30 December 2015

Christmas baubles and evening-bobartias

At long last SANParks heaved themselves off their large rear ends and opened up Silvermine West after the fire many months ago. We decided to go on our favourite evening circuit from the gate and, even though it was hot, I was allowed to come. I still took my time ...
A hot red fire flower - Tritoniopsis antholyza - just loving the burned veld.
Paul thought this burned protea bush stump looked like me - especially the grizzled muzzle. Hmmmm.
The Haggis (the Alph's new name for the Food Lady) was excited to see these Sword Rush-lilies (Bobartia gladiata) in flower as they only flower in the late afternoon and we normally walk in the morning.
The perfect Christmas bauble bush: Asparagus capensis. 
Me and Pauline with hundreds of Table Mountain Watsonias (Watsonia tabularis).
Me and Pauline in the Summer Pipes (Thereianthus bracteolatus) - all flowering happily in the aftermath of the fire.
More Christmas baubles - the flowerheads of  the Tontelblaar (Hermas villosa).
A blackened and burned Tree Pagoda (Mimetes fimbrifolius) demonstrating its amazing fire-adaptive trick of being able to re-sprout from buds under its thick bark on branches near the top. Read more about these remarkable peninsula endemics here. Table Mountain Watsonias (also Peninsula endemics) all around.
This time its me and not a protea stump. I found a cave under the tea-spot rock that was just perfect for a hot zwarte schot.
Afternoon tea with the Lad, me in my cave under the rock, Pauline, the Alph and Paul.
There were lots of Heliophila flowers in amongst the grasses and restios,
and another evening-flowering bobartia - probably Bobartia filiformis.
And, like the game that the Polder Scots play in the frozen north, can you spot the zwarte schot on her way home in the gloaming?

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