The Purple-Pink Spitfire
Outramps CREW Diaries
Tuesday
19th March 2019
|
|
Album 19th March 2019
For captions or info click on i on the top right-hand side. A good way to go - the Slideshow is found at the top of the page on the rt hand side by clicking on the 3 dots. Featured this week – Gadiolus engysiphon, Bloukrans Adventure, Featherbed Nature Reserve, Planning meeting with Ismail and a field trip to Camferskloof with the Cape Town CREW Team.
For names and captions of the photos used on this version of the Reportback - see the Album.
|
|
|
MCSA Bloukrans River wade
During the hot summer month of February, a group from our local MCSA section undertook a ”cool off day “ in the Bloukrans river. It is the first time I have managed to join this annual event. I was expecting a float and a wade. Well a fun day – however, this turned out to be a full 5-hour body workout. I was exhausted!
We started off from the old road which winds up from Natures Valley and worked our way down in the river and then to the beach and back. There are a few large pools to swim through, a few bushy and alien infested river banks to gingerly step through, while most of the day was spent wading in ankle to thigh deep water. Tough, as I could not see anything apart from slippery brown rocks gleaming below. It was a balancing and crawling act all the way. The river water – a pleasant temperature today – however, much colder as we approached the end - here the entering sea water was obviously colder.
Great scenery, as the river widens and narrows, some good patches of sunshine, great acoustics below the famous Bloukrans River Bridge on the N2 Toll, as yet another madman plunges with loud screams to the end of his or her bungee jump line. Some very pretty spots of red on the river banks and drooping from above. These were the gorgeous George lilies / Cyrthanthus elatus in full flower. There were odd clumps of Chasmanthe aethiopica and Dietes iridioides. Monopsis sp. and Lobelias lined the river banks – gorgeous cushions of blue and purple. The Lobelias, mainly Lobelia erinus, Lobelia neglecta and Lobelia cuneifolia. Judging by the numerous alien invaders, Sanparks can certainly be kept very busy as they continue to try to eliminate these Black Wattles, Blackwoods and Lantana from the Garden Route river courses.
Evie
|
|
|
Yams at Featherbed
Thursday 7th March
Dioscorea is a genus in the family Dioscoreaceae. They are tuberous lianas with heart-shaped leaves. They are mostly dioecious. In August 2016, Lize von Staden from SANBI asked the Outramps to keep an eye out for Dioscorea burchellii. This was as a result of a request from a Dioscorea expert, Dr Paul Wilkin, who was concerned about its status. This started the hunt. Firstly, our challenge was to identify members of the genus – hunting for heart-shaped leaves that twisted to the left…there seemed to be a lot of different vines that did this in the areas we searched, but we finally got the hang of it and found new populations of D. burchellii. This has been reported in our dispatches. An interest had been sparked and now we are able to identify (usually) the genus at least. We have been interested in the species and have followed up on several plant sightings.
Last week, I got a WhatsApp from Nanna Joubert notifying me that the Dioscorea at Featherbed was in full bloom. I contacted Martin Hatchuel, the horticulturist at Featherbed and he made arrangements for six of us to visit the property on Thursday. This was an opportunity we could not ignore!
We all met at the parking lot at Lake Brenton and bundled into Nanna’s bakkie. We were met by Martin at the Featherbed nursery. He led us down to the restaurant, where quite some time was spent admiring the beautiful tables made from a collection of different hardwoods. After being dragged away from the study of hardwoods, we made our way along the coastal path. Martin chatted about the alien removal, the different methods that had been used to prevent erosion since the Knysna wildfires in June 2017, the problems and successes, including the planting of various species of ground cover that had been propagated from plants collected on the property.
We found 7 Dioscorea plants. We are not sure of the species (possibly two), but there were male and female plants in flower. Specimens collected by Johan Baard have been submitted for identification. We keenly await the verdict.
With cameras clicking and long discussions along the way, it was a slow walk to the turnaround point, which is Martin’s favourite place on Featherbed. The photographs will be added to iNaturalist increasing the number of plants on the Featherbed plant list. A few of us climbed the stairs to admire a population of flowering Brunsvigia orientalis, where Nanna spotted another Dioscorea plant in flower. It was too difficult to access, but it was definitely there!
We made our way back to the restaurant where we enjoyed cappuccinos while sitting at a table made of wood from Olinia ventosa and Podocarpus latifolius.
Thank you, Martin, for giving us the opportunity to visit Featherbed and to see the Dioscorea in flower.
Nicky
|
|
|
CREW Planning Meeting
The average age at the planning meeting must have been about 40. This wasn't because the "older than God" members had "passed on", as it is euphemistically described. It was due to an influx of young, aspiring CREWites from NMU and some ex-students doing internships. They were hugely welcome in our ageing ranks, especially as some of them are keen to find a few of the more elusive species that Ismail trotted out in our Priority list for 2019/2020. An example of this is an obscure Asteraceae species only seen once by Elsie Esterhuysen in 19 voetsek on the rocky pinnacles of Towerkop in the Klein Swartberg.
We were happy to hear from Ismail that most of the things we're doing are being done pretty well. It has been a challenging year for CREW in the Western Cape. Some of the stalwarts have died and some have had to give up their CREW activities. Fortunately, the highly productive Outramps CREW Group is alive and well. Here are some of our stats for last year.
STATS for 2018
iNat observations to date – 41 740 (Nicky 20 000 and counting)
Species to date – 11 297
ID’s given to date – 61 688 (Di 24 861 id's)
Field trips 2018 – 140
MSB collections to date – 130 (sterling work done by Sally)
2018 Herbarium specimens – 200 (Russell)
Site sheets for threatened plants since October 2017 - 335
We are optimistic that some of the young will be able to join us on field trips. Watch this space! And many thanks to Ismail, Gigi and Joti for an excellent meeting and for being such wonderful guests. Looking forward to seeing you all at the CREW Workshop at Riebeek-Kasteel in May.
tanniedi
|
|
|
Northern Ridge of Camferskloof
It was a crack of dawn start to the day. We had suggested that a trip to monitor Disa arida (Endangered) would be a fun thing to do with the CT CREW Team. Ismail was enthusiastic, as he has never seen the plant, originally discovered by Jan Vlok and known to us as "Jan's Arid Orchid".
Our route up to the ridge was not the usual route up the firebreak. We started the ascent much further east on the Burnsleigh property. We were almost immediately rewarded by a large stand of thriving Rafnia vlokii (Vulnerable) in full flower. They were a sight to behold. In amongst the gold, the blue petals of Psoralea diturnerae (Endangered) and the even paler blue of Prismatocarpus candolleanus provided a gentle contrast. The deep brick red Oxalis pendulifolia (Near Threatened) was scattered across the slope. An unexpected find was a clump of Kniphofia cf. uvaria at the base of a rocky outcrop near the top of the ridge. This section is pretty badly degraded with Hakea and Pines. It was startling to see the difference between the private land and the Cape Nature land.
It was a stiff pull to the top, but there there was another reward. The views in all directions were spectacular and well worth the effort. The scramble across the ridge-line was enlivened by the exquisite Aloe lineata, which is alive and well.
After a short break at the beacon, we scrambled across the ridge to the west to find an untried line for the descent. By this stage, I was anxious that we were going to miss our target plant for the day. Were we too early, too soon after the burn in October 2018, or was it simply too dry? These were some of the questions I was asking. But a little way down the south-facing slope, I saw the first Disa arida (Endangered), which looks like a miniature purple-pink Spitfire aeroplane, such as was used in the Battle of Britain during the Second World War. It is the most enchanting plant and one of our all-time favourites.
We only saw 3 plants, although we spread out across the slope. Evie gave a shout of triumph when she found a clump of Lobelia dichroma (Data Deficient) on a rock face. A bit lower down Otholobium heterosepalum (Rare) appeared and on the flat, under Pinus radiata, Aspalathus glabrescens (Endangered) is putting on a brave show.
List of Rares for the day
Oxalis pendulifola (Near Threatened)
Rafnia vlokii (Vulnerable)
Psoralea diturnerae (Endangered)
Disa arida (Endangered)
Lobelia dichroma (Data Deficient)
Otholobium heterosepalum (Rare)
Aspalathus glabrescens (Endangered)
tanniedi
|
|
|
|
|