The bright orange flowers of Leucospermum patersonii (the silver-edge pincushion) act as a ‘landing pad’ for sugarbirds which delve down into the flowers with their long beaks to extract nectar. The pollen is placed onto the birds heads by the long … Continue reading
A walk in the mountains on the weekend reminded me that there is probably no better month than September for enjoying the fynbos. I took a walk on part of the new fynbos trail that will be opening shortly in … Continue reading
A special pink Erica found in one tiny area overlooking Walker bay shows its true colours in the winter of 2011……watch this video for more http://youtu.be/Q2YxepcoGt0
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
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
The bietou (previously known as Chrysanthemoides monilifera) is a large, fast growing rounded shrub with oval to elliptic toothed leaves. The plant is sparsely woolly on its young parts and bears small clusters of yellow radiate flowerheads. The black, fleshy … Continue reading
While paddling my canoe on Kraaibosch dam in the Uilkraals Valley near Gansbaai last week, I noticed a bright splash of pink on the bank of the dam that I had never seen before. Being an inquisitive botanist I swung over to the bank and found the source of the pink splash to be this beautiful heather, Erica axillifora. Not only had I never seen it before, but it was also the first time that this species has been recorded in the area.
Driving along the tar road between the villages of Stanford and Gansbaai at this time of the year I am always astounded by the sudden appearance of large splashes of pink on the hill slopes. The source of this amazing floral display is … Continue reading
This close up of Sencio triqueter was photographed by Heiner Lutzeyer some 18 weeks after the fire. Macro shots like this show the intricate nature of the flowers in the Asteraceae family. The family name is derived from the genus Aster, while … 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
