Walkie-Talkies

Outramps CREW Diaries, Tuesday 20th November 2018

Visit to Kranshoek 432 Ptn 5
Robberg Coastal Corridor on 9th November 2018
Quinten Snyman met four Outramps (Mike, Rusell, Sandra, Nicky ) and Ann McGregor at the edge of the Kranshoek cemetery to start our first exploration of this property since the fire on 8th June last year. Armed with plant lists, we started down the brick road, hoping to find the path near the coast. Quinten charged off ahead, while we studied and photographed the plants along the way. We hadn’t got very far down the rather dilapidated road before he returned, reporting that fallen trees and loose rocks would make it very difficult and somewhat dangerous to get to the coastline the way we were headed, so we turned back.

The fire has changed the scenery considerably and while admiring a ‘new’ view of the sea, we spotted some whales. This initiated a long discussion about the fish in the area. Quinten has made some very interesting observations and speculations about the large number of dead fish sometimes found along this coastline.

There was a team working on alien vegetation removal. The abundance of Acacia saligna, Acacia mearnsii and Leptospermum laevigatum seedlings that have come up after the fire means there is a lot work for them to do! We did our bit of pulling as we walked towards the Leggat’s house. There were young Rapanea melanophloeos plants where we had seen large trees during our last visit, the big trees having burnt down, but there was no sign of Erica glandulosa subsp. fourcadei (VU).

We popped in at Dawn Leggat’s house to announce our presence, met her daughter, Lyndal, and introduced ourselves to the dogs before heading down the path. The display of Erica formosa and inaccessible growth of Protea neriifolia seen in October 2016 was burnt in the fire, giving us the opportunity to explore the slope in more detail. The large number of Protea neriifolia seedlings popping up between the skeletons of their parents heralds a magnificent display in the future. Leucospermum cuneiforme and Leucadendron salignum plants were resprouting as was Psoralea vanberkelae (VU). There were enough Acmadenia alternifolia (VU) plants to bode well for the survival of this species on this property.

As with the other burn sites we have visited, there was a large stand of Anisodontea scabrosa. A tall Moraea ramosissima plant caught our attention, as did patches of pink Aizoaceae, their bright colours enhanced by the burnt surroundings. We hope that we found six Muraltia knysnaensis (EN) plants, but this ID is still to be confirmed. Ornithogalum dubium was flowering in profusion, in colours ranging from white to dark yellow. We were hoping to find some orchids, having seen leaves on previous visits, but other than the last few flowers of a white Satyrium, there was no sign of them. Lyndal said that she had noticed that several plants had disappeared from the property and that she was concerned that they were being harvested.

We made our way back to the house where we met Robert, Dawn’s sculptor son, who was clearing up the mess that vagrants had made in their other house on the property, an on-going problem since the fire! We really appreciated the tea and muffins offered by our hostesses and enjoyed the conversation. Then it was time to head back to the car.

Thank you to the Leggats, for once again giving us permission to botanise on their beautiful property and to Quinten for helping us to avoid some very difficult terrain.

The iNaturalist links for this property and the RCC are:
https://www.inaturalist.org/places/robberg-coastal-corridor-krans-hoek-432-ptn-5
https://www.inaturalist.org/places/robberg-coastal-corridor-e8267c6b-9263-4a87-a721-a24619be6dc8

Nicky

On the shores of Groenvlei with LOT
My daughter Peggy was visiting from the UK and we were suffering from "flower-deprivation" after no field trips for a couple of weeks. So Russell, Peggy and I decided to go plant-hunting in the area around Goukamma Nature Reserve for a couple of hours on Friday morning.

We were delighted to find the lovely deep red Satyrium princeps (Vulnerable) at the end of its flowering season. The day got even better when we found 5 magnificent Eulophia speciosa. This lovely golden Orchid has been downgraded to Least Concern, but needs careful monitoring. It is widely used in the traditional Medicine trade and is a highly- prized horticultural specimen.

Other plants that are common in the area, include Sideroxylon inerme, Osteospermum moniliferum, Grewia occidentalis, Passerina rigida and Agathosma apiculata. Threats are Rooikrans, verge-mowing and collection by traditional healers and horticulturalists.

With cameras left at home, we were dependent on Peggy's phone for the pictures. Altogether it proved to be a good morning out fossicking with family and friends.

Gail

VERGE Botanical Walk
Ocean View 15th October 2018
When discussing the hike, Sandra and I decided that 15 would be the maximum number of participants, and that even that number would be a lot as the trail is narrow and it would not be ideal to talk to a large group of people. According to replies, there were going to be fourteen of hikers. Somehow on Thursday we ended up with 19 (that did include the two of us!). Go with the flow, so they say…

The hikers were very punctual and just after 8 we started talking. I handed out plant lists (which did not include common names) and briefly described Fynbos, taxonomy, the importance of conserving species and the reason why we had not included common names on the list. We used the prolific Bitou bush to illustrate our point. The participants really enjoyed Sandra’s examples of common names.

We then made our way (with permission) past the no-entry sign and started the 1.2 km trail. The first red-listed plant we saw was Gnidia chrysophylla (NT) and it was then that the group partially split up.

A couple of photographers went ahead trying to get pictures of, among other things, butterflies, hoping to snap the Brenton Blue: I hope they did! Some members, very keen to tick off, identify and add as many plants as possible to their lists, stuck with me while Sandra entertained others with the traditional uses of plants and related stories and others wandered in between. We congregated at the bottom of the hill where we gave a short summary of what the Outramps get up to and how the participants could get involved in citizen science by posting on i-Nat. We were standing in a large stand of Psoralea affinis, just beginning to flower and this led to a description of how Psoralea vanberkelae came about.

Then it was up the 107 steps. At the top, Protea cynaroides (Small-leaved Garden Route form) and the last few flowers at the top of a Satyrium princeps (VU) inflorescence stopped the participants before we headed back to the cars. We did find a few last flowers at the top of a branch of Selago burchellii (VU) and a few tall Satyrium acuminatum plants before we got there.

The walkie-talkie (Sandra’s description) took nearly 3 hours! There were so many questions asked and I hope we gave satisfactory answers. Sandra and I hope that those who took part enjoyed it as much as we did. The weather played along, although it was a bit smoky and misty at the start, beautiful views appeared during the course of the morning.

Thank you to Christa for the opportunity to walk the carefully-cleared Fynbos trail on her property and to Janet Botes for the opportunity to take part in the VERGE Initiative. Janet is the curator/coordinator of VERGE (an art exhibition, talk + workshops for endangered, vulnerable species).

Nicky

Forthcoming Field Trips
The plant name signage on the Gouritsmond Conservation Trust hiking trail needs work and we were asked to help match plants to names. That is where LOT and SIM will head to this Friday. It is a short trail, but there is always a lot to see and explore. Probably a good idea to cover up against horseflies?
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 and Mattmatt on iNat. Thank you all for your ongoing help and support.

Outramps Projects on iNaturalist
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

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
OTL - Out To Lunch is used to describe the Buchu Bus when she's taking a break after she's behaved badly

Posted on November 19, 2018 02:29 PM by

outramps-tanniedi

Walkie-Talkies

Nicky

Gail

Nicky

Veg Types of South Africa - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/vegetation-types-of-south-africa

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