It is spring in South Africa, and I just had to stop by Kirstenbosch: one of the world’s finest botanical gardens.
All kinds of Namaqualand daisies are in bloom in September and October in Kirstenbosch, on the southeastern slopes of Table Mountain.These are Livingstone daisies (Cleretum bellidiforme), also called Bokbaaivygie (Afr.), a flowering plant in the family Aizoaceae, native to the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.I love the soft pinks, whites and yellows of the tassel heath (Erica coccinea). It’s a type of fynbos native to Potberg north of Cape Town.The bees and the birds do it .. and so do long-horned beetles!Pincushion protea (genus: Leucospermum), one of some 48 such species with the flowers in variations of oranges, reds and yellows. The plants are evergreen upright or creeping shrubs.Here’s a red-eyed fly on a common pagoda (Mimetes cucullatus). This is a type of fynbos found on the Cape Peninsula.The king of all the proteas, the iconic and beautiful King Protea (Protea cynaroides). It has the largest flower head of all the proteas.This could be a scene from 200 million years ago on the slopes of Table Mountain. Most of these plants are Eastern Cape Giant Cycads (Encephalartos altensteinii). The dinosaur is a model of Aardonyx celestae ‘Earth Claw’, fossils of which were discovered in 2005 in rock in South Africa. Aardonyx was 7 m (21 ft) long and 1.5 m (5 ft) tall at the hips.Here is the Tree Canopy Walkway, new-ish addition to Kirstenbosch (May 2014) of a curved steel and timber bridge that winds and dips its way through and over the trees of the Arboretum.Here is the Conservatory by the main entrance to the gardens, with Africa’s southern-most boabab tree specimen.The Conservatory houses a large collection of Namibian desert plants. This one is a Kobas (Cyphostemma currorii).The curators have also gone to great lengths to cultivate a number of the weird and wonderful Welwitschia mirabilis desert plant. The enclosures are heated, as is the soil, so as to mimic desert conditions. Some specimens in the Namib desert are estimated to be 1,000 to 1,500 years old.Heath (genus Erica) type fynbos vegetation. Fynbos (‘fine bush’) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape.
2 Replies to “Wednesday/ here’s Kirstenbosch”
Bryan and I toured Kirstenbosch when we were in Capetown a couple of years ago. Lovely place!
It’s great that you got to see Kirstenbosch!
It’s one of the five MUST DO’s of Cape Town (Kirstenbosch, Robben Island, Table Mountain Cable Car, V&A Waterfront, Chapman’s Peak Drive/ Cape Point).
Bryan and I toured Kirstenbosch when we were in Capetown a couple of years ago. Lovely place!
It’s great that you got to see Kirstenbosch!
It’s one of the five MUST DO’s of Cape Town (Kirstenbosch, Robben Island, Table Mountain Cable Car, V&A Waterfront, Chapman’s Peak Drive/ Cape Point).