Mostly Yellow Sunday Flower Walk

Today we were attracted to a flower near the ruins of the Railway cottages. We think it's an Ornithogalum saundersiae, not from these parts, rather Eastern Transvaal, Swaziland and the Natal mountains. We won't hold that against it, it is beautiful! That makes it related to the Chincherinchee. From what we've found in this garden, someone must have been a keen gardener!

Ornithogalum saundersiae (?)

There are lots more flowers to come!

Many buds still to open! 

On the subject of Natal mountains, last week I was in Pietermaritzburg and we visited the Minerva Reserve which is 6 000 feet above sea level, where we saw this, any ideas?

Unknown plant on Minerva Reserve

One thing is for sure, Clivias grow well there!

Clivia in PMB

Back to today's walk, the Waterblommetjies Aponogeton distachyos on the Experimental Farm dam are looking good! We don't remember them being as prolific as this before, they are all around the western bank, up to the houses opposite.

Waterblommetjies Aponogeton distachyos

Suddenly a white Erica is in full bloom! This reminds us that we haven't seen any resurgence of Ericas in the burnt areas, was the fire too hot?

White Erica

Flower detail:

White Erica up close

Not as impressive as before, but there's still a lot of it, Arctotheca... is it A. calendula or A. acaulis as we thought?

Arctotheca, but which one?

We have come across these Geissorhiza aspera before

Satin Flower Geissorhiza aspera

.... and these Sparaxis bulbifera close by. Many more this year than we remember!

Sparaxis bulbifera

And to make a trio in this small area, this is the first Beetle Lily Baeometra uniflora we've found, not fully open yet. It will be mostly yellow when open!

Beetle Lily Baeometra uniflora

The Sour Fig Carpobrotus edulis are in full flower. Here are two buds, one open flower and one spent. They suffered badly in the fire, but we're seeing some small plants growing here and there.

Sour Fig Carpobrotus edulis

There are tiny buds on the Sundews Drosera

Sundews Drosera with buds!

The Oxalis aren't over yet!

After several vehicles had driven over a small area (after the fire) where we first found Trachyandra ciliata last year we were worried about its survival. It seems to have come back with a vengeance!

Trachyandra ciliata

Detail of the delicate flower:

Trachyandra ciliata flower

In the burnt area a few of these bright yellow Stargrass Ficinia radiata stood out. We saw them in the forest (which is being cut down at the moment), but we don't remember them in the open.

Stargrass Ficinia radiata

We thought the Spiloxene capensis might be over by now. No, there are still plenty of these bright yellow flowers which are hard to miss!

Spiloxene capensis

Considering this area was totally burnt in March, it's impressive that these Euryops have re-grown and are flowering so profusely already! There are millions more plants coming up!

Euryops

'Our' single Satyr Orchid is past its best. We haven't found any others like it.

Satyr Orchid

This poor Othonna dentata has been eaten yet again! Maybe that's what's making it keep flowering?

Othonna dentata with eaten leaves and flowers

While this uneaten one has just spent flowers. We found and marked a third in this area. There aren't many that we've found!

Othonna dentata with uneaten leaves but spent flowers!

We're not sure what these are, but these are the first open of many from a sprawling plant!

On the south-east facing slopes, the Moraea ochroleuca are even more impressive than last time we looked!

This one's single leaf must be 1½metres long!

Long leaf on a Moraea ochroleuca!

Very slowly the flowers on this two-leafed plant are developing. Dominic says it might turn into an Orchid, or maybe a Lachenalia.

What will this turn out to be?

On our way home we're always followed by Stone Chats, but at a distance. This one stayed still just long enough for me to snap him at maximum zoom! 

:-) A

Satyr Orchid Sunday Flower Walk

It is growing in the horse paddock next door. We found another one, but not as impressive as this Satyrium coriifolium:

Satyrium coriifolium

A bright pink Erica on the side of the road:

Pink Erica

Waterblommetjies Aponogeton distachyos in abundance! We can't remember so many on this dam before.

Waterblommetjies Aponogeton distachyos

The flower folds out in two branches.

Flower detail

Next to the path we found this Sparaxis bulbifera  we remember from last year

Sparaxis bulbifera

Flower and seed pods from the side.

Sparaxis bulbifera from the side

The Sundews Drosera in the road are pushing up flower buds:

Sundews Drosera with flower buds

Some lovely Euryops in the unburnt area, to remind us of what to expect. The 'new' veld is covered with new plants!

Euryops

We were pleased to find quite a few Trachyandra ciliata where we remembered them before. This one was in an area completely burned clear. The leaves are like flat shoelaces.

Trachyandra ciliata

Flower detail:

Flower detail

A welcome splash of pink some distance off the path was worth investigating, Gladiolus hirsutus probably.

Gladiolus hirsutus?

This is how it grows:

Gladiolus hirsutus from the side

On a sandy, bare slope we came across several of these small white plants. The wind was pumping through making photography very difficult. Possibly a Geissorhiza, but which one? 

Geissorhiza? Which one?

Still absolutely no sign of buds forming on the Wachendorfia paniculata which are growing upwards! The characteristic red root can be seen here.

Wachendorfia paniculata, no buds yet!

We spotted more Spiloxene, probably S. aquatica. Growing here under an Othonna quinquedentata.

Spiloxene aquatica (?)

These Moraea ochroleuca we first spotted last week are all over one slope.

Moraea ochroleuca

It was interesting to see in this one case, the single leaf tangled up in another plant!

Single leaf of Moraea ochroleuca tangled

Here a Ladybird and another bug take turns to pollinate!

Taking turns to pollinate!

Again, from where we remember from previous years, a Gladiolus debilis in white. This single plant was much smaller than we remember, we'll be back to check for more!

Gladiolus debilis

We came across some of these with the rubbery leaves when we were making the cut-offs for rainwater in the 4x4 track.

Orchid?

Now we have a bud forming... an Orchid?

Bud detail

Next weekend I'll be in Pietermaritzburg so who knows what I'll find there! :-) A

Spring Flowers and a Film Shoot :-( Sunday Flower Walk

It's officially Spring by the date, and Nature thinks so too! There is a carpet next door in the orchard of what we think is Arctotheca  acaulis:

A carpet of Arctotheca acaulis

In the road, Romulea rosea:

Romulea rosea

Oxalis among little Daisies

Oxalis and Daisies

Romulea hirsuta var. cuprea:

Romulea hirsuta var cuprea

Sour Fig Carpobrotus edulis :

Sour Fig Carpobrotus edulis

Drosera, also in the road!

Drosera

Here is a large Restio re-growing after the fire with its feathery culms and some of the thick stems starting to come out of the ground.

Restio re-growing

We were keen to check up on the flower with the striped bud we had found. What a surprise!

Spiloxene capensis?

The stripes are still on the back of the petals:

Reverse of the petals

And once we had seen this one open, there were more! These two were growing up inside a bunch of Agapanthus walshii!

More, growing amongst Agapanthus walshii

Up close, each petal has a heart-shaped dot in the middle. Are they Spiloxene capensis?:

There petals have heart-shaped dots at the base

This Wachendorfia with the sickle-shaped leaves had the most impressive candelabra of flowers!

Magnificent Wachendorfia

The Lanaria lanata are pushing up flowers all over!

Buds on Lanaria lanata, all over the place!

Can this be a Metalasia? We will be back to check!

Metalasia?

Bud detail:

This is what the bud looks like

There was a strong Northerly wind, making it very difficult to photograph little flowers!

What is this? 

Can it be a Geissorhiza? A Romulea flava?

This is how the plant grows

'Our' Satyr Orchid is now in full flower:

Satyr Orchid

Flower detail:

Orchid flower up close

We checked on the Othonna heterophylla but it had been eaten again. We remembered finding another nearby, that was much more photogenic!

Othonna heterophylla

One flower had even gone to seed:

Spent flower of Othonna heterophylla

More of these which have us stumped!

What are these? 

A splash of pale pink caught my eye, next to a big rock.

Gladiolus hirsutus?

A Gladiolus hirsutus? This is how it's growing, flattened by the wind!

This is how it's growing, blown flat by the wind!

Flower detail from the side:

Flowers and buds, from the side

At the top we were astonished to find a huge area of recently burned veld completely denuded by a film-shoot!

Burned veld completely denuded by a film crew!

It's incredible that this can happen without an Environmental Assessment! Somewhere there was our single Erica longifolia we have been watching for years.... gone! I went across to where the only Phaenocoma prolifera in the whole area we monitor was..... gone too, and the area raked clear! Does money buy anything?

Everything raked away!

They even left 'props' behind:

Props left behind

Pippa reckoned we needed to check a rocky south-easterly facing slope, her hunch paid off!

Moraea ochroleuca?

Moraea ochroleuca? There were many of them, and more to come! They grow at least half a metre tall.

Flowers from the side

Re-growing from cracks in rocks, now in flower Teedia (or Oftia?)

Oftia or Teedia

Heeria argentea, re-growing nicely from the base!

Heeria argentea, re-growing

Then a white Spiloxene (if that's what it is!)

White Spiloxene?

.... with the same striped petals underneath.

The same striped reverse of the petals

The whole plant

I've said before the Pelargoniums benefited from the fire. This one's on steroids!

Pelargonium on steroids!

:-) A