Two Flower Walks

We had a walk on Boxing Day as well as our normal Sunday walk today, covering more or less the same area, so here are the combined pictures!

Pat said the little yellow-flowered water-lilies are not invasive, they're Nymphoides indica. There are Nymphaea nouchali that we can see, but they're difficult to get to at the moment. We'll wait until the water level drops. The last of the oval leaves of the Waterblommetjies Aponogeton distachyos can still be seen.

Dog Jacuzzi and Nymphoides indica

We wondered whether the branches on the stems of the Combflowers Micranthus would  open as flowers, yes, indeed!

Combflower Micranthus

We turned left off our normal upward road along a track we know leads into a vlei, difficult to walk in when it's wet. It's all dry now and the ground cracks like walking on cardboard now! We were pleased to see this Watsonia (?) in its final stages of flowering. We'll try to get there earlier next year! This was Friday's picture, it's all over now.

Watsonia?

Close by, we came across this plant, actually just two of them, presumably also finished flowering, what can it be?

Unknown plant with spent flowers

Spent flower detail:

Spent flower detail

In this flatter country, the Purple Powder-puffs Pseudoselago serrata are really impressive! The camera doesn't do justice to the purple of the flowers.

Purple Powder-puff Pseudoselago serrata

Also in this area, missed this year must have been an impressive array of Dilatris pillansii, which we'll again make a note not to miss next year.

Several Dilatris pillansii with spent flowers

Now is the time of year for the big pink/mauve Erica bushes.

Erica

They are completely covered by a mass of small spiky flowers:

Flower detail

We went back to what we think is a large Stilbe, Campylostachys cernua, now in full flower:

Campylostachys cernua (?) in flower

The one flower on the small plant in the middle of the road is now over, but there may be more on the way, judging from how the growing tips are drooping:

Spent flower on plant in the middle of the road

We've had quite a lot of overcast weather the last few days so there have been Bobartia filiformis open:

Bobartia filiformis flower and seed pods

We're finding more and more Agapanthus walshii, some opening, some still with tightly closed buds.

Agapanthus walshii flower opening

They were listed 11 years ago as Endangered: " 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." This explains our excitement at finding more and more, and now they're exposed, flowering! There's actually a sixth bud coming up from the base of this one, we've never found more than three flowers on any plant before.

Six flowers on this one!

We checked on the seed dispersal from the large stand of what we think are Gladiolus carneus.

Gladiolus carneus (?) seed pods

Each pod has many of these paper-thin seeds with a dark centre which blow away at the slightest puff of wind:

One seed of many!

Easily overlooked are these tiny plants, are they Ericas?

Erica? 

The False Cedar Raspalia microphylla are in flower now:

False Cedar Raspalia microphylla

.... and we spotted the first flower on the Buchu Agathosma betulina! The area around this one bush in 'our' area is dotted with baby plants, you have to be careful where you stand near it. The fragrance from just touching a leaf is unforgettable!

First flower on the Buchu Agathosma betulina

We again found (and marked) this small plant with the five-pointed flowers we discovered a few weeks ago. It is past its best now, and we still haven't discovered what it is!

Unknown plant flower detail

We don't usually give Daisies a second glance, there are just so many of them, normally yellow, but here was a small area with many of these, dutifully photographed from underneath!

Unknown Daisy from below

... and from the top:

Unknown Daisy from the top

On Friday I'd spotted a Watsonia still in bud form, so we went back to find it, still closed, but in the process found several more. We're looking forward to finding out what they are.

Watsonia (?) buds

The veld is dotted with these Therianthus bracteolatus, quite advanced now with the flowers open to the top of their corkscrew flower stems:

Therianthus bracteolatus

A splash of yellow looked out of place and warranted a better look, Erica coccinea!

Erica coccinea

On the way home, I nearly trod on this little beauty:

Tiny Erica? 

Another Erica?

Flower detail

Happy New Year to everybody! :-) A

Four 'New' Flowers Sunday Flower Walk

After all last week's hype over Spring being here, we had a windy, wet, very cold week, but it's cleared now and the promises are for fine weather this week, so with the Apples beginning to move, from tomorrow the spray machines will be out in earnest! A Sundowner bud below, just beginning to show some green!

Malus domestica Sundowner bud

We were Milling at Compagnesdrift yesterday and the succulent garden below the Mill Stream is at its best. Is this Aloe reynoldsii?

Aloe reynoldsii?

Flower detail:

Flower detail Aloe reynoldsii ?

Is this Cotyledon pendens?

Cotyledon pendens ?

Flower detail:

Flower detail of Cotyledon pendens ?

The Chasmanthes aren't over yet!

Chasmanthe

There was a strong smell from the Lobster Plant Plectranthus neochilus planted in a wide band next to the stream as it flows down past the Mill:

Plectranthus neochilus

Today we had a peek at the stunning Clivias in Steen's garden on the way out:

Clivia miniata

Down at the dam on the Experimental Farm, the Waterblommetjies Aponogeton distachyos are all vying for space in the sun!

Waterblommetjies Apongeton distachyos

This unfortunate Daisy flower was overwhelmed by Monkey Beetles!

Daisy covered in Monkey Beetles

This poor photo is of New Flower No 1, an Erica, close to the road we always use but we have never noticed it before. The leaves are quite long and not tufted, the flowers were pink, so which one is it? Erica plukenetii?

Erica plukenetii ?

We think we now have a name for the plant I have described before as having Cedar-like stems and Brunia-type round white flowers. Raspalia microphylla seems to fit the description; there's an iSpot submission from our area. It is of the Brunia family, and its common name is False Cedar! We're finding more and more of it.

Raspalia microphylla ?

The next 'new' plant was growing close to the Erica above, it has long oval-section leaves, growing about 30cm long straight out of the ground. What makes it interesting now are the branched deep red / brown flower stems which are also growing out of the ground. A branched stem can be seen growing out to the right in the picture below:

Unknown plant

Bud detail, before branching out:

Flower detail

Some of the flower stems were particularly thick, like this one below, others had branched out candelabra-style. We found three plants in a small area and no more. What might they be? We'll be back to see what the flowers look like!

Flower stem detail

Only a few Wachendorfia paniculata are out, but there are many plants waiting!

Wachendorfia paniculata

A third 'new' plant has hairy leaves and tiny pink flowers, the plant growing close to the ground. It has us guessing! How does one describe what is growing behind the flower?

Unknown plant flower detail

This is how the plant grows:

Unknown plant growing pattern

From the top it was good to see an Optimist out on the water, close to the Country Club!

Optimist on Eikenhof Dam

Here's an interesting Restio, short, with the sun catching the yellow of the flowers! The photo isn't detailed enough for Anina to identify it, but it was striking!

Unknown Restio

Another pair with culms which looked like porcupine quills!

Elegia deustum ?

Anina says this is possibly Elegia deustum.

Elegia deustum ?

We haven't seen a Sunbird in this particular spot before, here seen holding on to a Ceratocaryum argenteum male flower: 

Sunbird on Ceratocaryum argenteum male

White flowers make this an Oftia:

White buds on Oftia

... and this with pink flowers, a Teedia! For the rest of the year, we can't tell them apart!

Pink flowers on Teedia

Our fourth 'new' plant was growing right next to the track, two lilac flowers on an otherwise bare, but branched stem:

Gladiolus blommesteinii ?

The closest we get is Gladiolus blommesteinii, but we're far from sure!

Gladiolus blommesteinii ?

This is how far advanced the flowers are on the original single Phaenocoma prolifera which we found a couple of years ago, and as the name suggests, it's covered in them!

Phaenocoma prolifera

We stopped at the China Flowers Adenandra uniflora we saw last week, to verify the green petals (?) in the middle. What we found is that when the four petals are fully open, the last five   leaves (or are they sepals?) on the stem are exposed:

Adenandra uniflora

We wondered what had happened to all the ladybirds we found in the hollows in the rock a few weeks back:

Ladybird on spent Erica

This was close to the Penaea cneorum our 'new' flower of last week, now looking slightly redder at the base of the flowers:

Penaea cneorum ?

On the way home I just had to stop for this shot of a bright pink Erica. The dam was like a mirror!

Pink Erica and reflection

:-) A