The "Glad" Week

(vaginatus and nigromontanus)
The Weather Gods were against us on Friday. The forecast had looked OK, but when we drove up and over the Swartberg Pass, the ascent of Waboomsberg became more and more unlikely. Swirling mist and rain driven by strong wind reduced the visibility to almost zero. On the northern side it was even worse, or better, dependent on your point of view. When we passed the Cork Oak on the Gamkaskloof Rd,(almost without seeing it), we decided to abandon our initial plan of hiking up to see Protea venusta (Endangered) in flower. Instead, we parked the Buchu Bus fairly high up on the southern side of the Pass and walked down. Visitors, Rosie and Buffy joined Bill and “put foot”, while Nicky, Evie and I took photographs and did site sheets along the way. Nicky was at a huge advantage with her waterproof camera, as the rain was heavy at times. And the day was made, when we found that the beautiful Gladiolus nigromontanus (Black Mountain Glad – Rare) was in full flower for about a stretch of 4kms. This is not a plant that we see very often, so a real treat.

Other rares seen on the day were Stirtonanthus tayloriana (Charlie’s Pea – Vulnerable), Leucadendron tinctum (Toffee-Apple Conebush – Near Threatened), Otholobium swartbergense (Rare) and an unknown yellow Pea. We also had a look at Protea venusta (Endangered) high up on the southern side. Surprisingly, it wasn’t flowering. The last time we went up to Waboomsberg, the plants there were in bud. The Stirtonanthus is only known from 2 localities, so always fun to see. Protea punctata, which occurs on the high inland mountains was in early flower and a delight to the eye. At about midday, Bill and I abandoned the rest and trudged up the Pass to fetch the Bus. Despite the weather, we had a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding day. It is our opinion, that the Otholobium should be downgraded to Least Concern. We have found it fairly profusely along the whole length of the central Swartberg, from the Pass to Meiringspoort on both the southern and northern sides.

There are a couple of pics on the Album of the two trips, but I am not going to describe the Fern Trail and the Kaaimans Gorge again. The water was cold in the Gorge, we got our feet wet on the Fern Trail, but the WAGS party afterwards was good enough to warm the cockles of my heart. So thank you all. On the LOT trip to Endlovana at Brenton, they found stacks of the stunning Gladiolus vaginatus (Vulnerable). With vaginatus and nigromontanus in one week, Nicky’s suggested title for the Reportback seemed inevitable. Below is her story about the LOT trip to Endlovana.
Di

Endlovana – Thursday 1st March 2018
On the 60th day of 2018 four Outramps and Buffy, my cousin taking a break from the Beast from the East, visited Endlovana, a property on Knysna’s Western Head. On the 8th of February LOT visited Villa Castollini and found a purple Selago which, on closer inspection by Prix and Christine, appeared to be Selago burchellii, a vulnerable species. The Red List of South African plants states that it is “known from six locations. It has lost at least 40% of its habitat to commercial forestry plantations and crop cultivation. Decline is continuing due to coastal development, crop cultivation and alien plant invasion”. We needed to collect herbarium specimens to confirm identification, so we visited another property where it is growing. There was a healthy population of this purple plant and the Knysna Sand Fynbos is making a good recovery after the control burn and Knysna wildfires that burnt the property last year, although, as with all other parts of Brenton, the aliens are making an alarming appearance.

We were happy to find healthy populations of Gnidia chrysophylla (NT), Gladiolus vaginatus (VU) and Oxalis pendulifolia (NT). There was no sign of Erica glumiflora (VU), but we are hopeful that given time this vulnerable Erica will re-establish a population on the dunes. Once again, the Pelargoniums put on a good display with Pelargonium caffrum, Pelargonium capitatum and Pelargonium dipetalum providing patches of colour. Although most of the flowers of some huge specimens of Brunsvigia orientalis are coming to an end, the pedicels of the candelabra heads are still stretching to disperse the seeds as far as possible.

I have added some pictures taken in 2016 to the album to show what the area was like before and after the fire.

After enjoying some delicious apples brought by Christine we headed home. I am sure we will visit the property again sometime in the 305 remaining days of this year. It is so interesting to see the regrowth after the fires. Thank you, Susan Campbell, for once again giving us permission to wander around on your beautiful property.
Nicky

LOT plan to collect Aspalathus seeds in the area west of Mossel Bay on Thursday. SIM will head to the Langkloof to explore the hills on the eastern side of the Eseljacht Road. An earlier trip to the western side, was hugely productive. There is also an outside chance that we may find a new locality for our beloved Mimetes chrysanthus (Vulnerable). And in national news, the hateful edifice of state capture is toppling at the speed of Summer Lightning. Well done Squirrel. Hope Springs!
Hamba Kahle
Groete en dankie
The Outramps CREW Group
Southern Cape

All id’s subject to confirmation by Doc Annelise and Jan Vlok, Steven Molteno Dr Tony Rebelo, Nick Helme, Prof Charlie Stirton, Dr Robert Archer, Dr Robert McKenzie, Dr Ted Oliver, Christopher Whitehouse, Derek Tribble, Adriaan Grobler, Prix Burgoyne, Dr Kenneth Oberlander, Dr Pieter Winter, Dr David Gwynne-Evans and Damion. Thank you all for your ongoing help and support. The South African community is busy migrating to iNaturalist and we will soon have projects etc. up and running. When they are ready, I will provide you with the links.

Abbreviations Glossary
MCSA – Mountain Club of South Africa
MSB - Millenium Seed Bank based at Kew in the UK
WIP – Work in Progress
HAT – High Altitude Team
LOT – Lowland Team
SIM – Somewhere in the Middle Team
WAGS – Wednesday Adventure Group
VB – Vlok Boekie “Plants of the Klein Karoo” and our Plant Bible
ITRTOL – Another thread “In The Rich Tapestry Of Life”(It describes a challenging situation, usually to do with the Buchu Bus)
ITFOT – In the fullness of time
WOESS – Fair Weather Hiker
FMC and JW – too vulgar to translate, but the equivalent is “Strike me Dead” An expression of surprise and delight on finding a new “Rare”
Kambro – same as above
Fossick – A meter per minute, scratching around looking for rares
SIDB – Skrop in die Bos – Another name for a field trip, this one coined by Prix
BAFFING – Running round like a blue-arsed fly
SYT – Sweet Young Thing - Anyone under the age of 40
TOMB – Get a move on
Mayhem - Needless or willful damage or violence
SESKRYNG – “Sit en staan kry niks gedaan” ,with thanks to Brian
SOS – Skelms on Scramblers
FW – Idiot
BOB – Another name for the Buchu Bus when she’s misbehaving.
CRAFT – A symptom of Old Age
DDD - Metalasia tricolor (Damned Diabolical Daisy)
VP – Vrekplek – Retirement Village
Qàq – Self-explanatory Inuit word describing some of our local problems
Mr Fab – Our Fabaceae specialist, Brian Du Preez – originally Boy 1
Muisvoel -The Mathematician – Peter Thompson
Boy 2 – Kyle Underwood who works on Orchids and is still at school
Sharkie – Finn Rautenbach – Our latest SYT is a surfer in his spare time
Sicko – Someone who suffers from Car Sickness. With 4 in the Group, allocating seating in the Buchu Bus is tricky
VAG – Virgin Active Garage, which is our meeting place when we head north
MATMUE – Meet At The Mall Under E - Meeting place when we head West
WG – Waves Garage in Wilderness East. - Meeting place when we’re going east.
VU- Vulnerable
DDT – Data Deficient and Taxonomically ?
NT – Near Threatened
EN – Endangered
CR – Critically Endangered
PE – Presumed extinct
LC – Least Concern
TBC – To be Confirmed
TLC – Tender loving care
JMS – An expression of absolute disdain
FOMO – Fear of Missing Out
Milk – the fruit of the vine
Condensed Milk – Scotland’s finest export
Full Cream Milk or Fat Milk – Any product of Humulus lupulus eg. Milk Stout
Milk of the Gods – Rooibos and Brandy
Milk Shake - Sparkling Wine
NS – Species of conservation concern new to the Outramps
PS -Priority Species allocated to the Outramps by our CREW Cape Co-ordinator , Ismail Ebrahim
iNFD – iNaturalist for Dummies as compiled by Sally
Mizzle – Mist and drizzle combined. A regular feature of George in the ”good old days”. Now seldom seen
FE – Fire Ephemeral – only appears immediately or after a couple of years after fire
Squirrel – aka President Ramaphosa
WOG – Wrath of God – eg. incurred when you put a young Pine tree on iNat as Leucadendron album

Publicado el marzo 5, 2018 04:28 MAÑANA por outramps-tanniedi outramps-tanniedi

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