Silvermine flowers and India Venster

by Diana Studer

- gardening for biodiversity

in Cape Town, South Africa

Hiking among wildflowers

in the mountains

around Cape Town

Back in November his first hike was above the next bay to ours, which is Kalk Bay with the fishing harbour. Looking along the coast to Simon's Town.

Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Simon's Town

We began by walking up the firebreak along Silvermine Village and on the Old Wagon Trail (drenched last time). Luckily in time to see, the flowers before they were weed-whacked. Not the fire hazard bushes, but all the blooming tinies!

Silvermine November flowers on the Old Wagon Trail

Leucadendron xanthoconus, cones in yellow bracts, new leaves silver and wine-red. Creamy Brunia lanuginosa. Gladiolus carneus with spade-shaped deep red marks on lower petals. Small pink Erica mauritanica.

Polygala garcinii with white tassel. Pink locust with double set of legs (we are a pair!) Green-ringed yellow daisy Ursinia paleacea. Mauve pea Otholobium virgatum.

Gold Helichrysum cymosum. Tiny annual Helichrysum indicum. Tiny mat-forming Helichrysum tinctum. Lobelia pinifolia.

Erica halicacaba on Elsie's Peak summit in November

We hiked up Elsie's Peak to see Erica halicacaba, which likes to grow on cliff faces. Large bush at the base of the summit, with a smaller one midway up.

Elsie's Peak bulbs and daisies in November

Yellow Bobartia indica (looks like a reed out of flower). Terracotta and gold Ixia dubia. Fynbos on slope of Elsie's Peak.

Lady's hand Cyanella hyacinthoides. Dilatris pillansii with stamens, 2 long and one short. True pink Watsonia borbonica.

Love the blaze of pink, lemon yellow and russet Syncarpha gnaphaloides against its billow of silver leaves! Red blister beetle on Cullumia setosa.

Elsie's Peak Aspalathus in November

Aspalathus callosa with its egg-shaped cluster. Aspalathus carnosa flowers cupped in beauty. Aspalathus chenopoda requires its spikes to be kept at a respectful distance, especially when it grows along the path. Tornleaf Lichtensteinia lacera is an umbel.

Banded blue Roella ciliata. Pseudoselago spuria (with devouring monkey beetle). Purple pea Otholobium fruticans. White Scabiosa columbaria.

The usual yellow Microdon dubius. Trailing pincushion protea Leucospermum hypophyllocarpodendron. Yellow Linum africanum. Pelargonium longifolium in shell pink with burgundy.

India Venster with cable car gliding past

Twice in November he climbed via India Venster (= window), an opening in the rock on the face of Table Mountain between the cable stations. The shape of a green patch on the mountain, seen from the City, reminded British settlers of India.

Saltera sarcocolla at Maiden Peak in November

Around Maiden Peak in Silvermine. This Saltera sarcocolla stand out in the landscape like an orange traffic cone. Vehement shiny pink flowers! Out of bloom the tall columns of ranked leaves remain distinctive. Mid-pink and one almost white too.

Bulbs at Maiden Peak in November

A patch of fallen BLUE sky Aristea africana grows low along the path. Aristea capitata raises blue spears. Drifts of white Macrostylis villosa. Wisps of cloud against that matching blue African sky.

Yellow Wachendorfia paniculata. Red leaves Oxalis pentaphylla. Soft silky yellow Aspalathus sericea. OTT terracotta and gold pea family Liparia splendens.

The darker form of Microdon dubius. Silvermine River flowing down the mountain. Shrubby rich pink flowers and gently folded and toothed leaves Pelargonium cucculatum ssp tabulare.

November proteas, orchids and daisies at Maiden Peak

Proteas - bud of Protea speciosa, cone of Leucadendron laureolum, white feathers of Mimetes fimbriifolius.

Restio undulating in waves with the wind. Orchids - Yellow Disa tenuifolia and Acrolophia bolusii with its lower petal corrugated and turned up.

White daisies flamboyant Syncarpha vestita and understated Metalasia side by side. Soft buttery yellow Edmondia sesamoides. Athanasia crithmifolia named for its leaves.

Silvermine North Plateau flowers in November

Short list for Silvermine North Plateau this week as my lost sunglasses gave me a migraine (now using his wraparound cycling glasses)

This was new to our group Aspalathus tridentata. Psoralea pinnata in white and blue.

Purple striped Indigofera candolleana. Ursinia paleacea most beautiful for its identifying translucent bracts. Gone to seed a different sort of beauty for Syncarpha speciosissima.

Senecio rigidus with rough leaves. Syncarpha vestita, Cape snow, hides dark purple flowers within the luminous white bracts, and a monkey beetle in a yellow suit of pollen. Pink and white balls of Brunia abrotanoides.

Table Mountain with Syncarpha vestita in November

But one of the best bits of each hike, is our tea stop, choosing a place to gaze my fill of Syncarpha vestita and the iconic mountain of Cape Town ... sigh. His India Venster is just behind the left corner of Table Mountain.

I hike with U3A (listed as False Bay)

His hike with U3A each week (listed as Cape Town)

Our hikes are listed on my page.

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