Eastern Cape Trip
Mary Sue Ittner (Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:10:00 PST)

The next day on our trip we got up very early and left before
breakfast. It was supposed to be a very hot day and that turned out
to be true. Along the way to the place we were going to have
breakfast we stopped. This was around 7 a.m. and we found a number of
interesting things. There were more Hypoxis. Hypoxis hemerocallidea
was especially pretty in flower and seed.
<http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… >

And we found a whole stand of Eulophia macowanii along the road edge.
<http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…>

Another early morning treasure was Kniphofia uvaria
<http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…>

The main event of the day was to be taken to the Moonstone Magic
Cycad trail. We rode in and on the back of 4 wheel drives up the
mountain and then were let out to explore. It was already getting to
be very hot by the time we reached our destination. Some of us
explored the side of the mountain and others climbed up. The climbers
actually reached areas that were a little more shaded. Along the side
of the mountain it was very open. The prize of the day and voted the
favorite was Cyrtanthus obliquus. I have some of this growing in a
pot that I keep in my greenhouse but I doubt it ever gets as hot as
it did the day we saw it. Mine have never bloomed and it was a treat
to see plants in bloom.
<http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

We also saw some interesting Boophone disticha leaves.
<http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…>

Later in the day we headed to Morgan Bay where we were staying in a
nice hotel where our rooms opened to a balcony overlooking the ocean
and there was a swimming pool so we could cool off.

Mary Sue