h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today I was out to visit my friends the Van Schalkwyks and to do some plant seeking! The farm is about 50 km from Pietersburg/Polokwane, close to the town of Haenertzburg, in some of the foothills of the Wolkberg Mountains. The plants I was looking for were Euphorbia pulvinata plants. They are succulents with spined, angled stems. This particular species has a remarkable cushion-like growth form, the stem tips crowding together to make mounds that can grow over a metre/yard in width and about half that in height. I've never seen the species here before ... I did see them at the Walter Sisulu Botanic Garden, and I also grow them in my own garden! But here I saw a substantial wild population in the hills. They grow in bushveld with grass as well as trees and lots of shrubs, sometimes in the open amidst grass and rocks, sometimes in light shade. The species occurs widely but patchily from the far north of Limpopo Province down to the Eastern Cape.

Of course there was lots more to see ... too much for a mere journal entry! I hope to return to the farm soon and will then tell a bit more.

My camera was not working as it should and so I didn't take lots of photos. But here are the best of the ones I have.

Here are the Euphorbia pulvinata plants.

A large and healthy specimen, with hundreds of stems tight together:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Euphorbiapulvinata1b_zps1811a413.jpg

A couple of specimens. To the left you can see some damage ... some of them were suffering and there were many dead plants as well:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Euphorbiapulvinata2b_zpsd97237ad.jpg

A small plant, growing with another succulent: look on the right, the plant with the bright green, finger-like leaves. That is Senecio barbertonicus, another interesting species of which there were many, some quite robust:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Euphorbiapulvinata3b_zpsdddaf423.jpg

Another small Euphorbia pulvinata growing together with another succulent, this time a little Mesemb, a Delosperma:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Euphorbiapulvinata4b_zpsbadbbb5d.jpg

More clumps, the front one showing some growth tip damage and a bit of irregular growth, but overall appearing healthy:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Euphorbiapulvinata5b_zps11855aea.jpg

There were several species of Aloe on the farm. This is, I think, Aloe aculeata, which grew alongside the Euphorbias. They weren't flowering, if they did I would have been able to confirm the ID:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Aloeaculeata1b_zps5ed2ccb0.jpg

There were many flowering Barberton Daisies, Gerbera jamesonii. These are the emblem of the Blue Bulls rugby team, and appears on the flag of the province of Mpumalanga. None of which deterred this beetle from making a snack of one!

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/BarbertonDaisy1b_zps9f1006b9.jpg

These are the lovely flowers of a Cross Berry, Grewia occidentalis. A vigorously growing shrub, tree or climber, bearing fruit that look like four berries grown together in a cross shape.

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Grewiaoccidentalis2b_zps6c02488b.jpg

Here is a little Bonsai Tacky, or Crassula sarcocaulis. These little succulents, growing in mountainous or hilly terrain, look like stunted little trees. This one has the proportionally fattest stem I've ever seen on one:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Crassulasarcocaulis1c_zpsf3f4dd41.jpg

There were also bird sightings, lost of lizards, and a wonderful assortment of insects, mainly beetles like chafers, CMR beetles and many more!