On Friday 8th the temperature was hovering around the 40’s. We almost cancelled our short walk to the Moordkuilsriver at Slakplaas, which was the venue for the end of year Outramps function. But we are not woesses, so off we went with King, who is Wendy’s huge Boerbull type hound. We made it to the river, but on the way back the heat started to take its toll. For King, it was one step too far and he became really distressed. So Sally fetched the Jimny and she, Peter and Wendy managed to load him into the back. This was no mean feat, as King weighs about 75kgs and is the size of a small pony. Back at the farm he soon recovered, wrapped in a wet towel with fans aimed to keep him cool.

The rest of us settled down to have our usual good party when we get together. Sumptuous food and drink was the order of the day, as we reflected on another excellent year. Many thanks to Sally and Pam for their hospitality in the magical surroundings at Slakplaas. They do it so well, that it has become an annual tradition.

Report by HAT Evie
Yes- a week of parties. South Cape MCSA and disco dancing on Sat night, in the Lapa at Sedgefield, followed by WAGS on Wednesday 6 Dec, and of course our own Outramps on Friday. Wonderful to have so many friends interested in hiking and the natural world around, to celebrate with. Our Wednesday hike before the party – was a short, very pleasant affair. A Sanparks trail in Wilderness, along the Duiwe River and known as the Brownhooded Kingfisher trail. I have not been along the trail for a while – what a pleasant forested river walk this is. Some relatively new clearing of shrubs and undergrowth of the trail – providing lovely vistas along the path – thank you to the Parks management and their team. This trail is well laid out with easy stepping stones across the river, and a short little summit ascent. Some Wachendorfia thyrsiflora in the river along the way, red Watsonias and Tritoniopsis along the banks with some Erica discolor and Asteraceae on the summit. Pretty fruits of Ochna arborea strewn along the path – rather like confetti. Evidence of some of the ringbarked gums – finally falling to the ground.
The party to follow was held in Evie’s Erica road- garden, and to keep us entertained a visiting musician from Peru – feathered outfit as well as panpipes.
Evie

Report for Krantzberg Saddle outing.
On Sun 10th Dec HAT Evie was lucky to have a particularly stimulating hike in the Outeniquas. Besides Peter and his parents who joined in - my 2 other walking companions were our visitors from the UK – known as ‘Fossil plants”. Robbie and Ben were great fun and the conversation flowed all day! Both Robbie and Ben have a dedicated interest in the Proteaceae family, and were visiting the Southern Cape to be able to view, and find fresh, seed of some of the Proteaceae family plants growing at higher altitudes. I learnt a whole lot about the Protea plants and the magic involved in their germination.

Our hiking route went from Saasveld, passing the Tierkop hut, and on upwards towards the saddle alongside Krantzberg Peak. On route new buds on Protea mundii; Mimetes pauciflorus (VU); Leucospermum glabrum (EN); some orchid flowers (mostly Disa cornuta); pretty pink Erica seriphiifolia and cubica , as well as numerous different Aristea sp. Thrilled to discover Erica stylaris (Vulnerable) in a new locality

Robbie was delighted to discover a whole field of Mimetes pauciflorus just below the saddle and a group of Erica georgica in the same area. Nearby possibly – a rare Erica- ?? Erica stylaris (VU). The view of this field of M.pauciflorus on the steep slope above the path - is obscured from the trail by errant Pine trees and the Kystervaring fern (Gleichenia polypodioides) – I have not noticed this large group previously . I guess by that time of day I am focusing ahead and thinking – “lunch on the saddle”. Which we enjoyed and found to our surprise our feet were dangling into the small “rock shelters” belonging to several Lobelia dichroma plants – a new location for Outramps.

Evie

2017 – the Year that was (highs and lows)

January
Launched LOT (Lowlands Outramps Team)
Drosanthemum edwardsiae (Data Deficient) a first for us – New Special
Agathosma ovalifolia (Rare) – Dave id’s it – New Special

February
Wimmerella hederacea (DDT) at Rust en Vrede – New Special

March
Sally’s famous Ant story - http://www.ispotnature.org/node/869711

April
Psoralea repens (Near Threatened) found by Jen at Cape St Francis – New Special
Gnaphalium declinatum (Near Threatened) – New Special
Indigofera harveyi ssp plurijuga (Recently Described) and not yet on the Red List – found by Sally – New Special
Erica setulosa (Rare) found by Dave in the Kammanssie – New Special

May
Fires at Leeukloof
Phylica keetii (Rare) found by Dave in its type locality at Windmeulnek – New Special
Controlled burn at Endlovana at Brenton
Sadly Jean and Oliver leave us to go back to Cape Town to the Silvermine Retirement Village

June
The Southern Cape is engulfed by fires that raged across the area with many homes and some lives lost.

July
Windmeulnek with Ismail and the Team
Erica outeniquae (Vulnerable) Evie finds it on Cradock Peak – New Special
Glottiphyllum carnosum (Endangered) New Special
Aloe longistyla (Data Deficient) Prix showed us where to find these. New Special
Delosperma calitzdorpense (Endangered) New Special + Priority Species
Drimia sp nova (Not yet described) – New Special
Crassula badspoortense (Rare)Found by Rusell near the Catlitzdorp Spa - New Special + Priority Species – TBC

August
Visit from Tony Rebelo
Glottiphyllum suave (Near Threatened) - New Special
Astroloba cremnophila (Data Deficient) found by Nicky and Di at Buffelspoort in the Klein Swartberg – New Special
Nivenia stenosiphon (Rare) found by Nicky and Di east of Buffelspoort - New Special
Arctotis sp. nova (Jan’s Daisy – Not yet described) found by Nicky at Buffelspoort -2nd known locality
Brunsvigia josephinae (Vulnerable) Found by LOT northwest of Mossel Bay – New Special
Cytinus capensis (Critically Endangered) Found by Prix – New special - new locality
Erica bauri ssp gouriquae (Endangered) found by the Team in a new locality
Clean-up of the Diosma Reserve with CREW and the Mossel Bay Municipality – spearheaded by Sandra
Rain, glorious rain – 50mm

September
Machairophyllum brevifolium (Vulnerable) rediscovered at Mons Ruber
Trichodiadema burgeri (Vulnerable) found by Sandra at De Rust – New Special
Arangieskop with the HAT
Post-burn Monitoring at Fynbos Estate in the Robberg Corridor
Outramps go live on SFM Streek Radio with Fred Orban on “Kus tot Kruin”
Bobartia tubulosa (Near Threatened) Seen by Jean in the Western Cape - New Special
Wachendorfia brachyandra (Vulnerable) Seen by Jean in the Western Cape – New Special
Lotononis prostrata (Near Threatened) Seen by Jean in the Western Cape – New Special

October
Haworthia truncata (Vulnerable) a new locality for the Outramps at Calitzdorp
Ornithogalum sardienii (Critically Endangered) found by Sally at Calitzdorp – New Special
Erica georgica found by the Team at Kleinplaat – new locality
Lotononis filiformis (Endangered) new locality at Fouriesberg
Argyrolobium rarum at Fouriesberg – New Special
Erica unicolor ssp mutica (Endangered) found by Evie and Brian at Fouriesberg - new locality
Aspalathus glabrescens (Endangered) at Fouriesberg – new locality
Haworthia arachnoidea var. arania (Not evaluated) at Fouriesberg – New Special
Indigofera sp 14 (Not evaluated) at Fouriesberg – New locality
Post-burn monitoring with Ismail and the CREW at Goukamma and the Eden Municipality property in the Robberg Corridor
SANBI decides to drop iSpot after lots of problems and go with iNat
A note from Dr David Hughes – a follow-up of Sally’s Ant Story “We sequenced the fungi you sent and it is a really interesting finding. They are a group of fungi called Entomphthora which are evolutionarily very distant from what we studied. About 500 million years apart. What is cool is that your ants were manipulated so this is an undefended evolutionary event where a fungus manipulates ants to bite. We do know that this group of fungi do this to ants in Northern Europe (attached)” .
Sally wins the Observation of the day on iNaturalist with her magnificent photo of Crassula pyramidalis, after only 1 week of posting on iNat. And follows that up with the Observation of the week - https://www.inaturalist.org/blog/12486-observation-of-the-week-11-4-17

November
Peter is notified that he had achieved the highest mark in the science faculty for his 3 year stint as an undergraduate. Two of our young will be doing Masters at Stellenbosch in 2018 – Brian in Botany (Revision of the Polhillia genus) and Peter in Mathematics (Artificial Intelligence)
Prof Charlie Stirton and Prof Muthama Muasya visit us and Charlie discovers a brand new tree-like Agathosma at Kleinplaat
Post-burn monitoring at Endlovana and the Brenton Dunes by Nicky and Fred
Post-burn monitoring at Pledge Nature Reserve by Gail, Rusell and Nicky
Dioscorea mundii (Near Threatened) Found at Pledge -New Special
Phylica keetii (Rare) found at Kagiesberg in the original locality by Nicky
Meeting with Mossel Bay Municipality at Diosma Reserve to plot the way forward, organised by Sandra. Fencing of the Reserve has begun.
64mm of rain
Otholobium heterosepalum (Rare) found on Cloete’s Pass by Dave – New Locality
Meeting with Sandra Taljaard and Jessica Hayes of Sanparks to plot the way forward for our research project.
SCLI Post-Burn Seminar – Nicky, Sandra and Di give a presentation on plant regeneration in the Southern Cape
The Premier comes to Town – Helen Zille makes a very good impression on the SCLI delegates
Guided Walk at Cola Beach Conservancy presented by Nicky and Sandra
Rhynchosia bolusii (No Red List record) found at Waboomsberg, which is the type locality and last seen here in the 1950’s - New Special

December
End of Year Party at Pam and Sally’s Slakplaas
Erica stylaris (Vulnerable) found by Evie on the Krantzberg hike – a new locality
A memorable trip to Mannetjiesberg in the Kammanassie with Peter and Robbie and Ben of Fossil Plants
Sally reports that we have done 39 collections this year for the Millenium Seed Bank.

Brian’s List for 2017-12-16 Formidable Indeed!!!

New species (Most still TBC):
Oxalis sp. nova - Roggeveld
Othonna sp. nova - Infanta
Phylica sp. nova - Infanta
Lotononis sp. nova - Buffeljagsrivier
Aspalathus sp. nova - Drie Kuilen NR
Psoralea sp. nova - McGregor
Argyrolobium sp. nova - Roggeveld
Centella sp. nova - Fouriesberg
Oxalis capillaris subsp/var. nova - Malgas

• Aspalathus sp. nova (2013) - Towerkop - Charlie has finally confirmed this one and left me to describe it.
• Psoralea sp. nova (2016) - Piketberg - Just been confirmed and described by Charlie
• Otholobium sp. nova (2016) - Piketberg - Charlie believes this is also new

New specials
Apalathus cordicarpa (EX)
Aspalathus compacta (CR PE)
Psoralea peratica (Piketberg 2016) (CR PE)
Anisodontea dissecta (CR)
Euchaetis longicornis (CR)
Erica physantha (CR)
Polhillia obsoleta (CR)
Polhillia brevicalyx (CR)
Bulbinella calcicola (CR)
Babiana secunda (CR)
Sorocephalus imbricatus (CR)
Diastella parile (CR)
Wiborgiella bowieana (CR)
Secale strictum subsp. africanum (CR)

Polhillia involucrata (EN)
Phylica greyii (EN)
Wiborgiella dahlgrenii (EN)
Romulea saldanhensis (EN)
Leucospermum parile (EN)
Gladiolus vandermerwei (EN)
Lotononis villosa (EN)
Aspalathus smithii (EN)
Drosanthemum quadratum (EN)
Notobubon striatum (EN)
Brownanthus fraternus (EN)
Aspalathus joubertiana (EN)
Notobubon pungens (EN)
Aspalathus rosea (EN)
Protea cryophila (EN)
Liparia striata (EN)
Aspalathus grobleri (EN)
Aspalathus wurmbeana (EN)
Lotononis exstipulata (EN)
Aspalathus burchelliana (EN)
Drosanthemum lavisii (EN)
Moraea debilis (EN)
Lotononis gracilifolia (EN)
Lotononis viborgioides (EN)

Oxalis cf aridicola (VU) or sp. nova
Euchaetis schlechteri (VU)
Acrodon deminutus (VU)
Diosma passerinoides (VU)
Aspalathus millefolia (VU)
Aspalathus campestris (VU)
Drosanthemum striatum (VU)
Gladiolus abbreviatus (VU)
Hesperantha fibrosa (VU)
Amphithalea pagaea (VU)
Haworthiopsis venosa (VU)
Argyrolobium velutinum (VU)
Aspalathus lotoides subsp. lagopus (VU)
Aspalathus recurva (VU)
Oscularia vredenburgensis (VU)
Osteospermum calcicola (VU)
Sparaxis calcicola (VU)
Leucospermum hypophyllocarpodendron subsp. canaliculatum (VU)
Protea burchellii (VU)
Aspalathus pallescens (VU)
Euphorbia pseudoglobosa (VU)
Polhillia canescens (VU)
Aspalathus barbigera (VU)
Aspalathus microlithica (VU)
Aspalathus euston-brownii (VU)
Erica venustiflora subsp. glandulosa (VU)
Othonna ciliata (VU)
Perdicium capense (VU)
Aspalathus taylori (VU)
Anaxeton hirsutum (VU)
Askidiosperma insigna (VU)
Lobostemon capitatus (VU)
Aspalathus pycnantha (VU)
Eriospermum bowieanum (VU)
Amphithalea spinosa (VU)
Aspalathus lactea subsp. breviloba (VU)
Syringodea longituba subsp. violacea (VU)
Amphithalea alba (VU)
Gladiolus carmineus (VU)
Aspalathus pinguis subsp. australis (VU)
Aspalathus prostrata (VU)
Aspalathus sanguinea subsp. sanguinea (VU)
Ixia parva (VU)

Gladiolus teretifolius (NT)
Notobubon collinum (NT)
Ixia maculata (NT)
Zaluzianskya parviflora (NT)
Aspalathus desertorum (NT)
Aspalathus linearifolia (NT)
Serruria triternata (NT)
Protea effusa (NT)
Wiborgiella sessilifolia (NT)

Aspalathus leptocoma (Rare)
Cyclopia glabra (Rare)
Acmadenia matroosbergensis (Rare)
Esterhuysenia alpina (Rare)
Agathosma phillipsii (Rare)
Acrosanthes parviflora (Rare)
Aspalathus rostrata (Rare)

Haworthia groenewaldii (DDT)
Gnidia parviflora (DDT)
Haworthia variegata (DDT)

Otholobium sp. nova - De Hoop (NE)
Otholobium rupicolum (NE)
Indigofera burchellii (NE)

During the course of 2018, I will be handing over the reins to some of the younger members of the Outramps. This will free me to go off and do lots of rough camping and overnighters to new places and to continue hunting for rares. It is also more than time that fresh ideas were introduced into the Group.

That brings a busy 2017 to a close for the Outramps. We have a few trips planned over the festive season, but those will be featured in the first Reportback in 2018 somewhere in mid January. We are hoping that the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as the new President of the ANC, will alter the downward trajectory of our beloved country. He has our best wishes for the difficult times that lie ahead. Our very best wishes to all of you for a happy Festive season and a wonderful New Year.
PS. This is late because my wretched computer decided to take a sabbatical and is only now working (sort of). If it isn’t one thing, then it’s another, (as they say in the classics)
Over and Out
Hamba Kahle
Groete en dankie
The Outramps CREW Group
Southern Cape

All id’s subject to confirmation by Doc Annelise and Jan Vlok, Steven Molteno Dr Tony Rebelo, Nick Helme, Prof Charlie Stirton, Dr Robert Archer, Dr Robert McKenzie, Dr Ted Oliver, Christopher Whitehouse, Derek Tribble, Adriaan Grobbler, Prix Burgoyne, Dr Kenneth Oberlander, Dr Pieter Winter, Dr David Gwynne-Evans and Damion. Thank you all for your ongoing help and support. The South African community is busy migrating to iNaturalist and we will soon have projects etc up and running. When they are ready, I will provide you with the links.

Abbreviations Glossary
MCSA – Mountain Club of South Africa
MSB - Millenium Seed Bank based at Kew in the UK
WIP – Work in Progress
HAT – High Altitude Team
LOT – Lowland Team
SIM – Somewhere in the Middle Team
WAGS – Wednesday Adventure Group
VB – Vlok Boekie “Plants of the Klein Karoo” and our Plant Bible
ITRTOL – Another thread “In The Rich Tapestry Of Life”(It describes a challenging situation, usually to do with the Buchu Bus)
ITFOT – In the fullness of time
WOESS – Fair Weather Hiker
FMC and JW – too vulgar to translate, but the equivalent is “Strike me Dead” An expression of surprise and delight on finding a new “Rare”
Kambro – same as above
Fossick – A meter per minute, scratching around looking for rares
SIDB – Skrop in die Bos – Another name for a field trip, this one coined by Prix
BAFFING – Running round like a blue-arsed fly
SYT – Sweet Young Thing - Anyone under the age of 40
TOMB – Get a move on
Mayhem - Needless or willful damage or violence
SESKRYNG – “Sit en staan kry niks gedaan” ,with thanks to Brian
SOS – Skelms on Scramblers
FW – Idiot
BOB – Another name for the Buchu Bus when she’s misbehaving.
CRAFT – A symptom of Old Age
DDD - Metalasia tricolor (Damned Diabolical Daisy)
VP – Vrekplek – Retirement Village
Qàq – Self-explanatory Inuit word describing some of our local problems
Mr Fab – Our Fabaceae specialist, Brian Du Preez – originally Boy 1
Muisvoel -The Mathematician – Peter Thompson
Boy 2 – Kyle Underwood who works on Orchids and is still at school
Sharkie – Finn Rautenbach – Our latest SYT is a surfer in his spare time
Sicko – Someone who suffers from Car Sickness. With 4 in the Group, allocating seating in the Buchu Bus is tricky
VAG – Virgin Active Garage, which is our meeting place when we head north
MATMUE – Meet At The Mall Under E - Meeting place when we head West
WG – Waves Garage in Wilderness East. - Meeting place when we’re going east.
VU- Vulnerable
DDT – Data Deficient and Taxonomically ?
NT – Near Threatened
EN – Endangered
CR – Critically Endangered
PE – Presumed extinct
LC – Least Concern
TBC – To be Confirmed
TLC – Tender loving care
JMS – An expression of absolute disdain
FOMO – Fear of Missing Out
Milk – the fruit of the vine
Condensed Milk – Scotland’s finest export
Full Cream Milk or Fat Milk – Any product of Humulus lupulus eg. Milk Stout
Milk of the Gods – Rooibos and Brandy
Milk Shake - Sparkling Wine
NS – Species of conservation concern new to the Outramps
PS -Priority Species allocated to the Outramps by our CREW Cape Co-ordinator , Ismail Ebrahim
iNFD – iNaturalist for Dummies as compiled by Sally

Posted on January 2, 2018 11:25 AM by outramps-tanniedi