Sunday Flower Walks through the Fynbos in the beautiful Elgin Valley: Selago

We've been watching for Dilatris pillansii up in the place we call 'the Gulley' for years. They seem to flower quickly and they're all over before we get back there next time. Today I happened on two plants in a completely different place, one in full bloom!

Dilatris pillansii

These weren't fully open, but one of them on the second plant was!

Dilatris pillansii flower

Closer.....

Flower detail of Dilatris pillansii

Without the flowers, we forget which plants are D. pillansii, so we noted the leaf carefully. Flat, pointed and about four lines, not ribs, just visible:

Leaf detail of Dilatris pillansii

I had been wandering well off the track while Pippa sketched the red-tipped leaves of a Leucadendron:

Leucadendron with red-tipped leaves

Very close to the Dilatris, Pippa spotted a Stargrass Ficinia radiata, which we last saw in the forest and haven't noticed in the open before:

Stargrass Ficinia radiata

Again in this immediate vicinity, we found tufts of grass (?) with flowers (again!), and we're still not sure whether the flowers belong to the grass, or just use them as a host. There were no similar flowers in any other plants close by:

Unknown grass (?) with flowers

Most of these flowers were partly closed, but we found one flower fully open:

Detail of open flower

Four pointed petals behind, four more rounded ones in front......? So that was three 'finds' within a few square metres!

But I'm ahead of myself, on the way past the Railway cottage ruins, the unpleasant smell of the Helichrysum foetidum is quite strong!

Helichrysum foetidum

It really smells as if something's dead :-( But the flowers are pretty!

Helichrysum foetidum flowers

There are still many flowers out on the Sundews Drosera trinervia (?) and more buds to come behind!

Sundew Drosera trinervia (?)

Watch out, insects!

'Forest' of Sundews Drosera trinervia (?)

Just beginning to open, Sentry in a Box Albuca canadensis:

Albuca canadensis

Flower detail:

Albuca canadensis flower

The seed pods of the Wachendorfia paniculata lower down, which flowered early, are changing colour to their characteristic orange 'turbans':

Wachendorfia paniculata seed pods turning orange

Yesterday, on the way home from the Villiersdorp Agri & Arts Festival, I just had to pull the old truck off the road and take a photo of a whole hillside covered in Wachendorfias! As can be seen, there has been a fire here recently.

Wachendorfia paniculata covering a hillside on Viljoens Pass

This Orchid was worth stopping for:

Orchid spp.

And a magnificent Wachendorfia with a lot of flowering still to do!

Magnificent Wachendorfia paniculata

Here are the white flowers which have got us guessing. The close bunches of flowers from last week have opened up as their stalks have lengthened, so the florets are further apart.

Unknown plant, possibly Pseudoselago ascendens (?)

Flower detail:

Flower detail

Leaf detail:

Leaf detail

And another plant which seems further advanced, showing the stalks and leaves drying up. Dominic has suggested it may be Pseudoselago ascendens 'as a good guess' - also called Selago incisa.

Plant in advanced stage

We'll be watching them as they dry further, to see if they then look like this picture from Missouri Botanical Herbarium, which gives both names:

Specimen with both possible names in Missouri

The Pelargoniums are looking really good in full bloom:

Pelargonium flower

Pelargoniums on hillside

On the way home we stopped for these Sparaxis bulbifera, which are finished on the other side of the railway line. The backs of the petals are distinctive.

Sparaxis bulbifera

More on Yesterday's Show in Villiersdorp: There really was a lot going on, especially with the Arts combined with a Commercial Show. In one of the halls was a display of wild flowers which are in bloom at the moment, all identified by local Maureen Cumming. I was delighted to find an example of the little pink ball-type flower we have found recently and suspected as being a Helichrysum:

Specimen at Villiersdorp identified as Anaxeton asperum

The leaves are the same as 'ours':

Leaf detail of specimen

The identification was Anaxeton asperum, which is indeed a Helichrysum. There must have been more than 100 flowers on display, this was only a part!

Part of the wild flower display at Villiersdorp Agri & Arts Festival

:-) A

On the way out from Rozy's farm on Friday, I noticed Mimetes cucullatus in flower in her 'garden', including a yellow one, which might go red later:

So, on our Sunday walk, we knew where to find one:

We followed the path of the South-easter away from this (pretty rare) Agapanthus walshii, looking for seedlings:

In the background the whole block has now been cleared of sparsely-growing pines. The trees have been left to rot, which makes a mat as we can see here in the foreground. So, walking with the wind behind us and eyes peeled:

They're coming up!

As well as several well-established plants.

Let's hope they'll flower next year, now they're in full sun! Also in the same north-west / south-east line, but in the next valley, I was pleased to find another which we remembered from last year, in flower, but with a much shorter stem than the others:

We were well rewarded in our steep climb by finding this:

An Erica but which one? There were several more in that immediate area:

What a pleasure to see an Optimist on the water at the Club!

A kind of moss?

A very different one!

It won't be long before these Protea cynaroides (Kings) will be fully open!

There are still lots of Watsonia schlechteri in full flower!

'Our' Leucospermum oleifolium is growing like mad! The growing instructions for home gardens say: do as little as possible to them. Well, nothing's being done to this one and it's thriving!

All that growth beyond the flower, which last year was at the tip!

Pseudo Selago serrata or purple powder-puff, in the open ground:

And in a crack in a rock:

Roella ciliata, showing the spent flowers:

Again, lots of Ericas! This may be pulchella;

Another kind:

Lots more!

A single tiny flower on the Lanaria lanata. It can be seen that the fluff is on the back of the petals:

As predicted the centres of these Helichrysums have gradually changed from pink to brown to now black (or are they still dark brown?):

A big cycle race had recently been past 'our' Cyrtanthus ventricosus. It certainly looks as if it's going to miss flowering this year, but I moved a rock from the other side of the path to protect it!

That's it for the week!