July Fynbos Rambles to Elsie's and Noordhoek Peaks

  

by Diana Studer

- gardening for biodiversity

 in Cape Town, South Africa

 

Hiking among wildflowers

in the mountains

around Cape Town

 

Elsie's Peak was blooming cold - beanie and mitts all the way. But we were ahead of the next rain. Bottom left you can see the re-engineered dunes turning green, where Silvermine River reaches the sea.

 

Looking down from Elsie's Peak

Hoping to see our Audouinia capitata, but still tight buds. Aristea glauca has a translucent spathe with a dark keel.

 

Elsie's Peak with Aristea in July

Leucospermum hypohyllocarpodendron - green leaved ssp. First time we noticed those architectural and geometric deep red buds! This pincushion protea snakes along the ground. Othonna bulbosa petals furled under against the cold. Millipede with red legs Wenceslas walking.

 

Elsie's Peak with Leucospermum in July

Brunia noduliflora - leaves are not as soft as lanuginosa. Lobostemon fruticosus - hairy leaves - pink buds turning to blue flowers. Lobostemon montanus - soft velvety leaves with pale blue flowers.

 

Elsie's Peak with Lobostemon in July

Noordhoek fire lookout. Starting from the dam where they have worked hard to repair the jeep track across the river, gabions, concrete ford, and a little footbridge for dry feet. Spillway at the dam is usually dry, but flowing strongly after heavy rain.

 

Silvermine River the ford and the spillway

Erica physodes was the Peninsula Endemic reason for this walk. Gnidia tomentosa with central spiked golden crown. Stilbe vestita like white candles.

 

Erica physodes at Silvermine in July

Fish Hoek in the first broad valley, Simon's Town tucked in the next bay. Across the Cape Flats and winter smog the distant mountains are topped with snow.

 

View from Silvermine

Oedera imbricata (has broad leaves) displaying the 9 heads within the flower, the leader throning in the centre. Sweat bee on yellow daisy is the fifth bee for our FR project. Tall silver pea Xiphotheca fruticosa.

 

Oedera at Silvermine in July

Tiniest bunch of pink and white roses Metalasia divergens fusca, thumbnail-sized in life - Peninsula Endemic. Lichen on rock, colour just gently touched with gold. Reminds me of the dishevelled hair of 2 nameless politicians. Purple and white Muraltia heisteria with spiky leaves at the ready. Clump of arum lilies (neither arums, nor lilies) Zantedeschia aethiopica.

 

Politician's hair lichen at Silvermine in July

Shall we continue up Noordhoek Peak? The Nine agreed, while three headed home. Hard slog, UP, and UP. Sunny, but with an icy breeze for four hang-gliders nearer the dam. We were finally on Noordhoek Peak 754 M. Looking down to Chapman's Peak 593 M, Slangkop lighthouse mid-left and helicopters flying below us! Across to Little Lion's Head and up higher to Constantiaberg 928 M. We start from Silvermine Dam at 500 M.

 

View from Noordhoek Peak

Back down at the dam the bird whisperer caught the interest of a Cape boubou shrike, who studied us equally intently.

 

Cape boubou shrike

My hikes are listed on my Hiking page.

 

We have a Fynbos Rambles on the Cape Peninsula project on iNaturalist. As we work back adding observations from our hikes, we have 570 species. 483 plants, including 35 Peninsula Endemics. 73 assorted animals including 52 arthropods for C. 12 mushrooms and lichen.

 

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Pictures by Diana Studer

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