Talk on Restoring Sand Plain Fynbos on our Common

Carly Cowell of Kirstenbosch is also the SANBI Project Co-ordinator for the Millennium Seed Bank Project, run by Kew Gardens. Carly has travelled to well-known gardens in Europe, China and Australia and will be giving a public lecture, hosted by the Friends of Meadowridge Common, on “International trends in Restoration and the Meadowridge Common Project".
The talk will take place on Monday 5 October at 7.30 pm at the Meadowridge Library, Howard Street. There is no entrance fee. Any enquires can be directed to Fiona Watson at 021 712 0696 or Caroline Voget on 072 933 4510.

Spring flower walk

A guided spring flower walk was led by Fiona Watson on Saturday 19 September on Meadowridge Common.
Meadowridge Common, our conservation area, is included in the 2009 edition of the booklet, City of Cape Town Nature Reserves, a network of amazing urban biodiversity. We have identified 137 species of indigenous flowering plants on this small 7 ha open space and four of these are in danger of extinction in South Africa. We are working hard to conserve this heritage gem but for a small area where many species are present in very small numbers the challenges are great. Extremes in climate, trampling and dogs’ digging can easily wipe out a species, as has already happened to seven on the Common.

What are doing to meet this challenge?
Propagating plants from the Common to augment their numbers; rehabilitating and creating a seasonal wetland; erecting bollards around sensitive areas.

What to see?
The range of plants in flower varies over the spring months as does the time of day when they are open. More are late risers, opening in the afternoon, hence our walk being scheduled for 14h00. August is the time to view Oxalis species in their bright colour: rose-pink Oxalis purpurea, yellow Oxalis pes caprae, white with red on the reverse Oxalis versicolor (photo below) and a profusion of Oxalis obtusa. Mauve babianas are a delight with their splashes of red and white. The Lampranthus reptans flowers (photo above) glow like golden dollars on their spreading stems. They continue to flower in September.
September sees members of the Romulea genus revealing their deeply-coloured red, mauve and orange species. Dainty white trachyandras drag themselves out of bed to open in the afternoons as do the sky-blue Heliophila africana. White botterblom, Sparaxis bulbifera, yellow daisies, Senecio littoreus, and Ursinia anthemoides provide sheets of colour. In October yellow Moraea fugax comes into its own. These are but a few of the many flowers on display.

Join the friends
Walks are free of charge but if you wish to support us by becoming a member of Friends of Meadowridge Common, receive our newsletters and our full colour broadsheets and attend talks arranged at Meadowridge Library, it only costs R25 for a year's membership. For any queries feel free to phone Mrs Fiona Watson at 021 712 0696.
Photos:
TOP: Lampranthus reptans, the Cape Flats Vygie. Photo: Fiona Watson.
ABOVE: Sugarstick Sorrel, Oxalis versicolor. Photo: Caroline Voget.

A spiny bear's foot on the Common?

You often see these flat, prickly leaves in the middle of the paths on Meadowridge Common. Have you ever stopped to wonder what they are? It is a platdoring, or Arctopus echinatus.
In Greek, arktos is "bear", and pous is "foot" (yes it is!) and echinatus is Latin for "spiny" or "prickly". So a spiny bear's foot! It has an underground stem, and is common in sandy, flat places. It belongs to the carrot family, and male and female plants are separate. The plant above was found Meadowridge Common, and the two below, male (left) and female (right) are from the slopes of the Hottentots Hollands.

How much wood would a woodchip chip?

The question in the minds of four of the Friends who arrived to spread a pile of woodchip over one of the main paths of the Common was how far the chip would go. "It does not look such a big pile to me," said Gordon, "probably cover half the path." His being a retired civil engineer who knows a thing or two about roads, we deferred to his judgement and so began the haul.

What none of us bargained for, however, was a magical pile. Not only was it magically fresh and clean but it was also possessed of the property of not diminishing as we reduced. As we returned with the large tarpaulin we were using to load and drag the chips upon, the pile stood as tall as ever, following the law of undiminishing returns. This was proven by the fact that the half way point to which we had dragged the first load and then worked down from now had to be exceeded and we set our sights further up - eventually covering all but 20m of a 100m path. But as we looked back down the track, our last load down, what did we see? A beautiful river of green, fresh chip now lay where a sandy one had once been.

This could not have happened without Nic of Afford-a-Fell. Having contacted him after Louise Kinrade of the Friends of Kirstenhof Greenbelt had given me his name, he simply said: "Sure, I've got woodchip - how much do you want and when?" The next thing it was delivered, no charge, and with another question attached: "When can I deliver the next one?" With friends like this we could go far. Thanks, Nic and those who helped bring the path into shape.

Rare frog

A Giant Rain Frog on Kenilworth Racecourse - similar to the ones that occur on Meadowridge Common. Photo: Fayruz Prins, iNaturalist.

Did you know that the rare Giant Rain Frog or Cape Rain Frog (Breviceps gibbosus) has been seen on Meadowridge Common?

Winter flowers on Meadowridge Common

Probably the Common's most important species, this rare and endangered member of the Protea family is the Flat's Silkypuff, Diastella proteoides.
It was once abundant on the Cape Flats, but most of its southern populations have been destroyed and small remnant populations remain - one on our Common! (Click here for the some history of its discovery.) The plant carries a status of 'Vulnerable' in the Red Data book and is likely to be upgraded to Endangered as its northern habitats (it occurs on sandy flats as far north as Mamre) are developed.
The Flats Silkypuff flowers erratically throughout the year, but mainly from July to February and our bush is starting to flower now. Find it near the storyboards on the Common.
The plants do not produce nectar - pollination is by beetles and flies that visit the flowers to feed on pollen. The round white seed is produced two months after flowering. Each flowerhead may produce a single seed, which is bigger than the entire flowerhead. These seeds are collected by ants, which bury them in their nests. Here they are safe from fire and rodents. Germination only occurs after fire. (Info from the Protea Atlas Webpage)


Tortoise Berry, Nylandtia spinosa, belongs to the milkwort family (Polygalaceae) and starts flowering in June. By the end of the month it will be covered in purple flowers. A good plant to grow in your sandy garden! It is named after Pierre Nylandt, a Seventeenth Century Dutch botanist. The species name is derived from the Latin, spinosa, meaning spiny.

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who supported the cake sale on Saturday to raise funds for the maintenance and on-going rehabilitation of Meadowridge Common.