April hikes to St James Mule Track, Gifkommetjie, Blackhill and Noordhoek Fire Lookout
by Diana Studer - gardening for biodiversity in Cape Town, South Africa Hiking among wildflowers in the mountains around Cape Town We begin on the Mule Track above St James and Kalk Bay. Crassula saxifraga is a delicate little one sheltering in some shade. Cassine peragua barbara our coastal subspecies with berries. Roella ciliata in and out On the Mule Track above St James in April Looking from Trappieskop to Simon's Town across the sea, with our house in the valley behind that green ridge. From St James to Simon's Town Gifkommetjie at Cape Point . First stop at Witsenia maura . Grows with wet feet. Strange plant is a woody iris. Common name bokmakieriestert as it shares its unusual colours with the bird's tail. The yellow is deep pile velvet; the dark below the green band is shiny and iridescent in the sun. 4 by 2 yellow points Gnidia imbricata (flowers at the tips). One long petal says Selago luxurians . Typical daisy? But this