A Year Later Sunday Flower Walk

It's exactly a year since the fire swept through the patch of fynbos we've been monitoring for several years. In places it was particularly 'hot' because of the amount of pine trash lying around after the trees were harvested. On reflection the re-growth has been very different from, say the areas which were burnt just a month ago at the other end of the valley. There, the shrubs are re-sprouting already, ours like the Brachylaena neriifolia seem to be taking a long time.

Those which have most noticeably benefitted by the fire, apart from the Pelargoniums with their enormous leaves, are the Lobelias! We used to get excited about Lobelia jasionoides. Now there are areas carpeted with them!

Lobelia jasionoides

The old faithful blue ones which never seemed to stop flowering seem to have more flowers and the blue seems deeper! L. coronopifolia?

Lobelia coronopifolia (?)

Then the Roellas which had become quite scarce have come back with enormous flowers!

Roella

These look like Psoralea pinnata, although the shrub they're growing on is so much smaller than we're used to. These have grown to about a metre since the fire.

Psoralea pinnata

The Purple Powder-puffs Pseudoselago serrata are really over. Here was about the last bloom we found:

Pseudoselago serrata

What is this, with its Datura-type pods?

Unknown!

We remember where the Leucospermum oleifolium was growing. It had been badly damaged by the tree felling, then burnt. Gardening tips say one must just leave them to grow, so it was with pleasure but not much surprise that we found no less than 14 plants growing up in that immediate area! There are three in a row:

Leucospermum oleifolium

In that immediate area we knew we should also find Liparia splendens. These, too have re-established themselves strongly and are about to flower:

Liparia splendens

I mentioned the Pelargoniums, the leaves are great, the flowers few.

Pelargonium

On the way home, in the gravel road where we always find the Sundews Drosera, their place has been taken by these, not sure what they are!

Unknown

We couldn't go past the dam on the Experimental farm without looking at the Nymphaea nouchali!

Nymphaea nouchali

Some are almost high and dry!

Nymphaea nouchali

:-) A

Pink Gladiolus Sunday Flower Walk Part 2

  

Part 2:

We expected the Dilatris pillansii to be all over, but we were happy to see some of those we had found before, still in flower:

Dilatris pillansii

But some have changed to a brownish colour:

Dilatris pillansii spent flower

The Star Grass Ficinia radiata has lost nothing in the last few weeks in looks!

Star Grass Ficinia radiata

Pippa spotted another splash of pink growing through a felled pine:

Gladiolus under felled pine

It's right next to the cycle path, so we decided to leave the tree as it is.

Flower detail

The Purple Powder Puffs Pseudoselago serrata are about to come out! We've been watching the plants all over, growing healthily, so we'll soon have impressive splashes of purple in the veld!

Pseudoselago serrata bud

The Wachendorfia paniculata aren't over yet!

Mass of Wachendorfia paniculata

If every pod has three seeds (there may be more?) then there are a lot of seeds from one plant!

Single Wachendorfia paniculata 

We're monitoring the endangered Agapanthus walshii plants we have found, particularly those which we know which have flowered in the past. We were pleased to find buds, one on this plant:

Agapanthus walshii with bud

.... and two on this one!

Agapanthus walshii with buds

Right across the road from the Aggies, I spotted a splash of mauve. I thought it might be an Erica, but something looked wrong. 

Lobelia jasionoides

The flowers, and on closer inspection, the leaves were all wrong!

Lobelia jasionoides flower and leaves

Lobelia jasionoides, which we have found up there before, but never a dense stand like this!

Lobelia jasionoides flower detail

I stopped to photograph the Campylostachys cernua which is growing right in the middle of the road, to see if there was any sign of a flower, but I think we have to wait until January or February!

Campylostachys cernua

Near it, also on the middelmannetjie, I spotted a splash of blue, thinking it was a Roella:

Unknown plant with open and spent flower

One flower, one spent. Narrow hairy leaves, close to the stem. Flower, close up:

Flower detail inside

What can it be?

Flower from the side

We always check the place where we found our very first Therianthus. The following year there were hundreds. Here the first one has pushed up a bud again!

Therianthus bud (right)

By this time, walking back on the road, we thought we'd had a 'good haul' for the day, but at the same moment both of us spotted more Dilatris pillansii on the other side of the road! I counted 11 separate plants and many were still in full bloom!

More Dilatris pillansii!

There are still many yellow daisies out, the ones we think are Euryops, but sometimes a splash of yellow looks out of place amongst them. This one made me walk off the road:

Unknown pea-type

A pea-type, growing close to the ground with roundish almost succulent leaves.

Flower and leaf detail

But that wasn't the end of it! A short way further, another pea, also yellow, but a totally different plant!

A different pea-type!

Flower detail. Which of the many Fabacaea are they?

Flower detail

What continues to astonish us is that until recently, this area had been completely covered by Pines for the last 100 years. Nobody has re-planted any of this!

While we were up there a train came past. This week I'll attend a meeting which will be one of the steps required to hopefully reinstate a passenger service on the line!

Grain train, one day passengers again? 

:-) A

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