Pink Daisy Sunday Flower Walk

A 'new' Daisy (to us!) was our first of several surprises today!

Is this Senecio hastifolius or does it have too few petals?

Could it be Senecio hastifolius?  From the back:

Flower from the side

.... and the leaf:

Leaf detail

These were on a south-east-facing sandy slope and we found four examples. Then we found one which we thought was a fifth, but it was very different, both in flower and leaf.

Different Daisy!

The petals are split into two-and-a-halfs or threes and the leaves are totally different:

Different leaf!

On the way, at the railway cottage ruins, firewood sawyers have been active and we thought the Ornithogalum saundersiae had been crushed, but it was still there, weighed over by the flowers!

Ornithogalum saundersiae

In the burnt areas the Helichrysums are gradually growing back. This in an unburnt area reminds us of what we would be looking at!

Helichrysums

The Star-grass Ficinia radiata, which we've never seen in this area before are as bright yellow as the Daisies! We found singles, then two on a plant then several, but this one takes the cake!

Star Grass Ficinia radiata

Flower up close:

Flower detail

At last! The Wachendorfia paniculata with the upward-growing leaves are putting up buds, while those which came up soon after the fire with sickle-shaped leaves on the ground, have all finished flowering now.

Wachendorfia paniculata, buds at last!

Here, one has opened:

.... and this one is open!

Soon, this hillside will be covered with these candelabras!

We have been seeing these red clover-leaves in tiny patches, but this made such a splash of red, I had to go and look!

Red Clover leaves

We were pleased to see this burnt Protea cynaroides re-sprouting from the stem. Others we looked at were too.

Protea cynaroides, re-sprouting

The raptors were busy, we saw a group of four, then three Yellow-billed Kites doing aerobatics, then we got up and were able to look down on a pair of Jackal Buzzards. One settled on this distant rocky outcrop, then another landed next to it....

Two Jackal Buzzards

....then one flew off:

One flew off!

There is a lot of this plant, now in full bloom, which we haven't pinned down yet:

What is this? 

Flower detail:

Flower detail

Another surprise was a 'new' Pelargonium with a slightly scented leaf:

Pelargonium with slightly scented leaf

We'll have to wait a week or so for its flowers!

Bud of scented Pelargonium

Whereas the more widespread type, possibly Pelargonium cucullatum are already opening.

Is this Pelargonium cucullatus? 

On the subject of 'hooded', we had hoped that the small plant at the base of a burnt Mimetes cucullatus would be a 'baby', well it certainly looks like it!

Re-seeded Mimetes cucullatus

Close by are several more:

Many more!

Then on the way down, our next surprise, a Moraea which we've never seen before! Just a single example, with many buds waiting to come out behind this first flower!

Moraea lurida? 

It is truly exquisite! Could it be one of the forms of Moraea lurida?

Another view of the flower

We weren't finished with surprises! Near where the film shoot people have denuded the recently burnt veld, we found this with tough strap-like pointed leaves, about to open.

Is this an Aristea? If so, A. bakeri or A. capitata?

Could it be an Aristea capitata? A. bakeri? We will have to go back and check when it opens!

The plant with the fleshy snake-like leaves is pushing up buds (or flowers?) very slowly! These leaves have been eaten off, but the flowers are the most advanced we have found. 

What are these? 

:-) A

After Double the Rain Sunday Flower Walk

It's not easy to find colour at this time of the year, so I went off the road to snap this Daisy!

Many of the Helichrysums have just one or two flowers open.

We were keen to see the effects of the 34mm of rain we had almost overnight during this week, just double last week's. It is interesting to see how the ash is being washed off the top of the sand and into the waterways. The rest is being blown our way by the Northwester!

We suspected that it wouldn't look good where the 4X4s went up recently in the loose sand in the burned area.

Not a pretty sight! However, I'd brought a spade and first put some more rocks in the deepest parts of the ruts (I put the one on the right hand track last week) and scooped back the sand from the road and tamped it down. Soon it was looking a lot better. This route is not being used anymore:

Then I deepened the diagonal cut further up.

Something is happening in the re-growing Restios!

... and is this a Star Grass?

This Metalasia is flowering in the very edge of the burned veld:

Up close:

The Buchu Agathosma crenulata is in full flower. There is good new growth and one of its 'babies' can be seen in the foreground.

Near the ruins of the Railway Cottages, a Black Wattle branch had broken off in the storm. Argentinian ants are swarming over the break.

Other termite activity we noticed was in the track where the 4X4s had just driven over. Interesting how quickly nature responds. The thrown-out sand granules were fresh.

Pippa spotted this Jackal Buzzard on Oliver's fence as we got back to the railway line.

That's all this week, we didn't go far, Pippa is recovering from a small knee op!

I would like to dedicate this issue to Jennetta Tilney who passed away suddenly this week. She had often written in with identifications. Our thoughts go out to her husband Barry.

:-) A

A New Erica Sunday Flower Walk

It was hot today so we stayed where the Southeasterly breeze fanned us! We wanted to check on the new area of Agapanthus walshii we had found, and we weren't disappointed!

But on the way I thought there were people with bright clothing some way off..... until I realised it was the stand of Watsonias we've been watching! They really are at their best now:

Watsonia schlechteri (?)

The nearest we get to identifying them is Watsonia schlechteri, named, I see after one Rudolf Schlechter, 1872 to 1925, from Berlin.

Flower detail

The Lobelia which we think is L. tomentosa, is all over and particularly vivid at the moment:

Lobelia tomentosa (?)

We were being watched at this stage by a Jackal Buzzard which obligingly flew right overhead, close enough for me to catch it with my point-and-shoot!

Jackal Buzzard

To the Agapanthus walshii, and a bit of a disappointment to see two flowers broken (eaten?) off on the first plant. 

There was no trace of the flowers:

Agapanthus walshii, minus two flowers

Not taken off at the base, but both, half-way up:

Broken or eaten off stalk

OK, there are four other flowers, but we know how few seeds they make and how they get eaten, as can be seen here:

Eaten flower of Agapanthus walshii

Six on this plant.....

Six Agapanthus walshii flowers

.... and no less than 11 on this one!

Eleven Agapanthus walshii flowers!

Pippa's sharp eyes spotted some pink waving around in the wind and called me over:

What's this? 

About 1.5m tall, woody leafless stems until the last 200mm where dense needle-like leaves begin, ending in a bunch of waxy pink very rounded Erica-type flowers on the end of red stems.

Erica obliqua (?)

Our books weren't much help, but while looking up some near-misses from the books on the internet, I spotted a flower lower down on the page, Erica obliqua. That's the closest we get.

Flower and leaf detail

The Therianthus are getting to the end of their flowering time

Therianthus, nearly over!

Likewise, the Lanaria lanata, where the tiny pink flowers in all the white fluff are turning brown:

Lanaria lanata

Growing out of the stump of a felled tree what is possibly a pair of spent Disa conferta:

Disa conferta (?)

The veld is dotted with the bright pink of these Erica pulchella:

Erica pulchella

I was pleased to spot a single Roella incurva, which we haven't seen for a while. Two years ago, we knew where to find them, but they got washed away.

Roella incurva

Flower detail:

Flower detail

I was keen to checkon the little Campylostachys cernua in the middle of the road. It had one flower before, now there were several. Campylo- means bent over, so the best way to photograph it is lying down under it!

Campylostachys cernua flower

Notoriously difficult to photograph is the Five Toothed Baboon Cabbage, Othonna quinquedentata with its tiny yellow daisy flowers:

Othonna quinquedentata

The Purple Powder Puff Pseudoselago serrata are getting past their best, but some are still in full flower:

Pseudoselago serrata

As usual there was a lot more, a Gnidia anomala which defied the auto-focus as usual and, and, and.....

:-) A