August Fynbos Rambles to Jonkersdam, Silvermine, Slangkop and Kommetjie

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

August Fynbos Rambles to Jonkersdam, Silvermine, Slangkop and Kommetjie

by Diana Studer

- gardening for biodiversity

in Cape Town, South Africa

Hiking among wildflowers

in the mountains

around Cape Town

August was winter. Jonkersdam Trail. Trichocephalus stipularis with fleshy, furry pink fruit. Babiana villosula - usually blue, but this one is white. Weather rolling in to chase us home. Delicate Pelargonium. Lobostemon fruticosus in pink and blue flannel pyjamas. Disperis capensis - neat pair of slippers

Jonkersdam in August
Pink and blue

Spiralled heart of Cotula pruinosa. Chrome yellow orchid Satyrium coriifolium. Protea scolymocephala small perfection of protea. Leucadendron conocarpodendron buds sparkling silver where the pincushions catch the light. Pauridia flaccida, plain yellow above, beautifully striped in bud and below. Bolusafra bituminosa, yellow pea flowers and bitumen scented leaves.

Jonkersdam in August
Yellow

Oxalis obtusa in fruity ice cream pastels. View to mountains of Silvermine (past the Capri reservoir). Cliffortia polygonifolia (a burnet in the rose family) - red floof - is that all? asks J. Tall sundew Drosera cistiflora. Babiana ringens with ants enjoying nectar in the sun.

Jonkersdam in August
the warm colours

Silvermine to Junction Pool. Magnificent 'Oh my' Mimetes fimbriifolius all the way!

Mimetes fimbriifolius
Silvermine in August

Can that big fruit come from those small flowerbuds? Gomphocarpus cancellatus milkweed. Silvermine waterfall gushing with winter enthusiasm! Green Erica urna-viridis. Disperis capensis, orchid from the back. Amphithalea ericifolia. A Muraltia polygala family.

August waterfall at Silvermine

Slangkop. We were greeted by Mr Wahoo guarding his baboon troop.

Typical fynbos is mostly green and brown, and we look, for our flowers. Chapman's Peak sheltering below the protea bush. Gladiolus carinatus with the Atlantic Ocean on the horizon. Our favourite mystery Microdon capitatus (Scrophulariaceae) in seed - only this small population left on the Cape Peninsula. Pelargonium suburbanum (sub because taxonomy immortalises - we thought it was a city dweller!) Petalacte coronata.

Mr Wahoo at Slangkop in August

Winding slowly to the landmark dwarf Protea nitida. 4 pairs of yellow points for Struthiola ciliata flowers. Red velvet Hyobanche sanguinea (a root parasite) showing the white cat's claw flower. No rays for purple Othonna digitata. Metalasia compacta creamy flowers emerging from deep pink bracts. Unusual colour for a sage, dusky pink Salvia lanceolata.

Slangkop in August
pink ish flowers

Silver silk on Aspalathus sericea. Rare brown form of (usually yellow) Oxalis luteola. Weird shape and colours for Liparia parva (pea family). Emerging from the sand, dune cups are Peziza ammophila fungus. On this slope we look for Arctotis breviscapa, golden yellow daisies, beautiful on both sides!

Slangkop in August
with dune cups and yellow flowers

Kommetjie to Soetwater. In the little bay at Kommetjie, a promise of an incoming storm, with Hartlaub's gulls resting in the calm before.

Hartlaub's gulls in the calm before

We did, see flowers - but totally upstaged by a world of foam. Foam People flying inland on the gusts. Fiscal shrike busy hunting bugs among the washed up kelp. Beyond the grass, under the foam, is the beach we usually cross. April 2021 and September 2024.