Restios, Cape reeds, biesies and dekriet are some of the common names that have been applied to members of the South African family of Restionaceae. There are some 480 species of Restionaceae globally, of which 330 are found in the … Continue reading
Last weekend I was walking with my family up Mount Dyer Peak near Gansbaai when I came across this sundew, Drosera cistiflora, sparkling in the morning sun. The Drosera species or sundews as they are commonly known grow mostly in … Continue reading
Renosterveld derives its name from the renosterbos, a member of the daisy family which is the most characteristic species found in this vegetation type. Renoster is afrikaans for rhinoceris and the name renosterbos was probably originally associated with the plant … Continue reading
The brown sage (Salvia africana-lutea) is a popular species used in indigenous coastal gardens in the Cape. It has a natural distribution on dune sands from Namaqualand to the Cape Peninsula and eastwards to Port Alfred. Brown sage is a … Continue reading
Gladiolus maculatus (the brown Afrikaner) grows on clay slopes, mainly in renosterveld from the Cape Peninsula to the Eastern Cape. As I had never seen it previously in the Walker Bay region and it is generally restricted to richer clay … Continue reading
Here are two autumn flowering beauties I came across while hiking in Kogelberg last week. Amazingly both had survived many decades under pine plantations! Following a fire and removal of the pines last year they are in full bloom for … Continue reading
Today I accompanied our new intake of twelve Green Futures students to Salmonsdam Nature Reserve near Stanford on the Agulhas Plain. The beautiful little nature reserve is tucked away off the beaten track and not very well known by visitors … Continue reading
Three weeks after the fire and despite no rain there is lots of growth amongst the resprouters. Relatively few fynbos species are resprouters, regenerating by sprouting from their burnt out stumps after fire. The vast majority of fynbos plants are … Continue reading
The fynbos is full of amazing ecological adaptations, interactions and dependencies. Many types of mammals, birds and insects play a role in fynbos pollination and dispersal. Since the 1970’s there has been a huge interest in fynbos research amongst the … Continue reading
