Gloomy Sunday Flower Walk

There was less than one millimetre of rain forecast; most came this morning, but it left the day heavily overcast and gloomy!

During the week, Pippa found this Red Stinkhorn Clathrus archeri growing on the farm. It lives up to its name!

Red Stinkhorn Clathrus archeri

We didn't know what to expect today being dead-of-winter and overcast to boot, but as usual we weren't disappointed! This morning's rain can still be seen on this Prickly Pear, Opuntia flower:

Opuntia flower

We're so used to seeing the 'baubles' on the Brunias but it was a treat to see some of them in flower!

Brunia in flower

Another Brunia in flower

Raindrops on a Leucadendron:

Leucadendron spp

A striking Metalasia:

Metalasia

Detail of a flower:

Metalasia flower

What might this be? We first thought it could be a Gnidia

Unknown plant in flower

Closer:

Closer view of flower

We don't think we've seen this before! Alison Steyn suggests it might be Amphithalea tomentosa. That belongs to the Fabaceae (pea) family and the flower did look pea-like!

Amphithalea tomentosa?

A Teedia growing in a crack in the rockface:

Teedia in a crack

We were checking up on 'our' plants in the area which has just been clear-felled. Here it looks a bit like the Somme on a bad day:

Clear-felled!

The view on the other side, of the Eikenhof Dam with cats' paws, was better. The Country Club is just showing on the near bank on the right:

Eikenhof Dam with cats' paws

We were pleased to uncover a Gnidia at the top which we thought had been smashed by the felling.

A splash of sunshine highlighted this Lobelia which we think might be L. pinifolia:

Lobelia pinifolia? 

A Mimetes cucullatus which was luckily undamaged by the felling, is partly in flower. I'm not sure if there's more 'fluff' to come or if it's come and gone. It is now much more exposed than it was.

Mimetes cucullatus

This late-flowering Liparia splendens or Mountain Dahlia is still completely covered in flowers, while others have long since finished.

Liparia splendens in full bloom

One of the flowers up close, with raindrops:

Liparia splendens flower

Today I remembered to take a photo of the foliage of the daisy-type plant with the yellow flowers with three petals. There is a Dandelion look about the leaves! Any guesses?

Unknown Daisy-type with detail of leaves

A tallish pink Erica, leaves not in tufts, E. longifolia?

Erica longifolia?

For a change, more than one flower was open on this Daisy. That caused me to go off the path for a picture, which deliberately shows detail of the leaves. Would they be described as 'fern-like'? If so, is it a Euryops?

Euryops?

Here's one of our 'normal' Lobelias, L. tomentosa, we think. It seems that the more difficult the circumstances they grow in, the better they flower! This is just one flower on a row of plants growing in the red pebbles which can be seen in the background, in the middle of the jeep track, making a strong blue stripe!

Lobelia tomentosa

This looked like a Mom (behind) and Dad in front. Anina has kindly suggested that it looks like Hypodiscus argenteus:

Hypodiscus argenteus? F&M

Another interesting Restio. Anina's comment again: Not very clear, but looks like Hypodiscus aristatus male.

Hypodiscus aristatus? Male

On the way into the farm we noticed a strange cloud over Hans se Kop, our rain predictor. It'll be clear for a while!

Hans se Kop

We weren't disappointed, despite the time of the year and the gloom!

:-) A