Album 29th June 2021
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 month - Herolds Bay Cliff Path, Friemersheim Surprise Package, Going East to Addo and Pabala, Bulbine audreyae on Montagu Pass, Robberg Coastal Corridor, MCSA Langeberg Hack, Rooiberg Pass North, Buffalo Bay Trail and Doringrivier Hakea Hack with Cape Nature.
For names and captions of the photos used on this version of the Diaries - see the Album.
For earlier versions of the Outramps CREW Diaries
https://us17.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=be2accf3de565e1297257f79e&id=8113ba68c6
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Herolds Bay Cliff Path
Time constraints determined our destination for Saturday 22nd May. The iNat City Nature Challenge prizegiving was taking place in the afternoon at the Botanical Gardens and the Outramps needed to attend. The Herolds Bay Cliff Path is an attractive shortie and it's always good to check that Euchaetis albertiniana (Endangered) is alive and well. We were thrilled to have both Tilla and Terry Trinder-Smith join us for the morning. Terry has recently moved to Dana Bay after many years at the Bolus Herbarium. Amongst other things he brings with him an intimate knowledge of the Agathosmas and we could do with some expertise in this field.
The veld was looking gorgeous and was dominated by the profusely flowering Phylica axillaris subsp. maritima. Eriocephalus africanus (Wild Rosemary) was also putting her best foot forward to add to the floral display. The rugged coastline is always stunning with the huge waves pounding the rocky shore. It was lovely to meet Terry at last and we are hoping that we will see lots of him in the future
tanniedi
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Friemersheim Surprise Package
I hike with SWAGS on Wednesdays and on this occasion we were walking from Friemersheim, a village in the foothills of the Outeniquas above Great Brak River. The village community are looking for ways to decrease joblessness in the area and had decided to offer a hike to the public. They are inexperienced and the "hike" was about 10km thereandback along a large gravel road, with aliens wall-to-wall on either side. Eventually we managed to persuade our guides to branch off into a cleared portion of the plantations above us. And here we hit gold.
Although SWAGS is a hiking group and not a plant group, there is lots of interest in the vegetation and we have some excellent photographers. Firstly, we saw the bright, orange Erica unicolor subsp. mutica (Endangered) and shortly afterwards, I was gobsmacked to see a large population of Leucadendron pubibracteolatum (Toffee-Apple Conebush – Near Threatened). In amongst the population was one Leucospermum formosum (Endangered) with a couple of dead plants close by. And so the following Friday the Outramps returned to do a more extensive survey, then explored a nearby fynbos-covered hill and put together the information for the site sheets.
Jenny let Dr AnneLise Vlok know about the find and then got hold of Riaan Basson of DEFF. He has offered to alert everyone who needs to know. So for the moment it seems that population is not in danger, although it is surrounded by Pines and various other aliens. We will certainly keep a watching brief.
We are also thinking that we could give the guides at Friemersheim a bit of training and help them to sort out an attractive hike with a small botanical component. Maybe they could offer tea and cake afterwards with a short guided tour of the village. For the moment it is on the long list (and growing) of “Things to Do”.
tanniedi
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Heading east to Pabala and Addo - 22/27th May 2021
Last year Fred was asked to be one of the guest speakers for the Tour de Addo multi-day mountain bike event. It was a long way to travel for one evening, so we booked to spend 4 nights in the Eastern Cape before driving to Addo. We were looking forward to heading east, but then we all know what happened … Covid-19. Everything was cancelled!
Bookings were carried over to 2021. Until the last minute, we were not sure whether we would be going, but this year event was not cancelled, so we headed east.
We spent 4 nights in Stone Cottage at Pabala Private Nature Reserve. We were allowed to wander among the animals on the reserve and good weather gave me the chance to explore Loerie Conglomerate Fynbos. It was beautiful – yellow Metalasia aurea, Ochna serrulata, Bobartia orientalis and a number of Aspalathus spp., pink and white Ericas, purple Selago myrtifolia…only a few of the many plants I photographed. We also took a drive into some Gamtoos Thicket and Kouga Grassy Sandstone Fynbos. One of the many peas that I found on the road verge during this drive was Indigofera grisophylla, one of those still missing from Brian’s collection.
We then drove to Darlington Dam in the Addo Elephant Park, where the cyclists were camped…another vegetation type…Sunday’s Noorsveld, two weeks after some rain. The bit of moisture meant that some of the dry bushes produced flowers! I even found a tiny Ornithoglossum undulatum still in flower, but no elephants this time around.
Looking forward to our next trip.
Nicky
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A Bulbine named Audrey
Yvette was excited. A Bulbine from Montagu Pass had been described and named in honour of the late Audrey Moriarty: Bulbine audreyae It is a tuft of succulent leaves, has yellow flowers and is a cremnophyte – a cliff clutching plant! Yvette and Jenny made haste to go and meet the little plant on the Pass. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/82129808
The Garden Route does not lack formidable plant women – and Yvette van Wijk is one of them. At 78 she received a standing, ululating ovation at Rhodes University when a doctorate in botany was bestowed on her two years ago. The Southern Cape Herbarium in George, the Garden Route Botanical Garden, numerous environmental education courses are but some of the ripples Yvette initiated. So many of us are the beneficiaries of Yvette’s extraordinary plant-related work in the Southern Cape.
The naming of this Bulbine pays tribute to another formidable Garden Route plant person, the late Audrey Moriarty. As author and illustrator of the wild flower guide, ‘Outeniqua, Tsitsikamma and Eastern Little Karoo’, she put us through our initial plant paces. For many years the field guide was the only reference material available to most of us. Few people realise that Moriarty also left a vast collection of botanical illustrations behind. Yvette alerted me to this last year, just as we plunged into hard Lockdown. I had a chance to have a very brief look at some of the material. Bulging files contain botanically correct watercolour illustrations and handwritten descriptions, indexed taxonomically. Around 2000 illustrations represent flora of the greater southern Cape. Moriarty bequeathed her botanical collection to the Southern Cape Herbarium in George.
Yvette feels strongly that these potentially useful records should be made accessible to the public. A goosebumps-energy transmits from the work when one opens the files. Could there be more undescribed species recorded in those files? It would be fun for the Outramps to follow these up! How can one pay tribute to Moriarty’s talent, dedication and research? The way forward and decision-making lies with the Garden Route Botanical Garden and its Trust.
Sandra
Bulbine audreyae
After hearing the exciting news about a Bulbine named after Audrey Moriarty, Yvette and I decided to go and see if we could find it. Off we set one cold, winter morning up the Montagu Pass. We had the photograph from the description, so knew more or less where to look. It took us 5 mins to find the first one. Fortunately they were in flower and we had a good description, so were certain we had the correct plant. The cliffs to the east of the Pass had numerous plants. We stopped counting after 50 plants. This is the only Bulbine at the bottom end of the Pass so its easy to find. I don't think it a collectable plant.
We are so thrilled that Audrey has been honoured in this way.
Jenny
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Robberg Coastal Corridor 04-06-2921
Outramps EFF (Eastenders Flower Friday) Group
The gate into the Fynbos Reserve was the 9 am meeting point for the Outramps EFF group. Tristen, Philipp’s 13-year-old son brought down the average age! Kei Heyns, conservation manager of the Robberg Coastal Corridor led the way to Jackalskraal 433 Ptn 6 to meet the owner, Morkel Pienaar. Early this year Morkel took over this special piece of land where both fynbos and Southern Afrotemperate forest compete for space with agricultural development. He reported that black wattle and pines had taken over the property and showed us heaps of chips from those that had already been cleared. It was quite chilly, so it was decided to explore the fynbos and save the walk to the forest for another day. The Outramps last visited the property in 2015 when Robbie Robinson (former Chairman of the Eden to Addo Corridor Initiative and CEO of SANParks) owned it. We hope to explore Jackalskraal 433 Ptn 6 in more detail in the near future.
The convoy of cars then headed for the Fynbos Reserve. Here Kei showed us soil erosion experimental sites that have been set up by him and the Fynbos Reserve team of Wendell McCullum, Henry Michaels and Jeanray September. They have used various methods of erosion control on different plots to assess which one is most successful. We look forward to seeing the results.
We then headed towards the Fynbos Fort along a beautiful, coastal path that I had not hiked before. Tristen’s keen eyes spotted lots of interesting things requiring identification and discussion. There were some tricky sections where steps made the going a bit easier, but, as always, the views are so beautiful and on Friday the weather was perfect. We were very pleased to see a snake asleep in the sun as very few reptiles have been seen on the property since the 2017 fires. By the time we got to the Fort our group had decreased in size as some members had to attend to other commitments. Three of us spent quite some time sitting on the steps of the Fort, enjoying the scenery, the sun and a snack while discussing matters of conservation.
Thanks to Morkel and Chris for giving us the chance to visit your beautiful properties, and to Kei for organising access and for showing us around. We hope to be back again soon.
Nicky
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MCSA - 2nd Langeberg Hack weekend
This time our group from the South Cape MCSA camped out on one of the many “Bergfontein” farms near the Bergfontein River Catchment Area in the Eastern Langeberg Mountains. Hacking is now an ongoing activity co-ordinated by Donovan Kotze (known as donovank on iNat) and initiator of the iNat project “The Ten Thousand Tree Mountain Fynbos Challenge”.
On Saturday morning early we began our workday. Hakea sericea plants had to be found, positively identified, and then slain at ground level. During the winter season the Hakea is in flower and is easy to recognize. Some are isolated trees, while many are in very dense clumps on the steeper slopes down towards the valley streams.
After a very prickly workout for the day, we gathered in the campsite to compare notes. “Hooray”! We managed to flatten just short of 3.000 trees. An amazing effort by 21 volunteers, several local landowners, and a few representatives from local organizations such as Cape Nature and the GCBR . I was lucky to use a sharp, new lopper - one of the implements donated by the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve to Donovan’s cause.
Sunday was another early start. This time we hiked the old, disused “Witblitz Trail” to the top of the Langeberg. Sadly, the public does not have access to this trail, although it is mostly quite do-able. On the return we had a chance to collect a few more scattered Hakea.
HAT Evie took it slowly. Great Fynbos – now 4 years since the 2017 fires in this zone.
Interesting plants seen
Aspalathus florifera - soft silver fronds reaching upwards
Acmadenia trigona
Phylica velutina (NT)
Struthiola hirsuta standing tall with long sprays of flowers
Otholobium sericeum
Various sprawling Aspalathus spp. - one with heart-shaped seed pods. Hopefully it will turn out to be Aspalathus cordicarpa (EX), which was regarded as extinct, until Brian found some plants in nearby Romanskraal in 2016.
Evie
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Rooiberg Pass North
It was more than time that we did some work in the Succulent Karoo biome. There is very little flowering in the Fynbos at the moment and the cooler weather was an invitation to visit the northern side of the Rooiberg Pass.
And what a day it turned out to be. We were blown away! Every meter walked held some surprise. You could hear the Oohs and Ahs all around. For some of the newer Outramps it was a first visit to Succulent Karoo and the exciting plants that abound in this vegetation type. Crassula, Gibbaeum (Bababoudjies), Glottiphyllum, Curio, Anacampseros, Ruschia, Mesembs, Aizoon, Albuca, Ammocharis, Aptosimum, Berkheya, Crassothonna, Drimia, Kewa, Massonia, Monsonia, Ornithglossum, Pachpodium and Pleiospilos were just some of them.
It was a very good turnout and we were delighted when Willem and Luwardo from Gamkaberg joined us for the day. Dave lead a HAT party up to scour the high ridges, while the rest of us combed the little kopjes and plains down below. Thanks to Tom and Sam for organising access to the area and giving us such an exciting day. How lucky we are to be a short drive away from all these wildly, different vegetation types. Fynbos, both coastal and montane, Succulent Karoo, Thicket, Afro-temperate Forest and every mountain range offering it's own very special mosaic. Cheers to the Southern Cape and all those who have chosen to make it their home!
Baie dankie
tanniedi
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