Two shillings and sixpence Sunday Flower Walk

Yes, that's what Pippa found, lying on the ground exposed by the fire!

Pippa found two shillings and sixpence!

1953 and 1959! Our pocket money in '59 was a shilling a week and you could buy three pink Star sweets or two Wilsons toffees for a penny! If they could only tell a story!

She also noticed a tortoise helplessly stuck between the two railway lines, picked it up carefully, knowing it would 'wet itself' and put it down a short distance away. We looked later and it was nowhere to be found.

Rescued tortoise from between the railway lines

We seem to have agreement on iSpot that 'our' Buchu Agathosma isn't A. betulina as I thought, but A. crenulata. Its 'babies' are doing well.

Baby Buchu's Agathosma crenulata

I noticed a pink hue to the flowers for the first time, but couldn't get the camera to focus on them.

Agathosma crenulata flower

We were happy to see what we think is Gladiolus carneus re-growing nicely. There has been no rain for a couple of weeks.

We think this is recovering Gladiolus carneus

This looks like a Wachendorfia with its pleated leaves.

Wachendorfia, possibly W. paniculata

We keep finding Fire Asparagus Asparagus lignosus:

Fire Asparagus Asparagus lignosus between the rocks

Pelargoniums are recovering well, sometimes straight out of the ground, sometimes at the base of a burned bush.

Pelargonium

Here is what is probably a Watsonia schlechteri which has escaped the worst of the fire. The leaves with the single rib in the middle help identify many more coming up elsewhere.

Watsonia schlechteri

.... but these leaves are much broader. It will be exciting finding out what each one is!

A wider leaf?

In the 'gully' we were attracted to a splash of bright green, probably Lanaria lanata. What is interesting is the way it seems to have shed the burned ends of the leaves.

Lanaria lanata (?), with burned leaf-ends shed

We were disturbed during our walk by a motor bike zooming around, not staying on the tracks, making its own tracks straight up and down hills in the burned veld. The worry is that these tracks might lead to erosion when the rains come. In two places the bike nearly rode over precious Agapanthus walshii plants.

Motor bike tracks, close to Agapanthus walshii plants

I filmed the activity and reported it: https://youtu.be/2afLkbSM-PU and https://youtu.be/zEFNg1o2Z8Q and http://youtu.be/RACJ3B20gTU

:-(

:-( A

Agapanthus walshii Recovery Sunday Flower Walk

Certainly, the re-emergence of Agapanthus walshii plants was the highlight of our walk. No chance of flowers for a long time yet, but it was good to see those we know of coming back strongly. In one place where we knew they were and can't find them, we're still hoping they'll come up again. Yet in another where we didn't know they were, close to a road we use often, we found a stand over several square metres and it was easy to count to 33 individual plants!

No less than 33 Agapanthus walshii plants in this small area!

In another place where we knew of one or two, there was a whole row. Considering their rarity, this is all good news and interesting to see that they seem to have benefited from the fire which was now about eight weeks ago. Their status in 2004 was described thus: '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.'

A whole row of Agapanthus walshii where there was one or two

Elsewhere, sprouting at the base of shrubs was pleasing, like this fairly large Brachylaena neriifolia:

Sprouting from the base of a Brachylaena neriifolia

This Fire Asparagus Asparagus lignosus seems to be past its best now, with lower branches dying back. The ground underneath is strewn with spent flowers or seeds.

Fire Asparagus Asparagus lignosus, past its best

Another one is less far advanced, with flowers still out:

A younger Asparagus lignosus

The flowers are tiny and delicate:

Asparagus lignosus flowers, leaves and thorns!

This Palmiet is recovering nicely:

Palmiet, recovering

We're waiting to see what will happen to this Pagoda Flower Mimetes cucullatus; nothing yet!

Mimetes cucullatus, nothing happening yet

This is what the burned flower looks like:

Mimetes cucullatus, burned flower

Again, there was very little colour, a splash of yellow here and there from this Oxalis (luteola?):

Yellow Oxalis (luteola?)

.... and pink from these:

Pink Oxalis (hirta?)

Also pink, this Tritoniopsis (lata?) which was the only one we spied!

Our only Tritoniopsis (lata?) sighting today

It was interesting to see a bare flower stem growing from one hole and a single leaf from another!

This is how it was growing

Flower detail:

With the long upper tepal, is this Tritoniopsis lata? 

Growing in the middle of the road, we're amazed always that this Campylostachys cernua survives. Burned, but spared the worst of the fire, it's shooting from the base:

Campylostachys cernua, in the middle of the road, burned, but recovering!

But it was very pleasing to find what we think is another one, growing about 10 metres away, safely away from the road:

Another one, a short distance away?

Using our markers, mostly stones packed on the side of the road, we are able to trace where we remember plants were growing before the fire. In this case, Dilatris pillansii, recovering well.

Recovering Dilatris pillansii

Working from another stone marker, and in relation to a Lanaria lanata which has recovered well, we were delighted to find this which we're pretty sure is the big stand of Gladiolus carneus we found. It was right at the edge of the fire and seems to be coming up again strongly:

Gladiolus carneus coming up again? 

We have marked it with sticks along with the Lanaria lanata:

Marked with sticks

:-) A

Mostly Green Sunday Flower Walk

Although the burned veld looks grey from a distance, now after seven weeks, the colour is returning, although it's mostly green leaves. Here and there a splash of colour is visible from a distance, like this Tritoniopsis, in a crack in the rock which escaped the worst of the fire, Possibly T. antholyza. It looks as if we're in for a good showing of them in the next few weeks, judging from the leaves coming up.

Tritoniopsis in a crack in the rocks

Jennetta wrote in for more details of the Buchu Agathosma we have been watching. We have assumed it's A. betulina, but she's wondering whether it could be A. crelulata ?

Agathosma, but betulina or crenulata?

Some of the guide books don't show the leaves, which apparently distinguish them. Here is a close-up of them. Comments, please! However, there's no mistaking the Buchu aroma! We are also watching its babies growing all around it, getting bigger by the year!

Leaf detail of the Agathosma

The re-growth of the Lanaria lanata has reached about 400mm in most places, and the leaves are beginning to hang down. Here the tips are describing arcs in the bare sand.

Lanaria lanata leaves making arcs in the sand

One would expect a shrub like this to be very dead after suffering a 'hot' fire like this, but Fynbos is resilient! Not sure yet what this is:

Re-growth from the base of a burned shrub

We went to see the large Leucospermum oleifolium we found just before the fire.

Burned Leucospermum oleifolium plant

Close inspection of the spent flowers shows there might be life in the seeds yet!

Detail of the seeds in the burned spent flower. Is there life?

Here, a Liparia splendens which was burned, is shooting from its base:

Liparia splendens with re-growth at base

..... and another, we remember that's what was growing here, formerly within the forest, now it'll be in full sun. This one was totally burned-off:

Liparia splendens re-growth where it was completely burned off

Amazingly, there are still a few seeds to distribute from this Protea cynaroides!

Still a few seeds on the Protea cynaroides

Palmiet, recovering:

Palmiet

Pink Oxalis are to be seen here and there, and more to come, judging from the clover-lile leaves to be seen all over.

Oxalis

The Fire Asparagus, Asparagus lignosus isn't growing as fast as it did in the first few weeks, but it makes a pretty plant with its little white flowers (and sharp thorns!).

Recovering Agapanthus walshii:

We counted 24 flowers on these Agapanthus walshii before the fire

Had we not packed rocks around this plant, the two bicycles might well have ridden right over them! Can't they stick to the tracks?

Two bicycles narrowly missed this rare Agapanthus walshii plant

Back in the Village, outside Grabouw Auto Electrical, the Silk Floss Tree Ceiba speciosa (formerly Chorisia speciosa). For some reason only a high branch is flowering this year.

Silk Floss Tree Ceiba speciosa in flower in the Village

Apparently the seeds were imported in the stuffing of a pillow from South America many years ago and planted in Rondebosch, and grew! Related to the Baobab and Kapok Tree, I read. You only lean on this trunk once!

Sharp spines on the Silk Floss Tree trunk!

Last weekend I visited the Eastern Freestate, where one comes across different plants. Here on the farm, a field of Cosmos, which is much darker than the roadside specimens, is the result of selective breeding:

Deep pink Cosmos as far as you can see!

More Cosmos!

Every day we went out on a Military Vehicle convoy near the Lesotho border....

Very different terrain in the Eastern Freestate!

and on the stops, we were able to observe what was growing next to the track:

Unknown flower on the side of the track

Any guesses?

This is what the plant looks like

Another, there were several more unfamiliar plants:

Glossy leaves and a tall flower head

Shiny leaves above and spent flowers below:

Spent flowers on the head

:-) A