, we're not sure whether it has been eaten or that it's beginning to split open to distribute seeds.

Seed pod of Fire Lily Cyrtanthius ventricosa

To give an idea of how 'hot' the fire was and how deep it burned, this dog lead is 1.2 metres long and its clip is just touching the bottom of the hole left from a pine root! If that plant on top survives, it's hardy!

Root of pine burned to a depth of more than one metre!

Here, Lanaria lanata is giving the otherwise bleak background a green hue:

Lanaria lanata greening the bleak background!

It made a change to get back into the unburned section and to find old favourites like this White Water Alder Brachylaena neriifolia, still in flower, as the others would be!

White Water Alder Brachylaena neriifolia in flower

.... and our old favourite, the Many Umbrellas Heath Erica multumbellifera:

Many Umbrellas Heath Erica multumbellifera

This is how it grows, many of the flowers are spent:

Erica multumbellifera plant

At the dam on the Experimental Farm next door, we were treated to the sight of six Spoonbills. We seldom see more than one at a time. Here they are amongst Sacred Ibis, Blacksmith Plovers (oops! Lapwings) and a Darter:

Six Spoonbills amongst Sacred Ibis, Lapwings and a Darter

We watched the large flock of Sacred Ibis land, then just four Hadeda Ibis took off from the bank of the dam on the left with their raucous calls, causing all the birds on the island to fly away, the Spoonbills keeping to themselves in flight, and returning first. What made the Hadeda's fly off? Not sure, but looking up we saw a Fish Eagle circling! Quite a performance for us in a minute or so!

:-) A