For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Winter walk - Part 2

There are some extremely interesting looking weeds about. This one is silver in color and has such an interesting shape. Each flower was about 1 inch in diameter.
The early morning dew was still on this one.
The path I was on lead down to the small stream at the end of the property.
The water is sluggish and green…..
….and I found some colorful lichen on the trees.
Can you just imagine in summer how many bugs I am going to find in this patch of grass??
At the end of the season, most plants are in seed. These are so light that the slightest bit of breeze disperses the seeds. Each head is about 4mm in diameter and contains hundreds of seeds.
Winter is the time for the aloes to bloom and this is one of the seasons first. The flowers look and feel like wax.
The pod of this creeper has burst open to allow the ripe seeds inside to disperse on the wind.