Ixia capillaris

 

Ixia capillaris

 

Flowering time: July to September.

 

"Cormous geophyte, 20--45 cm. Leaves linear, very narrow. Flowers white to mauve, tube funnel-shaped. July--Sept. Sandy or clay slopes, NW, SW, KM, LB (Citrusdal to Ladismith).*" GOLDBLATT, P. and MANNING, J. 2000. Cape Plants. A conspectus of the Cape flora of South Africa. Strelitzia 9.

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Babiana ambigua

 
Babiana ambigua
Bobbejaanuintjie/bobbejaantjie

Flowers: August to September.
They occur all over Riversong.

"ambigua (Roem. & Schult.) G.J.Lewis Cormous geophyte, 5--8 cm. Leaves narrow, longer than stem, hairy. Flowers zygomorphic, blue to mauve with white to cream markings, fragrant, inner bracts usually free. Aug.--Sept. Sandy flats and lower slopes, NW, SW, AP, LB (Gifberg to Riversdale).* " From Manning & Goldblatt, POSA.

Moraea inconspicua

Moraea inconspicua

Taai Uintjie, Hung Clockflower

Growing along the gravel road to the river near Max's house.
About 30 cm tall with very sticky stems.
Linear, channeled leaves.
Flowers small, bright yellow with maroon nectar guides, and the tepals reflexed.

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Tritoniopsis ramosa

Tritoniopsis ramosa
Slender geophyte that reaches a height of between 12 and 50 cm. Its leaves are narrow and one to three veined. Each spike produces a few pink, frilly flowers with narrow tepals marked with red. These were flowering along the path to the lower Tadpole Pools on Riversong Farm.
Flowering time: Jan - April.



The leaves are dry at flowering, and you can see the three veins that are characteristic of this species. They flower best after a fire.

Gladiolus carinatus

Blou Afrikaner

From 30-70 cm, with base of stem purple and mottled white.
Leaves are narrow with thickened midrib.
Two-lipped flowers, variable but usually blue or yellow, occasionally pink, marked with yellow and blue on lower tepals, with a short tube 6-10 mm long.
There can be up to nine flowers per stem, but usually less.
Flowers from June to October.
Widespread. Occurs on sandstone and limestone flats and slopes from Namaqualand to the southern Cape.

Carinatus means "keeled".
Flowering profusely along the road in August. Also many on road to the lower Tadpole Pools.

Tritoniopsis nervosa

Tritoniopsis nervosa

karkaar, karkaarblm, witkalossie

A tall geophyte - up to 1 m - with fragrant, pale yellow flowers.

This one was flowering on the path to the lower Tadpole Pools.

Moth pollinated.

Flowering time: November to January.

A Cape endemic that occurs on rocky, wet, sandy mountain slopes in the Cederberg and Ceres mountains.

Watsonia stokoei

Watsonia stokoei

suurkanol

A tall watsonia (up to 1 m) that grows in wet areas on Riversong - along the river mainly.

It flowers best after fire.

Flowering time is November to January.

A Cape endemic that occurs in sandstone soils in seeps and marshes from the Gifberg to the Koue Bokkeveld mountains, and on the Piketberg.

Tritonia undulata

Tritonia undulata

This pretty irid with its long corolla tube is pollinated by horseflies Philoliche gulosa and P. rostrata and other fly species with elongated mouthparts. Particularly long-tubed races of T. undulata are pollinated by Moegistorhynchus longirostris, which has the longest mouthparts of any insect except for some butterflies. (Click here for an excellent article on pollination and a photo of the long-tongued fly.)
The crispy, curled leaves make it easy to identify, and indeed, its previous name was Tritonia crispa. It seems to be quite a variable species, and some flowers are pale apricot while others are bright pink.
It occurs all over Riversong from the flat areas around the cottages, all the way up the slopes to the top pools.
Flowers in November.
Thanks to Graham Duncan for identifying Tritonia undulata and John Manning for the information about the pollination of T. undulata.

Bobartia rufa

Bobartia rufa

Yystervarkriet, stalbiesie

Flowers from Sept-Dec.

Ixia paniculata

Ixia paniculata

Kalossie, pypkalossie

Can be up to 1 m tall.

The long perianth tube is at least twice the length of the tepal lobes.The long-tongued flies Moegistorhynchus longirostris (Nemestrinidae) and Philoliche rostrata (Tabanidae) pollinate Ixia paniculata.The entry for Tritonia undulata also has information on pollination by long-tongued flies.

Flowers Sept-Dec.

Grows in field in front of the swimming pool and on the slopes of Geelberg.

Philoliche gulosa on Riversong.

 

Gladiolus hyalinus

Gladiolus hyalinus

Small Brown Africaner

25-50 cm

Leaves linear with thickened margins and midribs.

Flowers in June to Sept.

(Namaqualand to Port Alfred)