outramps-tanniedi's Journal

It's a Good Life.....

Fern Foraging for the GRBG
A long-term plan to create a Fern Walk at the Garden Route Botanical Garden is being fulfilled. On Thursday afternoon at about 4pm, Prix and Corné arrived at Strawberry Hill with sacks and trowels. I had previously earmarked ferns that could successfully be transplanted. The forest is looking wonderful, after fairly consistent rains during the last couple of weeks. The rivers are running high, so we were restricted to the western side of the Silver River on the Fern Trail. Once these ferns are established, we will add to the list.
Pteris cretica
Polystichum pungens
Adiantum aethiopicum
Asplenium protensum
Asplenium rutifolium
Asplenium gemmiferum
Dryopteris inaequalis
Blotiella natalensis
Athyrium scandicinum
Blechnum capense
Blechnum australe
Blechnum attenuatum

tanniedi

Whites Road Circular
When Evie suggested that we walk up Whites Road with a circular descent through the forest, I wasn’t at all sure. We’ve lived here for 50 years and we’ve driven up and down Whites road many times. It has spectacular views to the east across the lakes and the gradient is gentle – but walk if you can drive? In fact, the walk up turned out to be very pleasant, although fast-moving cyclists tended to be something of a hazard.

Crassula orbicularis was the standout plant, tumbling down the granite rocks that are a feature of this area. Some exquisite Bromeliads in full flower in a garden along the way proved to be a crowd-stopper. It wasn’t long before we found Dioscorea mundii (Near Threatened. We are not 100% sure of the id, as it seems as if it could be confused with D. sylvatica (Vulnerable). Some educated help here would be very valuable. It was scattered sparsely along the length of the road. The danger of aliens engulfing the indigenous plants on this stretch is significant. Amongst other nasties , we saw
Plectranthus barbatus var. grandis
Anredera cordifolia – Madeira Vine
Pines
Acacia mearnsii – Black Wattle
Acacia cyclops – Rooikrans
Lantana

As the temperature rose to the early 30’s we walked into the forest, which was deeply shady and cool. Here we found 2 populations of Ornithogalum rogersii (Data Deficient), so the day was reasonably productive.

On returning to Wilderness, we discovered that Evie’s timing was split-second accurate. We arrived at Locals in the Milkwood forests behind the Spar at exactly 11.30 for our first “In the Loop” meeting. It had been decided that we should have these at roughly 6 week intervals, so that Outramps members can be kept in touch with new developments and each other. With the Group being split into LOT, SIM and HAT, these meetings will contribute to a united front, where we are all on the same page. Lunch was enjoyable and it was great to catch up with everyone.

tanniedi

The Real Valentine – Giant Kingfisher Trail, Wilderness
Walking to the waterfall was blissfully peaceful and the swim glorious. This trail bears heavy traffic and the last section is a boarded walk, wisely so and certainly something to consider for the first section where the ever widening path and little paths off into the forest are becoming more and more evident. At least, this is my take after more than a handful of decades walking here.

On my return it becomes a highway. Mainly tourists, but I am happy to see a friendly team of parks’ staff on their way to do invasive alien plant clearing. At first glance I thought I see one holding a rifle (having heard baboons earlier), but thank goodness, no! We have a little chat and no, monkeys or baboons are not a problem at the Ebb & Flow camps, though the bush pigs were, during the two or three consecutive dry years experienced in recent years.

Highlights are Afrocarpus falcatus (yellowwood, geelhout, kalander), Calodendron capense (Cape Chestnut, Kaapse kastaiing), Vepris lanceolata (white ironwood, witysterhout), Trimeria grandifolia (wild mulberry, wilde moerbei), Searsia chirindensis (bush currant, bostaaibos). It is really unfair to only mention these obvious gems! In profuse flower is the can-never-remember-the-name all over sprawler Gymnanthemum mespilifolium and way above my head the yellow bells of Hibiscus ludwigii, orange – reds of Scadoxus puniceus on the forest floor and soft pretty pink of Hibiscus pedunculatus in the under-shrubs. To assume or piggy back on given information can backfire, which happens all too often with plant names too! Ethereally beautiful, a twisted, gnarled, hollowed out trunk stands out. The SA Tree number 513 for Olina ventosa (Hardpear) is nailed into it. When I ask Mike Cameron, our forester, later if he can confirm the identity of the tree off my photos, his comeback is a chuckle. "Not really", says Mike, he needs to see the leaves - but the crushed leaves and live, soft bark tissue smell of marzipan!

Alien invasive plants noted: Wattle (Acacia mearnsii) above the waterfall delivering seeds to the Touw River, Bugweed (Solanum mauritianum) and Phytolacca octandra off a side path just before the pontoon crossing. Newly felled Bugweed and Phytolacca - no doubt work done by the friendly team. Some Australian tree fern (Cyathea cooperi) in the streambed of the Touw River. Is anyone paying attention to our input re this fern? It does not have a good track record in other parts of the world and is extremely popular as a garden subject in our area.

I am reluctant to leave the forest, not entirely sure where I’ll meet the rest of the Outramps, but with split second timing we all meet up, just as they join the trail close to the very end. Whew! Not in trouble

Sandra

"In the Loop Meeting
The Outramps are divided into 3 Groups - LOT, SIM and HAT. In order to keep in touch with each other, it was decided at the start of the year, that we would have an informal meeting at roughly 6 weekly intervals. After a pleasant combination of Wilderness hikes, we met at Locals in the Wilderness Village. The main discussion centred around our evergreen problem of petrol and transport costs, which can become crippling.

It was good to see everyone again and we will certainly continue these meetings for the rest of 2019 to cement the cohesion of this hardworking CREW Group. Members come from Plett, Knysna, Brenton, Wilderness, George and Mossel Bay with a node in Stellenbosch.

Tanniedi

Natures Valley Trio
Once a year in Feb/March, WAGS travels to Natures Valley. En route on Tuesday, we did 2 walks from Forest Hall, on Wednesday it was the turn of the magnificent, long Salt River Circular and on the way home, we did one of the premier coastal hikes in the world around the Robberg Peninsula. 22 of us stayed at Pondok at Natures Valley for 2 nights, where we enjoyed sumptuous food and drinks and had a wonderful social time. It is one of the highlights of our hiking and plant year.

From Forest Hall - Brakrivier
Bill broke his neck and shoulder in a fall about 4 months ago. He only recently got rid of the neck-brace, so we celebrated with a saunter down to the Brak River from Forest Hall. The saunter turned out to be rather steeper and longer (7km) than expected, but he managed incredibly well and I found 2 rares. Erica glandulosa subsp. fourcadei ((Vulnerable) was over, but unmistakable. Two small colonies of Ornithogalum rogersii (Data Deficient) were surviving well in the dry conditions. It was a good start to a wonderful couple of days.

tanniedi

From Forest Hall to the Coast
As part of the WAGS 3-day adventure in the Natures Valley area – some of us were able to participate (by invitation) in a “new” walk. Thrilling to be able to explore yet another corner of the Tsitsikamma Coastal Reserve. We started from the historic estate “Forest Hall” originally built around 1863. It is now known as a venue for functions, events and film shoots.

The hike soon led us past a very murky, dark green topped pond in the forest – this could well be the setting for a South American jungle scene in a movie shoot. Luckily, we were soon able to recognise all the familiar canopy trees – Kalander yellowwoods (Afrocarpus falcatus) and very tall Boekenhouts (Rapanea melanophloeos LC). The forest floor – looking “Oh so very dry”. The path gradually wound out of thick forest, alongside the familiar pioneers - Keurboom trees (Virgilia divaricata), smaller Agathosma ovata trees and out into open coastal Fynbos.

We eventually arrived at the shoreline. An intensely hot day – luckily at this point there was cool sea water to bathe and paddle in, as we dodged between waves and rocky sculptured rocks / cliffs. The final part of the hike was an aerobic climb uphill in the scorching sun – to eventually flop under some cool, shady and enormous old oak trees back on the Estate.

In the Fynbos numerous Metalasia muricata and a few Phylica spp. Erica’s included E. discolor subsp. discolor, E. uberiflora, the dominant E. sparsa; and a 4 nate Erica – possibly E. glandulosa subsp. fourcadei (VU). Leucadendron salignum, coastal Lobelia pubescens, a few Aspalathus spp. which need ID’s and 2 Apiaceae species were standing tall to 1m. Typical for the coast - many Crassula sp. and several Crassula atropupurea plants, with their eye-catching deep red leaves; while there were numerous cushions of the delicate white/cream flowered Crassula ericoides.

Evie

Salt River Circular
I started ahead of the main group at first light. The walk up the ridge produced the usual spectacular views and the Fynbos en route to the Keurpad was magnificent. It looks almost ready to burn. For the first time there was a clump of Cyrtanthus elatus (George Lily) alongside the path in a little damp spot. It was getting warmer as the sun rose and it was great to descend into the forest for the first Salt River Crossing. The large Alsophila capensis at the crossing has disappeared from the bank and I missed it. I don't recall any major flood events since last year, but maybe...........

After a short break, I set off on the long haul through the forest and past some huge and imposing yellowwoods (Afrocarpus falcatus) to the Rug Pad. This stretch can seem interminable, especially on a hot day. The tedium was relieved by more Erica glandulosa subsp. fourcadei and another colony of Ornithogalum rogersii. The minute little Orchid, Liparis remota was in full flower and another small insignificant Orchid Habenaria arenaria has yet to flower. Finally I reached the breathtaking Lookout down to the wind-driven trees and a Springs low-tide estuary. I crossed without taking my boots off and headed for a short break on the blue rocks on the eastern side of the estuary, as the tide began to turn. I returned via the coastal route to the Natures Valley Trading store to await the rest under the Otter Trail Boot Tree. A 7 hour toughie, but one of the best!

tanniedi

Robberg
By now anno domini was catching up with me and I was feeling rather apprehensive about Robberg, which is always challenging on crutches. Bill and I started off together at first light and he bailed out down the Dune to the Island, whilst I continued to the Point. It was an enervating and hot day with very little breeze and the going was tough.

I was delighted to find Brunsvigia orientalis coming into early flower. Some new steps up one of the tough ascents made the going much easier and there was plenty of evidence of trail maintenance. By the time I reached the Island Beach, the tourists were pouring in. My weary legs and feet pointed in the direction of a shady rock, but on arrival there, a big seal was ensconced. He looked a bit off-colour. He was agitated by my presence, so I went on a bit further and found Bill in a patch of shade on the way back to the carpark.

At the parking lot I met Eben (Cape Nature Field Ranger) and we had a very good catch-up chat. Cape Nature is to be congratulated on the state of the trail and the way they handle the millions of tourists that flock to enjoy this exceptional coastal hike. By the time we arrived at the end, the stream of cars reached outside the gate.The umbrellas on the picnic tables were hugely welcome in the searing heat, while we waited for the rest of the party, who had started later. A cold beer and lots of ice set the seal on a wonderful 3 days with good friends in magnificent surroundings. “It’s a Good Life if you don’t Weaken”!

tanniedi

Do not dump your Valentine!
It seems there is a ‘Greenline’ to Sandra. Since the beginning of the year I have fielded a steady trickle of mostly gentle queries and requests re a variety of environmental matters. Not that I always get the feedback right, but perhaps imperfection is a trump card (pun intended) – it does allow for interaction and growth all around!

Imagine - I am mildly bemused and surprised to receive a Valentine’s Day invitation! How can I nót go to the Western Cape Government’s “Roadmap to Minimising Organic Waste to Landfill”?

This is the punchy introduction:
“Never mind loadshedding or waste issues, the whole country is covered in poo (as synonym for waste here)!” No kidding.

You need to know: Organic waste to landfill must be diverted from landfill, phased over 10 years. Half by 2022 and 100% by 2029. ‘Airspace for landfill’ is running out across the country. Most of the Garden Route District Municipality’s waste is carted to Mossel Bay. A massive, new and enormously expensive landfill is being set up near PetroSA.

Organic waste accounts for between 38 to 57% of all waste. Hence: “Targeting big generators first is the low hanging fruit for achieving quick waste diversion gains”. A 2012 CSIR baseline study states 6 300 200 tons per year as the Organic Waste component in the Western Cape. It lists most to least sources: Agricultural residues, Organic waste, Wet sewage sludge, Volatile animal waste, Forestry residues.

Overall the volumes are staggering and the treatment methods for the waste are interesting and varied. Waste is now called a resource or feed stock. The feed stock opens a magnitude of possibilities and opportunities to communities. The collaborative stakeholder workshop (DEA&DP, Garden Route District Municipality, various local authorities, consultants, NGO’s, local business, waste removal and processing service providers) dealt with waste analysis, roadmap forward, treatment methods and case studies of overseas waste stats and interventions, local initiatives in place & more stats - in the always pretty pie charts.

This is massive and no additional stats crunching from me now! Should you need a little bit more information contact me, better still DEA&DP or your municipality. It is imperative that every entity has to become a role-player in this re-aligned approach to organic waste.

The workshop was worthwhile and suffice it to say that after presenting the ‘What’ - and the instruction as ‘What nót to by ‘When’, the proof of the pudding would lie in the ‘How’.

“Meanwhile you know what to do: Do your One Thing. After eating your fern fronds or desired foodstuff – compost your leftover scraps (ditto garden organics). You may keep your hat on!”*

*Courtesy Braam Malherbe, Tony Rebelo & Joe Cocker! Other information, mostly as per the Workshop held 14th February, Old Power Station, Mossel Bay.
A diverted Sandra ;-)

14 Feb 2019

STOP PRESS
If you care about the Touw river, the Touw River Conservancy is the new generation and a vibrant group – join their “Conversations in Conservation” on Saturday, March 2, 2019 at 9 AM – 2 PM at the Fairy Knowe Hotel
RSVP before 25th of Feb to Janet Botes: art@janetbotes.co.za.

Further info: Matthew Koehorst - matthew@sixkingdoms.org

BotSoc to diarise!

The Botanical Society of SA is reconvening a Garden Route Branch. Do attend the AGM Saturday 16th March at the Garden Route Botanical Garden, Caledon St, George, Registration 10h00, meeting at 10h30.

Field Trips
Just maybe, this week the weather forecast will be right and we will have a cooler day on Friday 1st. If so, SIM's long-delayed trip to see how Gladiolus vaginatus (Vulnerable) is faring at Goukamma will take place. Another drawcard is Brunsvigia orientalis. It should be spectacular in the 2 year old, post-burn veld. LOT will be visiting the Quarry at Mossel Bay ion Wednesday.
Hamba Kahle
Groete en dankie
Di Turner
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, Dr Christopher Whitehouse, Adriaan Grobler, Prix Burgoyne, Dr Kenneth Oberlander, Dr Pieter Winter, Dr David Gwynne-Evans, Malthinus and Mattmatt on iNat. Thank you all for your ongoing help and support.

Outramps CREW Stellenbosch HAT node
Jonkershoek created by Vynbos - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/jonkershoek-cv
Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/mont-rochelle-nature-reserve
Papegaaiberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/papegaaiberg

Outramps Projects on iNaturalist
Ericas of the Southern Cape - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/ericas-of-the-southern-cape
Fungi of the Southern Cape - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/fungi-of-the-southern-cape
Lianes and Creepers in the Southern Cape and Little Karoo - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/lianes-and-creepers-of-the-southern-cape-and-little-karoo
Veg Types of South Africa - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/vegetation-types-of-south-africa

Flowers of the High Drakensberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flowers-of-the-high-kzn-drakensberg

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 and is now the Curator of the Garden Route Botanical Garden
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
iNatFD – iNaturalist for Dummies as compiled by Sally
Mizzle – Mist and drizzle combined. A regular feature of George in the ”good old days”.
FE – Fire Ephemeral – only appears immediately or after a couple of years after fire
Squirrel – aka President Ramaphosa
WOG – Wrath of God – eg. incurred when you put a young Pine tree on iNat as Leucadendron album
Skedonk - A banger - old, battered motor car more than 30 years old
Hoedown - redneck gathering, usually involves shouting catchy phrases like "yee-haw" and "the south will rise again"
VHF - Vat Hom Fluffie - our nickname for furry or woolly plants
SA - Stay Attractive is Google's translation of "Mooi Bly"
OTL - Out To Lunch is used to describe the Buchu Bus when she's taking a break after she's behaved badly
DFKIAA - A very funny video in Afrikaans is doing the rounds. It refers to the current power outages.

Posted on March 1, 2019 07:53 AM by

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The Silent Spring

The Silent Spring
Outramps CREW Diaries
Tuesday
5th March 2019

Leaproaches et al
We've had some interesting finds on the farm recently, which just reinforces my contention that you don't need to travel to exotic places to see special things, you just need to pay attention to what's around.

I found a small, odd (dead) creature in the house - this proved to be a leaproach (Saltoblatella), not a species I'd ever heard of before. This is not too surprising - the genus was first described only in 2009, and the species, S. montistabularis, is known only from Table Mountain and was discovered by UCT professor, Mike Picker. It was named in the international top 10 new species of 2011.

This was exciting enough - there were only two other records on iNaturalist, one from the Cederberg and one from the Overberg, but can you imagine my disbelief the following day when, as I sat on the low wall outside the office, another species of leaproach hopped up beside me ... Very slowly I inched away and into the office to grab my camera but fortunately it was in no rush to leave and I managed to get some good shots, all the while holding the rambunctious puppy at bay with one extended leg. It's no wonder leaproaches have escaped notice for so long - in the first place they are really small, secondly they live in grass or sedge and thirdly they can jump like nobody's business (of the 4000 known cockroach species, Saltoblatella is the only one which can leap and is one of the world's best insect jumpers). Oh, and they only appear in mid-summer ...

Mike Picker tells me there are now at least 12 undescribed species of leaproach from the Western and Eastern Cape, stretching as far as Port Elizabeth.

More exciting finds in February were an out-of-range European Honey Buzzard, a small flock of Amur Falcons (which enjoyed hunting grasshoppers along with the White Stork) and a very cute Cape Reed Snake, which swam over to check us out, tied itself in a few knots, then sped off across the water.
Sally

Pledge Nature Reserve
22nd February 2019
Pledge Nature Reserve was declared a Local Nature Reserve on 11th October 1991 and is administered by the Pledge Nature Reserve Trust. The approximately 10 ha was used as a brickfield and later a dumping ground, but now paths meander from wetland, through riverine thicket into fynbos. Nanna Joubert is a very active trustee, using her many skills to help look after this reserve. One of the regular activities carried out weekly in the reserve is "Weeding Wednesdays", when a group of volunteers spend at least an hour removing some of the alien plants that have come up since the reserve burnt in the Knysna wildfires in June 2017. The effectiveness of their work, now many hours, is clearly visible.

Nanna invited the Outramps to visit Pledge, and we did so on Friday 22nd. This was a LOT and SIM trip and we were pleased to be joined by Jo-Anne King, the young, very enthusiastic interim chair of the Garden Route branch of the Botanical Society. Nanna met us at the bottom gate. As we made our way through the reserve, many topics were discussed including the spread of the Polyphagous Shothole Borer and the fungus (Fusarium euwallaceae) which grows in the tunnels made by the borer, blocking the tree’s vascular system, killing off all sorts of trees, both indigenous and exotic. We also chatted about the removal of aliens and the origin and diversity of the plants in the reserve.

Nanna then lead us to two sites where populations of Dioscorea burchellii (VU) are looking healthy, before we headed to the highest point of the reserve where we were going to sit at the table to enjoy a snack. This was not to be, as when Sandra sat down on the bench, she felt a sting and on quick investigation realized she had disturbed a large nest of wasps who were not keen on company! After a group photo and admiring the view we slowly made our way down towards the gate. It was declared "coffee time" and we strolled to Polvo Coffee Bar, where we continued discussions while enjoying coffee and cheese cake!

Thank you so much Nanna for the enjoyable and interesting morning walk and for all the work you do to keep this oasis as a place in which to enjoy nature. It is only 200m from a mall.

Nicky

Silent Spring
Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve Forum Meet – Ladismith 26 Feb 2019

Inspiration was delivered in big dollops during AnneLise Schutte-Vlok’s brilliant big five line-up in Ladismith.

I strongly felt marine biologist & conservationist Rachel Carson’s chilling cautionary against harmful chemicals in her book Silent Spring (1962) during two of the presentations. I cannot completely compress all the information of the morning into a sensible compact format the way it spoke to my head and heart but here goes.
“It is not half so important to know as to feel.” Rachel Carson.

A wider roll-out of one of the Oudtshoorn-based Trapsuutjies Water Wise Ways projects could save even more water. High water meter readings and households are investigated and plumbing woes repaired. The community is made aware of water conservation, while plumbing skills are transferred to locals. Can one play a Water Touches Game with this project? For every household repaired, another household touched or tagged to follow suit?
“Nature has introduced great variety into the landscape, but man has displayed a passion for simplifying it. Thus he undoes the built-in checks and balances by which nature holds the species within bounds”. Rachel Carson
The Swartberg Complex is a World Heritage Site and Team Swartberg is busy with a management plan for this ‘exquisite gem of the GCBR’. Kgaugelo Shadung (KG), Tom Barry, Phillip Esau, Natalie Baker and AnneLise Vlok mostly used maps for their quick overview of the Reserves. Reference was made to vegetation and aquatic units; plants and animals of conservation concern; highlights and challenges; biodiversity targets; eco-system services values; invasive alien plant infestation; spekboom restoration potential and a vision.
“In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth.” Rachel Carson

• There are two genetically distinct populations of Cape Mountain Zebra (CMZ) in the Swartberg Complex. The herd at Gamka is doing well. The 2017 fire gave the population a boost. Affordable eco-tourism accommodation at Gamka demonstrates to visitors that environmentally friendly living ís possible and the reserve also features a new KhoiSan Heritage Trail.

• At Kammanassie where the reserve is surrounded by private landowners (no access for tourists for this reason), Flippie says that inbreeding can and does occur with the CMZ and Burchell’s Zebra of adjacent game farms.
• There has been abstraction of groundwater since the early 1990’s for the Oudtshoorn district in the Vermaaks River and monitoring in the vicinity shows 55 dried up springs.
• Frequency of fire cycles: AnneLise explained that the post-fire Veld Age for more than two thirds of the Swartberg Complex is less than four years. This has huge implications for the Cape Sugarbird. The birds rely on Protea trees and shrubs of which it is a pollinator. It is not known how far the birds can fly. It is desirable that 50% of Proteas should flower three times before the next fire cycle. For some Protea species this can be 10 years, others 15 years (research by Jan Vlok). Veld richness and the pressure of resprouter overstorey Proteas also impact on water availability, as there is a higher water yield associated with non-sprouting plants.

The Swartberg Complex is inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List as part of the Cape Floral Region Protected Areas. To be included on the list, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one of ten selection criteria. Our Cape Floral Region is listed as meeting two:
"Criterion (ix): The property is considered of Outstanding Universal Value for representing ongoing ecological and biological processes associated with the evolution of the unique Fynbos biome.
Criterion (x): The Cape Floral Region is one of the richest areas for plants when compared to any similar sized area in the world. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1007
“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” Rachel Carson

Donovan Kotze for President! He has been living in Ladismith for a year and now punts alien plant hacking as a sport. In the eight months from May to Dec 2018, by hacking twice a month with two companions, 2073 Pine and Hakea trees were cut in 1018 ha of spectacularly beautiful landscapes in the Klein Swartberg, clad in magnificent low infested Fynbos. Whilst waving his nifty saw, he says that hacking as a sport has eclipsed trail running for him - and that hacking can even satisfy a primal hunting instinct! Donovan worked closely with KG of Swartberg Nature Reserve to plan and record progress stats. Dangerous sites were avoided and high infestations left to WfW.

He tables this vision for 2020 as a GCBR challenge: For thirty local leisure sport hackers to clear 10 000ha of low infestation veld within the GCBR and to find creative ways to promote hacking as a sport.
Hack into his Vision: Donovan – 082 302 2228.
“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.” Rachel Carson

"Biodiversity and Bees" presented by self-funded researcher Jenny Cullinan was my favourite. Although bees have been a recurring theme for me to read about over many years, the most important penny of all, only dropped for me as she talked. Captive honeybees are captive! They are not the same as wild honeybees.

“It is an important time in history as insect populations are collapsing with an 80% insect biomass loss globally in the past 25years” – is how she introduces her talk. The main reason for the decimation is the intensive use of agricultural chemicals. Her main area of research has been the Cape Point Nature Reserve where there are 92 wild nests (not all occupied). Our Cape honeybee is unique in the world in its reproductive cycle and the "girl power" adaptation to re-queen the swarm when the queen does not return from her mating flight to the nest (sometimes due to infamously strong Cape winds). Bees are a keystone species. Remove them and a massive collapse follows.

In Germany there are virtually no remaining wild bees. Bees are boxed, industrialized, managed and medicated. They have changed, lost their nature (this cannot be bred back) and the kept bees are not well. Bees only take from nature what they need says Jenny and during Q&A replied that she does not use/buy honey as bees only make what they need for themselves. Hives are built with surplus space in the upper section, in effect forcing the bees to make extra honey, which humans harvest. In Fynbos wild, free bees usually nest in rocks.

Bees in their own nests self-medicate on propolis. This is from resin collected from plants such as buchu – said to be a dedicated task and not pleasant. The bees knead the propolis and wipe themselves down as they come and go about. They maintain a very specific environment in their nests, managing temperature and numerous other creatures (as many as 300 other species!) in a give and take symbiosis, which keeps them healthy and productive.

Bees are 100% reliant on flowers. They are our pollinators, though solitary bees top them by far in efficiency of pollination services. There are nearly 2000 species of solitary bees, they are specialist pollinators. Solitary bees are indicator species, reflecting the health of the environment. It is of vital importance to support small organic farmers in order to retain healthy wild bee populations.

Bees in hives are stressed, unhappy, often unhealthy and prone to compromised immune system challenges. Maintaining wild bee populations is the best option. Herbicides, pesticides and agro chemicals are poisons to bees. To survive, bees need healthy above and below ground eco-systems. We need bees to survive.

There are many fascinating and precious intricacies to bee life which Jenny alluded to, definitely worth knowing about. Following on the CREW principle - a bee guardianship movement, COMB (Caretakers of Melliferous Bees), is now taking off.

Jenny records a bee diary on the UJUbee Facebook page. This is from an article posted on the 2nd Feb 2019:
“Wild honeybees require natural nesting sites, something heavily constrained in the Western Cape resulting from intensive land-use and the dependence of the Fynbos biome on fire. Wild honeybees, kept wild and therefore not bred, are a critical resource for biodiversity in South Africa and should truly be protected in all pockets of natural vegetation”.
“As crude a weapon as the cave man’s club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life.” Rachel Carson

“We live on the rooftops of a hidden world. Beneath the soil surface lies a land of fascination and also of mysteries….” (in H.D Foth’s ‘Fundamentals of Soil Science’).

LandCare’s Francis Steyn (Dept of Agriculture) echoes the theme of harm done - specifically to soil - through the unnecessary practice of cultivation (i.e. ploughing) and the cumulative effect of the use of chemicals in agriculture.
He poses this as hypothesis: To prove that food grown naturally - without herbicides and pesticides - increases the soil health and decreases the need for irrigation.
Healthy soil:
It is never necessary to cultivate soil (no ploughing, tilling!)
Topsoil – the top 3 cm is absolutely vital
Good soil is friable, controls temperature and rain & wind erosion, maintains and holds moisture
Mulch – soil requires a permanent cover – living and dead
Soils needs diversity (i.e crops)
Soil is a living entity (harbours countless organisms)
Carbon is an indicator of soil quality
Earthworms are what soil needs!

Francis says mainstream agriculture kills all life in soils by adding chemicals, pesticides, herbicides to this medium in which our food is grown. Ditto the addition here of harmful chemicals to crops. In many instances crops are sprayed weekly, often with no reason. No wonder the incidence of cancer has increased from 10% to close to 70%. Francis is funny and entertaining, but his topic dead serious. The visuals in his presentation illustrate well what he saysl. His main involvement has been in viticulture. Plus minus two thirds of herbicides allowed for viticulture are on Green Peace’s Blacklist. Conservation farming and crop rotation show bigger yields and benefits over time. Shifting the mind set of farmers to different practices – well, that may take even longer.
The website for Conservation Agriculture Western Cape (CACW): blwk.co.za

“It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility.” Rachel Carson

Greentings! Sandra

Camferskloof Post-Burn
It is the first time we have visited Camferskloof, since the George wildfires in late October 2018. I shanghaied a WAGS outing to do some post-burn monitoring.

There is regeneration in the valleys and on the south-facing slopes. On the northern slopes it looks like a desert from a distance, because there has been no significant rain for ages. The Burnsleigh Dam is as empty as I've seen it in 50 years. The watercourse itself is grass green with Elegia capensis, Cliffortia strobilifera and Cliffortea graminea.

Along the path, Otholobium heterosepalum (Rare) is resprouting vigorously. Oxalis pendulifolia (Near Threatened) is a bright flash of red on the blackened soil. Psoralea diturnerae (Endangered) is going for the gap and thriving with the lack of serious competition. Since the fires, this resprouter is all over the northern Outeniqua foothills and consideration should be given to downgrading the threat to Near Threatened.

In the photograph above, you can see the green field in the foreground. This has a significant population of the endangered Aspalathus glabrescens and it is being repopulated with young Pines. Surely invasive Pines should not be tolerated in this particular valley, which is so rich in threatened and endemic plants? The mind boggles!

And Cape Nature, a lot of money has been spent refurbishing the stone hut at Camferskloof. The guttering is currently disconnected from the water tank and is hanging down the walls. If it is not urgently sorted, it will have to be replaced at more cost. I don't think that anyone from the Outeniqua Reserve reads our weekly report detailing the rare plants, path reports etc that we send out religiously, after visiting any of the areas in the Reserve. Not sure what I should do about that, but no doubt I will make a plan. We know that you are perilously short of field rangers. We are your eyes on the ground and we cost you nothing, so please use the information we so diligently provide on a voluntary basis.

Tanniedi

STOP PRESS
BotSoc to diarise!
The Botanical Society of SA is reconvening a Garden Route Branch. Do attend the AGM Saturday 16th March at the Garden Route Botanical Garden, Caledon St, George, Registration 10h00, meeting at 10h30.

Field Trips
Well, 10mm of rain prevented our trip to Goukamma again!!! It is difficult to do site sheets and take photographs in the rain. I am hoping to monitor the St Blaize Trail at Mossel Bay on Friday, but currently there is heavy rain forecast, so we will have to wait and see.
Hamba Kahle
Groete en dankie
Di Turner
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, Dr Christopher Whitehouse, Adriaan Grobler, Prix Burgoyne, Dr Kenneth Oberlander, Dr Pieter Winter, Dr David Gwynne-Evans, Malthinus and Mattmatt on iNat. Thank you all for your ongoing help and support

Outramps CREW Stellenbosch HAT node
Jonkershoek created by Vynbos - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/jonkershoek-cv
Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/mont-rochelle-nature-reserve
Papegaaiberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/papegaaiberg

Outramps Projects on iNaturalist
Ericas of the Southern Cape - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/ericas-of-the-southern-cape
Fungi of the Southern Cape - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/fungi-of-the-southern-cape
Lianes and Creepers in the Southern Cape and Little Karoo - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/lianes-and-creepers-of-the-southern-cape-and-little-karoo
Veg Types of South Africa - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/vegetation-types-of-south-africa

Flowers of the High Drakensberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flowers-of-the-high-kzn-drakensberg

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 and is now the Curator of the Garden Route Botanical Garden
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
iNatFD – iNaturalist for Dummies as compiled by Sally
Mizzle – Mist and drizzle combined. A regular feature of George in the ”good old days”.
FE – Fire Ephemeral – only appears immediately or after a couple of years after fire
Squirrel – aka President Ramaphosa
WOG – Wrath of God – eg. incurred when you put a young Pine tree on iNat as Leucadendron album
Skedonk - A banger - old, battered motor car more than 30 years old
Hoedown - redneck gathering, usually involves shouting catchy phrases like "yee-haw" and "the south will rise again"
VHF - Vat Hom Fluffie - our nickname for furry or woolly plants
SA - Stay Attractive is Google's translation of "Mooi Bly"
OTL - Out To Lunch is used to describe the Buchu Bus when she's taking a break after she's behaved badly
DFKIAA - A very funny video in Afrikaans is doing the rounds. It refers to the current power outages.

Posted on March 5, 2019 04:23 AM by

outramps-tanniedi | 3 comments | Leave a comment

We got our Feet Wet

We got our feet Wet
Outramps CREW Diaries
Tuesday
12th March 2019.

‘So wyd soos die Heer se genade’
24-26 Feb 2019

It is bitterly dry at Matjiesvlei and the plants look dreadful. The valley is close to Calitzdorp at the foot of the Swartberg on the Gamka River. Matjiesvlei is surrounded by folds in the earth. Hills, valleys, Swartberg foothills and the Swartberg itself create changing depths of shifting shadows every bit of the day. It is too beautiful.

But for shallow water in an elbow of the river, it is dry. Karoo bossies and shrubs are bare sticks, barely recognisable, such as Polygala myrtifolia var. pinifolia and Carissa haematocarpa. The succulents are just holding on: Euphorbia radyeri, E. heptagona, the Aloes, species in the Crassula family and an abundance of Spekboom (Portulacaria afra). The leaves of the succulents are wrinkly, shrivelled up and every shade of pink to dark red, even purple. It indicates intense stress. Nothing is plump here, except for the farmyard chickens. The little plants which usually rely on the cover of nanny bushes look desolate - Gasteria brachyphylla, Haworthia viscosa and Adromischus triflorus. There are no leafy, herbaceous plants to be seen.

Up Steering se Kloof, the characterful trees of Olienhout (Olea europaea subsp. africana), Doppruim (Pappea capensis,) Basterolien (Buddleja saligna), Sandolien (Dodonaea angustifolia) look dead or close to it. The spring higher up has run dry. Here in the streambed is a very tall tree in an unlikely place – so wraggies – it is Leucadendron eucalyptifolium! One of the two populations of the new Aspalathus, A. outrampsii, looks good. The silvery branches of the small trees droop down, just the tips loop up again, making little hooks. So cool!

Views higher up along the circular trail shift from spectacular to spectacular-spectacular. The drought-strained Gonnabosse (Passerina sp.) are tinged an attractive mustard yellow. When asked, Jan Vlok said they are unlikely to survive. Though the scattered Klipnoors (Euphorbia tetragona) is looking fair, many of the plants died for some reason and left patches of dark grey Euphorbia mulch. Another surprise. A veritable fountain of fresh-green leaves sprout from a splitting rock. It is a lush and scented, flowering Dioscorea elephantipes. The various Aloe species (A. speciosa, perfoliata, microstigma) seem to prefer landscape niches, but confident Aloe ferox tends to transgress here and there. All the younger and stemless aloes have curled into little balls of crimson - a fierce inwards bracing to survive.

By now I think – is there a word for ‘droughter than drought’? Near the river and stream, the Soetdoring (Vachellia karroo) is flowering ever so slightly. The dense upright, branches of large Nerium oleander on the riverbank are impenetrable. It is a nasty invader, listed as such and dwarfed by the tall Spaanse riet (Arundo donax), another invasive plant.

It is never about plants only and there are no words to describe the Karoo landscapes and the majesty of the Swartberg mountain range. Night time and it is cool outside. Around me the dry Klein Karoo is stripping down to a blank canvas. I feel drawn into the infinity of a pure night sky. A human in an infinitesimally small speck of time. In a state of grace.

Sandra

We got our Feet wet
6th March 2019
It was that time of the year again, as Summer starts to fade into early Autumn. The annual WAGS Strawberry Hilll Fern Trail hike, combined with Kaaimans Gorge and a festive party afterwards can be difficult to schedule. The weather must be hot for the Gorge with very little wind and not too late in the year. The four river crossings on the Fern Trail are better done when the rivers aren't running high. The weather was perfect for the gorge at around 30 degrees, but the hikers on the Fern Trail got their feet wet.

A party of 13 arrived to do the Fern Trail. The forest is looking gorgeous and doesn't show the stress that drought is causing in the open vegetation. The Ferns along the track are looking particularly luxurious, with the huge Ptisana fraxinea causing lots of comment. A couple of hardy souls had a swim at the Point to find that the water coming off Melville Peak into the Silver River is on the chilly side. After a leisurely walk, we returned to the main house on Strawberry Hill. Shortly afterwards the adventurous Gorgers arrived back, reporting that everything had gone "swimmingly".(Oh dear, Di! - ED)

We had a simply wonderful party afterwards, with sumptuous eats and drinks. It was loads of fun.

tanniedi

Kaaimans Gorge with WAGS
A great river trip (despite it being a tough event) for a hot summer’s day. On the day, we were exceptionally lucky - relatively warm water, a hot day, low wind speeds, while the cold sea mist on the beach luckily decided not to hunt us down.

This trip for me has become almost an annual event. Wonderful scenery, as the river winds its way down to the sea and gradually narrows down to enter the gorge. At this point the river cascades and swirls over large boulders and blocks,requiring some negotiation and slipping on our part.

Around the next corner as the gorge deepens, it is all quite different. Here the river turns into long, dark, silent pools. There are 3 of these long, extended pools. What an atmosphere, as we undertake some sustained swimming to make progress through the dark water. Far above us only a narrow section of blue sky is visible. Typically, this Garden Route river is “Pepsi” coloured. Thereafter we were glad to have some sunshine again - some further wading and finally a last long swim in the Kaaimans Lagoon.

The vegetation - well not very easy to see what plants are hanging from high above while swimming! Some good indigenous forest growth along the way, as well as numerous small trees of the unwanted varieties, both Black Wattle (Acacia mearnsii) and Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) in the riverbeds. At least these aliens are absent in the steep sections of the gorge – but re-appear as soon as there are some riverbeds and more sunshine on the lower section. It is very infested in the area below the Map of Africa viewpoint.

Some of the flowers we saw, although these were scarce - Bobartia aphylla; Chasmanthe aethiopica; Erica discolor subsp. discolor and Erica gracilis in sunny patches, while numerous Lobelia cushions enjoyed the cool moist areas - mostly Lobelia pubescens; Lobelia erinus and Lobelia flaccida.

Evie

The Quarry - Mossel Bay area
The idea of checking out a quarry seemed depressing to some, but we set out anyway, wondering if we would find many things in flower, as recent high temperatures and lack of rain has been a factor.

After a few hiccups finding the property that we'd arranged to visit, we were taken around and shown the exact scope of the works. I must say I was amazed at the level of dedication given to preserving the portion determined as hands-off by their EMP (which stands not for electromagnetic pulse but for environmental management plan). It was our first trip together with Corné Brink, the intern this year at the Garden Route Botanical Garden.

The quarry manager left us to our own devices and after wandering around for about an hour, we found a few things in flower, such as Indigofera sp, a creeping Prismatocarpus sp., Metalasia sp. and a very small mystery four-petaled plant which is going to take ages to determine properly (at least we have herbarium specimens). A small hairy Erica sp. was also in flower, but Acrolophia cochlearis was not.

Towards midday, after finding nothing spectacular, we heard a joyful squeal from Corné, who had chanced upon a spectacular find, Tulista kingiana (EN). We were blown away by the healthy population in full flower, while all else was wilting with the low rainfall the area has received. These plants were perfectly stunning, showing no water-stress whatsoever. There were quite a few juveniles indicating good pollination of the flowers with seed recruitment at good levels. While counting the plants we also found Trichodiadema occidentale (VU; not in flower). This is the eastern-most distribution so far for this taxon.

It is always great going to a new place with some nice new finds.

Priscilla

A Stairway to Paradise
The forecasts for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday were all talking "Heavy Rain". In anticipation of "Cabin Fever", Bill and I went off to Goukamma to check on Gladiolus vaginatus (Vulnerable) on Thursday. The conditions weren't ideal, as the mercury rose to the early 30's and there wasn't much of a breeze. The track from Groenvlei to the top of the Dune is strenuous, but stairs made out of poles interlinked with wire create a stairway that makes the slog a little easier. And this stairway does indeed lead to Paradise - Goukamma is one of my favourite places on earth with spectacular views in all directions.

We were on the late side for the magnificent, scarlet Brunsvigia orientalis (Candelabra Flower) and a lot were going over. But there were still plenty to wonder at and photograph. Gladiolus vaginatus (Vulnerable) was elusive and we only saw 3 of these stunning plants all day. The lilac/purple of Selago burchellii (Vulnerable) was sparsely scattered across the Reserve. Disparago anomala was the most common flowering plant on the day and Pteronia uncinata was just going over on the steep south-facing hill looking out to the ocean. Goukamma is the only place that I've ever seen this plant and that in only 1 location on the Reserve. Erica glandulosa subsp. fourcadei (Vulnerable) is still recovering post-burn, but a number of the plants were in flower.

Generally the vegetation is showing signs of stress from lack of water. The Afro-temperate forest on the edge of Groenvlei is looking decidedly the worse for wear, with many of the under-storey plants wilting. There is significant work being done on the trails, with steps being repaired and bush-cutting taking place. Hopefully that means that the trails will soon be open to the public at large.

It turned out to be a very hot day and the Ancients took some strain. But it was gratifying to see the cold front approaching from the sea and by the time we reached the car, the first drops of rain had fallen. Widespread rain is forecast for the next couple of days. Let's hope that the forecasts have got it right this time.

tanniedi

New local information on how to combat the

Polyphagous Shothole Borer Beetle
from
WESSA

Thursday 14 March at 18h00

Venue Glenwood Lodge, Glenwood Avenue

The PSHB beetle (Polyphagous shothole borer) is only the size of a sesame seed but along with its fungus partner is proving to be an international challenge. Recently Prof. Wilhelm de Beer of the University of Pretoria visited George. Two other universities, Stellenbosch and Grahamstown (Rhodes) are working together with the University of Pretoria. An information session was held on 21 February at Glenwood Lodge.

Unfortunately notification in the local press was at extremely short notice.

( Article: BOME VREK OP 'N STREEP)

www.georgeherald.com/News/Article/General/bome-vrek-op-n-streep-201902210814 )

At the request of WESSA Eden and in the interest of reaching a wider public, Glenwood Lodge along with the Glenwood Conservancy have kindly offered interested parties the opportunity of a workshop that will summarise the finding of previous workshops. Hear first-hand the evidence of successful treatment through a combination of fertilisation, irrigation and treatment with fungicides and herbicides. The effectiveness will be discussed and demonstrated.

Please note that there is currently no registered or officially recommended treatment for this very destructive beetle, but since some success has been noted here, come to this workshop and find out more for yourself.

If you think you may have infected trees the Conservancy members will happily help with identification.More information

Jodi 083 632 2201 or

Adri Joubert 083 2777 677

Please RSVP to admin@glenwoodlodge.co.za

STOP PRESS
BotSoc to diarise!

The Botanical Society of SA is reconvening a Garden Route Branch. Do attend the AGM Saturday 16th March at the Garden Route Botanical Garden, Caledon St, George, Registration 10h00, meeting at 10h30.

Field Trips
Once again, a busy week lies ahead. On Tuesday, Ismail, Gigi and Joti will be coming up to George for our annual planning meeting and field trip. Ismail is the CREW Co-Ordinator for the Cape Floral Kingdom. He will no doubt present us with an impossible list of target plants to find. The meeting will be followed by supper and a field trip on Wednesday to check on Disa arida (Endangered) at Camferskloof.

On Thursday LOT will be visiting the Barnard's Farm in the Langkloof and on Friday SIM will be checking on the St Blaize Trail at Mossel Bay. Just maybe, the weekend rain will have given the plants a hupstoot.
Hamba Kahle
Groete en dankie
Di Turner
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, Dr Christopher Whitehouse, Adriaan Grobler, Prix Burgoyne, Dr Kenneth Oberlander, Dr Pieter Winter, Dr David Gwynne-Evans, Malthinus and Mattmatt on iNat. Thank you all for your ongoing help and support.

Outramps CREW Stellenbosch HAT node
Jonkershoek created by Vynbos - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/jonkershoek-cv
Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/mont-rochelle-nature-reserve
Papegaaiberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/papegaaiberg

Outramps Projects on iNaturalist
Ericas of the Southern Cape - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/ericas-of-the-southern-cape
Fungi of the Southern Cape - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/fungi-of-the-southern-cape
Lianes and Creepers in the Southern Cape and Little Karoo - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/lianes-and-creepers-of-the-southern-cape-and-little-karoo
Veg Types of South Africa - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/vegetation-types-of-south-africa

Flowers of the High Drakensberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flowers-of-the-high-kzn-drakensberg

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 and is now the Curator of the Garden Route Botanical Garden
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
iNatFD – iNaturalist for Dummies as compiled by Sally
Mizzle – Mist and drizzle combined. A regular feature of George in the ”good old days”.
FE – Fire Ephemeral – only appears immediately or after a couple of years after fire
Squirrel – aka President Ramaphosa
WOG – Wrath of God – eg. incurred when you put a young Pine tree on iNat as Leucadendron album
Skedonk - A banger - old, battered motor car more than 30 years old
Hoedown - redneck gathering, usually involves shouting catchy phrases like "yee-haw" and "the south will rise again"
VHF - Vat Hom Fluffie - our nickname for furry or woolly plants
SA - Stay Attractive is Google's translation of "Mooi Bly"
OTL - Out To Lunch is used to describe the Buchu Bus when she's taking a break after she's behaved badly
DFKIAA - A very funny video in Afrikaans is doing the rounds. It refers to the current power outages.

Posted on March 12, 2019 04:25 AM by

outramps-tanniedi | 0 comments | Leave a comment

The Purple-Pink Spitfire

Outramps CREW Diaries
Tuesday
19th March 2019

Here is the link to the ALBUM - https://photos.app.goo.gl/2SqQKmWFKybWjrGo6

For captions or info click on i on the top right-hand side. A good way to go - the Slideshow is found at the top of the page on the rt hand side by clicking on the 3 dots. Featured this week – Gadiolus engysiphon, Bloukrans Adventure, Featherbed Nature Reserve, Planning meeting with Ismail and a field trip to Camferskloof with the Cape Town CREW Team.

MCSA Bloukrans River wade
During the hot summer month of February, a group from our local MCSA section undertook a ”cool off day “ in the Bloukrans river. It is the first time I have managed to join this annual event. I was expecting a float and a wade. Well a fun day – however, this turned out to be a full 5-hour body workout. I was exhausted!

We started off from the old road which winds up from Natures Valley and worked our way down in the river and then to the beach and back. There are a few large pools to swim through, a few bushy and alien infested river banks to gingerly step through, while most of the day was spent wading in ankle to thigh deep water. Tough, as I could not see anything apart from slippery brown rocks gleaming below. It was a balancing and crawling act all the way. The river water – a pleasant temperature today – however, much colder as we approached the end - here the entering sea water was obviously colder.

Great scenery, as the river widens and narrows, some good patches of sunshine, great acoustics below the famous Bloukrans River Bridge on the N2 Toll, as yet another madman plunges with loud screams to the end of his or her bungee jump line. Some very pretty spots of red on the river banks and drooping from above. These were the gorgeous George lilies / Cyrthanthus elatus in full flower. There were odd clumps of Chasmanthe aethiopica and Dietes iridioides. Monopsis sp. and Lobelias lined the river banks – gorgeous cushions of blue and purple. The Lobelias, mainly Lobelia erinus, Lobelia neglecta and Lobelia cuneifolia. Judging by the numerous alien invaders, Sanparks can certainly be kept very busy as they continue to try to eliminate these Black Wattles, Blackwoods and Lantana from the Garden Route river courses.

Evie

Yams at Featherbed
Thursday 7th March
Dioscorea is a genus in the family Dioscoreaceae. They are tuberous lianas with heart-shaped leaves. They are mostly dioecious. In August 2016, Lize von Staden from SANBI asked the Outramps to keep an eye out for Dioscorea burchellii. This was as a result of a request from a Dioscorea expert, Dr Paul Wilkin, who was concerned about its status. This started the hunt. Firstly, our challenge was to identify members of the genus – hunting for heart-shaped leaves that twisted to the left…there seemed to be a lot of different vines that did this in the areas we searched, but we finally got the hang of it and found new populations of D. burchellii. This has been reported in our dispatches. An interest had been sparked and now we are able to identify (usually) the genus at least. We have been interested in the species and have followed up on several plant sightings.

Last week, I got a WhatsApp from Nanna Joubert notifying me that the Dioscorea at Featherbed was in full bloom. I contacted Martin Hatchuel, the horticulturist at Featherbed and he made arrangements for six of us to visit the property on Thursday. This was an opportunity we could not ignore!

We all met at the parking lot at Lake Brenton and bundled into Nanna’s bakkie. We were met by Martin at the Featherbed nursery. He led us down to the restaurant, where quite some time was spent admiring the beautiful tables made from a collection of different hardwoods. After being dragged away from the study of hardwoods, we made our way along the coastal path. Martin chatted about the alien removal, the different methods that had been used to prevent erosion since the Knysna wildfires in June 2017, the problems and successes, including the planting of various species of ground cover that had been propagated from plants collected on the property.

We found 7 Dioscorea plants. We are not sure of the species (possibly two), but there were male and female plants in flower. Specimens collected by Johan Baard have been submitted for identification. We keenly await the verdict.

With cameras clicking and long discussions along the way, it was a slow walk to the turnaround point, which is Martin’s favourite place on Featherbed. The photographs will be added to iNaturalist increasing the number of plants on the Featherbed plant list. A few of us climbed the stairs to admire a population of flowering Brunsvigia orientalis, where Nanna spotted another Dioscorea plant in flower. It was too difficult to access, but it was definitely there!

We made our way back to the restaurant where we enjoyed cappuccinos while sitting at a table made of wood from Olinia ventosa and Podocarpus latifolius.

Thank you, Martin, for giving us the opportunity to visit Featherbed and to see the Dioscorea in flower.

Nicky

CREW Planning Meeting
The average age at the planning meeting must have been about 40. This wasn't because the "older than God" members had "passed on", as it is euphemistically described. It was due to an influx of young, aspiring CREWites from NMU and some ex-students doing internships. They were hugely welcome in our ageing ranks, especially as some of them are keen to find a few of the more elusive species that Ismail trotted out in our Priority list for 2019/2020. An example of this is an obscure Asteraceae species only seen once by Elsie Esterhuysen in 19 voetsek on the rocky pinnacles of Towerkop in the Klein Swartberg.

We were happy to hear from Ismail that most of the things we're doing are being done pretty well. It has been a challenging year for CREW in the Western Cape. Some of the stalwarts have died and some have had to give up their CREW activities. Fortunately, the highly productive Outramps CREW Group is alive and well. Here are some of our stats for last year.
STATS for 2018
iNat observations to date – 41 740 (Nicky 20 000 and counting)
Species to date – 11 297
ID’s given to date – 61 688 (Di 24 861 id's)
Field trips 2018 – 140
MSB collections to date – 130 (sterling work done by Sally)
2018 Herbarium specimens – 200 (Russell)
Site sheets for threatened plants since October 2017 - 335

We are optimistic that some of the young will be able to join us on field trips. Watch this space! And many thanks to Ismail, Gigi and Joti for an excellent meeting and for being such wonderful guests. Looking forward to seeing you all at the CREW Workshop at Riebeek-Kasteel in May.

tanniedi

Northern Ridge of Camferskloof
It was a crack of dawn start to the day. We had suggested that a trip to monitor Disa arida (Endangered) would be a fun thing to do with the CT CREW Team. Ismail was enthusiastic, as he has never seen the plant, originally discovered by Jan Vlok and known to us as "Jan's Arid Orchid".

Our route up to the ridge was not the usual route up the firebreak. We started the ascent much further east on the Burnsleigh property. We were almost immediately rewarded by a large stand of thriving Rafnia vlokii (Vulnerable) in full flower. They were a sight to behold. In amongst the gold, the blue petals of Psoralea diturnerae (Endangered) and the even paler blue of Prismatocarpus candolleanus provided a gentle contrast. The deep brick red Oxalis pendulifolia (Near Threatened) was scattered across the slope. An unexpected find was a clump of Kniphofia cf. uvaria at the base of a rocky outcrop near the top of the ridge. This section is pretty badly degraded with Hakea and Pines. It was startling to see the difference between the private land and the Cape Nature land.

It was a stiff pull to the top, but there there was another reward. The views in all directions were spectacular and well worth the effort. The scramble across the ridge-line was enlivened by the exquisite Aloe lineata, which is alive and well.

After a short break at the beacon, we scrambled across the ridge to the west to find an untried line for the descent. By this stage, I was anxious that we were going to miss our target plant for the day. Were we too early, too soon after the burn in October 2018, or was it simply too dry? These were some of the questions I was asking. But a little way down the south-facing slope, I saw the first Disa arida (Endangered), which looks like a miniature purple-pink Spitfire. It is the most enchanting plant and one of our favourites.

We only saw 3 plants, although we spread out across the slope. Evie gave a shout of triumph when she found a clump of Lobelia dichroma (Data Deficient) on a rock face. A bit lower down Otholobium heterosepalum (Rare) appeared and on the flat, under Pinus radiata, Aspalathus glabrescens (Endangered) is putting on a brave show.

List of Rares for the day
Oxalis pendulifola (Near Threatened)
Rafnia vlokii (Vulnerable)
Psoralea diturnerae (Endangered)
Disa arida (Endangered)
Lobelia dichroma (Data Deficient)
Otholobium heterosepalum (Rare)
Aspalathus glabrescens (Endangered)

tanniedi

STOP PRESS
Some years ago, on a regular jog to the gate, I noticed a spindly Gladiolus peeking out of the roadside Bobartia. There may have been just one or two specimens. I dutifully posted the pics, but got no firm ID. In subsequent years I found a couple of plants every February or March, but never agreed with the suggested identifications. At first glance the flowers are reminiscent of G. carneus although much smaller and definitely showing in the wrong season.

After posting the latest pics a day or two ago, the French based planto-bibliophile "prismatica" quietly suggested G. engysiphon which has been confirmed by Jan Vlok. I sincerely hope the plants can continue to elude the bossiekapper and roadscrapers in the years to come.

The latest posting is here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/21104685

Sally at Slakplaas

Field Trips
This week, SIM is visiting Meijersrust on the southern side of Bloupunt (2066m) just above Meiringspoort in the Swartberg on the western side. For us, this is a brand new destination, so very exciting. We will be spending 3 days there and we will be driving the Fortuner and the Drifter, as the road is evidently not too good. We are looking forward.

Some of the Outramps visited Die Groote Kosyn near Plett on Sunday and a few will be joining the MCSA on a trip to Baviaanskloof from the 20th to the 24th March. Reports on these will filter through into the Diaries ITFOT.
Hamba Kahle
Groete en dankie
Di Turner
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, Dr Christopher Whitehouse, Adriaan Grobler, Prix Burgoyne, Dr Kenneth Oberlander, Dr Pieter Winter, Dr David Gwynne-Evans, Malthinus and Mattmatt on iNat. Thank you all for your ongoing help and support.

Outramps CREW Stellenbosch HAT node
Jonkershoek created by Vynbos - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/jonkershoek-cv
Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/mont-rochelle-nature-reserve
Papegaaiberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/papegaaiberg

Outramps Projects on iNaturalist
Ericas of the Southern Cape - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/ericas-of-the-southern-cape
Fungi of the Southern Cape - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/fungi-of-the-southern-cape
Lianes and Creepers in the Southern Cape and Little Karoo - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/lianes-and-creepers-of-the-southern-cape-and-little-karoo
Veg Types of South Africa - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/vegetation-types-of-south-africa
Flowers of the High Drakensberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flowers-of-the-high-kzn-drakensberg

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 and is now the Curator of the Garden Route Botanical Garden
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
iNatFD – iNaturalist for Dummies as compiled by Sally
Mizzle – Mist and drizzle combined. A regular feature of George in the ”good old days”.
FE – Fire Ephemeral – only appears immediately or after a couple of years after fire
Squirrel – aka President Ramaphosa
WOG – Wrath of God – eg. incurred when you put a young Pine tree on iNat as Leucadendron album
Skedonk - A banger - old, battered motor car more than 30 years old
Hoedown - redneck gathering, usually involves shouting catchy phrases like "yee-haw" and "the south will rise again"
VHF - Vat Hom Fluffie - our nickname for furry or woolly plants
SA - Stay Attractive is Google's translation of "Mooi Bly"
OTL - Out To Lunch is used to describe the Buchu Bus when she's taking a break after she's behaved badly
DFKIAA - A very funny video in Afrikaans is doing the rounds. It refers to the current power outages.

Posted on March 18, 2019 09:17 AM by

outramps-tanniedi | 0 comments | Leave a comment

Rastafarian on Horseback

Rastafarian on Horseback
Outramps CREW Diaries
Tuesday
26th March 2019

Album 26th March 2019 - https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMEd2Um4qOyf4-YbgEcP2iEUzwvhFl-3WbXWRY7rn4ZIcBLGz28NPYmoP6oosNoDQ?key=aUNOaXQ3YmtpX0VHdDZUbGw1LUgwelh5bUhGbk9B

For captions or info click on i on the top right-hand side. A good way to go - the Slideshow is found at the top of the page on the rt hand side by clicking on the 3 dots. Featured this week – Palmietdrift in the Langkloof, St Blaize Trail and Leucospermum winteri germinates in North Wales.

Palmietdrift Revisit
LOT decided to check out the deep ravine on the eastern part of the farm Palmiet Drift, as we had not explored this sufficiently on earlier occasions. While walking up to the ravine, we had to traverse the fields where Oom Sakkie is planting fruit trees. We were noting that in almost pure rock with little soil beneath it, this farmer produces tons of the most divine grapes, peaches, nectarines and others every year. Viva the farmers!

Every time we visit here we find different things flowering and this time it was a show of Brunsvigia striata (LC) in the very dry area that has had less than 10 mm of rain in the past month. The plants seem to prefer the lower reaches of a west slope.

Also present was the ubiquitous Aspalathus pedunculata (Rare) which we now call the trash plant. Yellow-flowering, Asteraceous plants seemed to dominate the landscape, but present in great numbers were Lotononis filiformis (EN) and Drosanthemum gracillimum (LC). Linum africanum (LC) was in full flower. Also spotted was a solifuge digging around furiously. Numerous Hermannia sp. nov. (Not evaluated) plants were also present (past their flowering time).

It was a lovely spot but getting back down was a challenge. I hope they get some solid, slow rain soon.

Priscilla

St Blaize Trail in Autumn
March 15th 2019
It was the perfect day to do the St Blaize Trail. It was slightly overcast, there was a pleasant cool breeze and there was a big sea running, with huge waves slamming themselves against the rocky coast-line and then rolling back in frustration at their lack of progress.

The land side of the trail is an abomination and Mossel Bay has no reason to congratulate itself. Huge, pretentious houses that are usually empty dominate the landscape. They used to be set back some distance, but they are creeping closer and closer to the coast. There is Golf Estate after Golf Estate and their irrigation overflow is destroying the vegetation. This is a criminal use of precious resources and land, in an area that should have been set aside as a Reserve for conservation. Posterity will not thank you for the dreadful legacy that you have left behind. The picture below the article, is taken below the Mossel Bay Golf Estate, where the whole surface is suppurating and the Proteioid Fynbos is completely destroyed, as Phragmites australis takes its place.

Heading east we kept our eyes on the ocean and the plants immediately around us, trying to ignore the degradation above. Acmadenia heterophylla remains a cheerful inhabitant along the trail. Brunsvigia orientalis was looking magnificent and there were lots of plants. Someone has done a brilliant job in the burnt area and lots of the Rooikrantz (Acacia cyclops) seedlings have been removed. The stunning Bobartia robusta show was over for the moment, but the plants were heavy with seed. Some Schotia afra remained in flower - a scarlet flash of colour in the green landscape.

Hypodiscus procurrens (Near Threatened) reflected the very dry conditions that persist in the Southern Cape. Surprisingly, Nicky managed to get an OK-ish pic of the plant, which is looking very un-photogenic. (?-ed). I also hope that the Metalasia seen along the way further towards the Lighthouse is going to turn out to be Metalasia erectifolia (Near Threatened).

By the time we reached the St Blaize Lighthouse, we were footsore and weary, after being on our feet for over 7 hours. A drink and delicious fish and chips at the unpretentious restaurant at the Point provided a fitting end to the day.

But it wasn't quite the end. Driving home on the N2, we approached the overhead bridge, which leads to Thembalethu. I very nearly crashed the car at the sight of a Rastafarian riding a horse at a spanking trot across it, weaving his way through pedestrians on the sidewalk. His hair, which was enclosed in typical Rastafarian style was bobbing vigorously at the same cadence as the trot. it made our day. ONLY IN AFRICA!

tanniedi

Leucospermum winteri
germinates in North Wales
As part of the 'Proteas With Altitude' project, we have just had our first germination of seeds of Leucospermum winteri. We think this may be the first time that seeds of this species have been germinated ex-situ, but would obviously be interested to know of others who have also had success in growing this species from seed. The altitudinal distribution of this species seems to be bimodal.

In 2017, we visited the lower population in Kristalkloof to collect seed after having failed to find plants of this species in 2015. We would be interested to know if there have been any recent obervations of this species at the top end of its documented altitudinal range, which is meant to be about 1300m.
Best Wishes
Robert Blackhall-Miles FLS

Fossil Plants

A New Lease of Life
The Garden Route Branch of the Botanical Society received a huge injection of vitality and enthusiasm at the AGM on Saturday 16th March 2019. There was an excellent turnout, with members coming from as far afield as Plett, Knysna, Oudtshoorn, Mossel Bay and of course George. A new committee was elected with the average age probably coming in at under 40. A couple of youngsters elected are under 30.

Jo-Anne King was elected Chairman and she did an excellent job of running the meeting. Understandably, she was a little nervous with all the experienced members looking on. The new Committee has lots of very good ideas and soon we will get Jo-Anne to give us an update on what they are planning for the rest of 2019.

Our very best wishes go out to new committee.

tanniedi

Field Trips
We will report on our Meijersrust trip to the southern side of Bloupunt (2066m) just above Meiringspoort in the Swartberg in our Diaries on 2nd April (that is, if ESKOM and its load-shedding allow it). This magnificent photo of the area was taken by Peter Ribton in the middle of Winter. We are rather hoping not to be hit by a snowstorm of those proportions. (becoming WOESS's - ed!)

It is that time of the year again - Mimetes chrysanthus will be in bloom. SIM will have to decide which site takes precedence this year. We will be monitoring one of the sites on the western head of Perdepoort in the Langkloof.on Friday 29th. We will work out details closer to the time

Some of the Outramps visited Die Groote Kosyn near Plett on Sunday and a few will be joining the MCSA on a trip to Baviaanskloof from the 20th to the 24th March. Reports on these will filter through into the Diaries ITFOT.
Hamba Kahle
Groete en dankie
Di Turner
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, Dr Christopher Whitehouse, Adriaan Grobler, Prix Burgoyne, Dr Kenneth Oberlander, Dr Pieter Winter, Dr David Gwynne-Evans, Malthinus and Mattmatt on iNat. Thank you all for your ongoing help and support.

Outramps CREW Stellenbosch HAT node
Jonkershoek created by Vynbos - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/jonkershoek-cv
Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/mont-rochelle-nature-reserve
Papegaaiberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/places/papegaaiberg

Outramps Projects on iNaturalist
Ericas of the Southern Cape - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/ericas-of-the-southern-cape
Fungi of the Southern Cape - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/fungi-of-the-southern-cape
Lianes and Creepers in the Southern Cape and Little Karoo - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/lianes-and-creepers-of-the-southern-cape-and-little-karoo
Veg Types of South Africa - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/vegetation-types-of-south-africa

Flowers of the High Drakensberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flowers-of-the-high-kzn-drakensberg

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 and is now the Curator of the Garden Route Botanical Garden
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
iNatFD – iNaturalist for Dummies as compiled by Sally
Mizzle – Mist and drizzle combined. A regular feature of George in the ”good old days”.
FE – Fire Ephemeral – only appears immediately or after a couple of years after fire
Squirrel – aka President Ramaphosa
WOG – Wrath of God – eg. incurred when you put a young Pine tree on iNat as Leucadendron album
Skedonk - A banger - old, battered motor car more than 30 years old
Hoedown - redneck gathering, usually involves shouting catchy phrases like "yee-haw" and "the south will rise again"
VHF - Vat Hom Fluffie - our nickname for furry or woolly plants
SA - Stay Attractive is Google's translation of "Mooi Bly"
OTL - Out To Lunch is used to describe the Buchu Bus when she's taking a break after she's behaved badly
DFKIAA - A very funny video in Afrikaans is doing the rounds. It refers to the current power outages.

Posted on March 26, 2019 04:13 AM by

outramps-tanniedi | 0 comments | Leave a comment

Journal archives for March 2019

March 1, 2019

It's a Good Life.....

tanniedi

tanniedi

Sandra

Tanniedi

tanniedi

Evie

tanniedi

tanniedi

14 Feb 2019

Further info: Matthew Koehorst - matthew@sixkingdoms.org

The Botanical Society of SA is reconvening a Garden Route Branch. Do attend the AGM Saturday 16th March at the Garden Route Botanical Garden, Caledon St, George, Registration 10h00, meeting at 10h30.

Flowers of the High Drakensberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flowers-of-the-high-kzn-drakensberg

March 5, 2019

The Silent Spring

Nicky

Greentings! Sandra

Tanniedi

Flowers of the High Drakensberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flowers-of-the-high-kzn-drakensberg

March 12, 2019

We got our Feet Wet

Sandra

tanniedi

Evie

Priscilla

tanniedi

Please RSVP to admin@glenwoodlodge.co.za

The Botanical Society of SA is reconvening a Garden Route Branch. Do attend the AGM Saturday 16th March at the Garden Route Botanical Garden, Caledon St, George, Registration 10h00, meeting at 10h30.

Flowers of the High Drakensberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flowers-of-the-high-kzn-drakensberg

March 18, 2019

The Purple-Pink Spitfire

Evie

Nicky

tanniedi

tanniedi

Sally at Slakplaas

Abbreviations Glossary

March 26, 2019

Rastafarian on Horseback

For captions or info click on i on the top right-hand side. A good way to go - the Slideshow is found at the top of the page on the rt hand side by clicking on the 3 dots. Featured this week – Palmietdrift in the Langkloof, St Blaize Trail and Leucospermum winteri germinates in North Wales.

Priscilla

tanniedi

Fossil Plants

tanniedi

Flowers of the High Drakensberg - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flowers-of-the-high-kzn-drakensberg

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