March hikes to Elsie's Peak, Silvermine, Myburghskloof and Smitswinkel Bay

  

by Diana Studer

- gardening for biodiversity

 in Cape Town, South Africa

 

Hiking among wildflowers

in the mountains

around Cape Town

 

Up Elsie's Peak in March. At teatime I skipped ahead for that view. Makes my heart sing. Wide open view looking across False Bay.

 

Looking from Elsie's Peak across False Bay 

Lampranthus bicolor yellow flowers from orange buds. The first Gladiolus brevifolius of the season for us. Lichtensteinia lacera, the 'lacerated' leaves with a carrot and parsley head of flowers. We start just above the houses with this planted or garden escapee Protea hybrid.

 

Elsie's Peak
March flowers

Silvermine to Blackburn Ravine for the view. Started with picturesque raindrops on spiderwebs.

 

Argiope australis with stabilimentum

But as we climbed up, for that view, we were walking IN the cloudy Tablecloth. Drip and squelch. Erica lutea double storey flowers. Erica nevillei was new. Nanobubon strictum (carrot and parsley family) Disa red ferruginea and blue graminifolia. Invasive blackberry, Rubus affinis, blame that fruit.

 

Erica nevillei in March rain at Silvermine

Myburghskloof. Bright blue day looking down to Llandudno. New plants Secamone alpini - milkweed from montane (alpine is exaggerated!) forest with two horned fruit, and Cape caraway - Chamarea. Bruniaceae this one is Brunia noduliflora.

 

Wettest recorded March. But DRY stream - said Peter Johnston geographer at UCT -  'Many streams will flow off Table Mountain during and shortly after the rain, especially if the ground is dry and hard, not much sinks in and it runs off very quickly. In some cases, however, the water is immediately absorbed into the soil where there is vegetation and none runs off. This is probably the case with that stream. During the rainy season, as it rains more, the ground gets softer, more water sinks into the soil and the groundwater then adds to the flow and the streams persist during the dry periods. Then you will find many streams flowing well into summer'

 

Secamone alpini at Myburghskloof in March

Yellow flowers for Myburghskloof. Helichrysum nudifolium, typical flowers but the nudifolium leaf is broad and soft not small with grey velvet. Searsia laevigata berries. Tiny groundcover Hibiscus aethiopicus. Always get bracts for daisies Senecio burchellii. Commelina but yellow for africana.

 

Yellow flowers in March at Myburghskloof

Smitswinkel Bay. 3 of us climbed back up with <3 rocks.

 

Smitswinkel Bay I <3 rocks!

Blue Lobelia boivinii. Each flower with a single petal for Disparago ericoides. Nidorella ivifolia likes damp feet, but leaves not particularly ivyish. Asparagus aethiopicus (again, South of the known world beyond the Sahara desert) with vicious hooked thorns and swathed in white flowers! Neatly toothed leaves for Morella serrata. More berries for coastal subspecies Cassine peragua barbara (that week we had a visiting Barbara too)

 

March flowers on Smitswinkel Bay path

Silvermine to Steenberg Peak for Disa ferruginea. I sweep from the back to catch stragglers. While the others stopped for tea, I forged ahead for extra disas.

 

Disa ferruginea in March

Sign of autumn. Gladiolus brevifolius. Each one playing with white, yellow, pink and purple on the lip markings.

 

Gladiolis brevifolius
sign of autumn in March

Turning pink. Serruria fasciflora. Blushing Clutia ericoides. Stoebe fusca (means dark, I wonder why). UPDATE: Male flowers of Restio triticeus. Two peas pale Psoralea laxa and darker Indigofera candolleana.

 

Silvermine Steenberg Peak
March flowers

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