Roellas are back! Sunday Flower walk

So are we, after a long break, partly caused by the weather being either too hot or too wet, also by a bereavement in the family. Today we went out not expecting to see much, but as usual, once you look carefully, the gems are there!

After not finding Roellas last year at all, it seemed, now we are finding them again, and some of the flowers are huge!

Roella ciliata (?)

There are two types, the flowers as well as the leaves differ. Those with the black patches on the petals have stems with dense leaves We think this is R. ciliata.

View of the whole plant

The pale-flowered one has pointed petals and is possibly R. incurva.

Roella incurva or dregeana?

Or is it R. dregeana?

View from the top

But first, back to the beginning! The dam on the Experimental Farm has two kinds of Nymphaea growing and flowering at the same time. I can't remember this happening before.

Nymphaea indica:

Nymphaea indica

A whole patch far out in the water

And Nymphaea nouchali:

Nymphaea nouchali

There are less of them

Since the fire, now nearly a year ago, the deep blue Lobelia seem darker, with bigger flowers and certainly more of them!

Is this Lobelia coronopifolia?

Could they be L. coronopifolia?

The whole plant

We expected to find all the Agapanthus walshii over and hopefully full of seeds. Here was one still opening!

Agapanthus walshii still opening

There is a good crop of seeds on others:

Plenty of seeds!

We were surprised and very pleased to still find some Watsonia schlechteri in flower, although most have finished flowering:

Watsonia schlechteri

This looks like an Aristea:

An Aristea?

Close by, we found a Tritoniopsis lata, we think:

Tritoniopsis lata (?)

Flower detail

This one is almost swallowed up by an Othonna quinquedentata:

Another one

That is certainly something which has reacted well to the fire, here's another, completely covered by tiny flowers:

Huge Othonna quinquedentata

On the way home we had a look for flowers on the Buchu Agathosma crenulata. Not many, but the offspring growing all around it means that there are lots of seeds around!

Agathosma ciliata flower

In the road we found many of these little yellow flowers:

What is this?

Three petals plus one... another pea?

So, it was a very rewarding walk after all!

:-) A

Blustery Northwester Sunday Flower Walk

There was a blustery Northwester today, making life quite unpleasant on the hills!

We've got so used to Oxalis being the only source of colour, imagine how excited we were to find this!

A Daisy, but which one?

A Daisy, but which? The leaves have been chewed off in places but those on the sand show the full shape.

The whole plant, showing the leaves

We retraced our steps from last week and found the plant we had marked with a ring of stones. What looked like a stalk  last week is in fact a third leaf. The others have grown longer in the meantime. Dominic has warned us that we will need an Orchid guide book this late winter!

What we found last week, the central 'stalk' is a third leaf

Once our eyes were tuned to this plant, we found more in that area.

We are still baffled by this plant which Pat says is not a Wachendorfia, despite its pleated leaves.

Pleated leaves, beautiful shapes, and not a Wachendorfia?

What is very noticeable is how hairy the leaves are.

The leaves are very hairy

We're watching this plant develop...... but what is it?

What is this?

The Fire Asparagus Asparagus lignosus have set many berries, green turning to deep red.

Berries on Fire Asparagus Asparagus lignosus

We're not sure what this will turn into.

What is this?

If all these Agapanthus walshii flower, right next to the road, it will be an impressive sight!

Many Agapanthus walshii!

Another unknown, growing at the base of a large rock.

What is this?

Is this a Rhus / Searsia? Pat said we should fold a leaf and then let go.

Folding a leaf on a suspected Searsia

..... If it leaves a white line, then it's diagnostic to one particular Searsia. This one did not!

No white line left after folding

Here are the sterile culms growing at the base of a burned Restio, which Anina told us to expect. The Swollen Restio Beetles Pseudorupilia seem to have disappeared.

Sterile culms growing at the base of a burned Restio

Just one Tritoniopsis lata made a welcome break to the grey and green.

Tritoniopsis lata flower

The Boy checking a new cycle track sign for smells!

New sign for cycle/hiking trail

The first bud on a Lanaria lanata! There will be hundreds soon!

First Lanaria lanata bud observed

That's it from us for this week!

Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes (s)he star'd at the Pacific...

:-) A

Gloomy Sunday Flower Walk

Yes, gloomy and overcast and a South-westerly wind from Gordon's Bay. We've had a few light showers since the fire, but no real rain so far.

Lack of sunshine meant that our 'new find for the day' was closed, Oxalis Polyphylla which we've never noticed before!

Oxalis polyphylla

The more normal pink Oxalis has a clover-like leaf, we saw some later:

Our more familiar pink Oxalis

In the middle upper part of the picture above is a plant we have started to find, not sure what it will turn into, but we're watching!

On the way out we found some puff-balls Scleroderma citrinum (?) which are easily mistaken for stones in the road:

Puffballs in the track

Another Puffball

We're still finding plenty of Swollen Restio Beetles Pseudorupilia on the new growth of Restios, but not on any of the tufts of grass.

Swollen Restio Beetle Pseudorupilia

The densest stand we've found so far of Agapanthus walshii is coming along nicely!

Agapanthus walshii, doing well!

The Leucospermum oleifolium nearby is doing nothing yet.

Leucospermum oleifolium, no sign of life since the fire

What I'd hoped would be re-shooting at the base of the Heeria, is in fact Pelargonium!

Pelargoniums growing at the base of the burned Heeria

In places the Pelargoniums are coming up well!

Pelargoniums

Where the fire was hottest, the Palmiet has burned off completely and there's no sign of shooting. In other places, it's very encouraging.

Palmiet, recovering

We're still confused with the bushes we're seeing shooting from their bases. These leaves are in threes and are veined diagonally from the centre.

We had thought this might be Cape Myrtle but it's all wrong!

The burned remains of berries can be found.

Detail of a burned branch, with berries

New leaf detail:

Leaf detail, showing radiating veins

In many cases, these were saved from the worst of the fire's heat by their growing next to or between rocks. Here's another:

Another similar plant

How lucky we are to live here!

Eikenhof Dam and Groenlandberg

We found just two Tritoniopsis lata today, but what's that behind?  

Tritoniopsis lata

We were able to have a good look at the leaves here, definitely multi-ribbed:

Leaf detail

What might this be, next to an Oxalis?

What are these leaves?

We found several Fire Asparagus Asparagus Lignosus, this one's berries have turned dark:

Asparagus lignosus with dark berries

Others are still green.

Asparagus lignosus with still-green berries

And some are still in flower:

Asparagus lignosus in flower still

This gives an idea of how densely they sometimes grow!

Dense stand of Asparagus lignosus

'Till next time, from the Wurm.....

Wurm on the alert

.... and the Boy, who was determined to get in the pictures, every time!

I want to be in this picture!

:-) A