Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"

Today I share with you just a few photos from a couple of quick outings I took part in recently. The first was a visit to some very rare euphorbias, and the second, a walk I took my sister on.

Our Euphorbia outing was specifically to find a number of rare species of this genus occurring close-ish to Polokwane. The first was Euphorbia groenewaldii which we found in a region of low rocky outcroppings. I've already featured that species here, and the ones we saw weren't very good looking (drought and fire reduced them somewhat), but we did find some very nice flowers of the 'subterranean tree' Elephantorrhiza elephantina (or now apparently classified as Entada elephantina) sprouting in the burnt veldt. These delicate flowers often emerge before the feathery foliage, but on my one photo, you can see the leaves as well.

We drove on from there to Sekhukhuneland, where we found Euphorbia steelpoortensis, a species newly named, and Euphorbia enormis, which you see here, a rather scraggly and spiny character with stems that grow from a subterranean tuber. From there we drove deeper into Sekhukhuneland, where we found the very localized Euphorbia grandialata, with its irregularly-'winged' stems. The photo of a young plant shows the beautiful colour patterns decorating the stems. In the same patch we also found Euphorbia excelsa, which looks quite different, growing tall and with far narrower wings along the stems. This species grows in this region and apparently also in the Soutpansberg Mountains, but the plants I saw there are somewhat different from these so I'm not sure about that.

We saw several other species of Euphorbia on our trip, though they weren't our targets. The genus is amazingly diverse in South Africa. Of about two thousand species in the world, 170 or more occur in South Africa. We're still finding or recognizing new ones. Most are succulent and of an amazing variety of shapes, sizes and stem geometries. Some are reminiscent of the Cacti of the New World, to which they are not at all closely related, but fill similar ecological niches, thus leading to similar forms through evolution. The loss of leaves and the stems becoming succulent are for conserving water, while the spines (not found in all euphorbias) are for protection, together with a particularly toxic white sap which is a feature unique to them and relatives.

The other outing was one where I took my sister Maryke on a trip to Haenertsburg, a picturesque little town in the mountains to the east of Polokwane. There we went on a walk in a patch of grassland, the last remnant of grasslands that grew all over the area, but which have almost all been turned to tree plantations (and the town itself of course) so that just this tiny bit is left. As such, it protects a number of unique plant species.

Here is a shot showing a bit what the mountainous grassland area looks like. These two rocks are beacons along the path, which passes between them, beyond which stretch grassy slopes and, in the distance, the Ebenezer Dam, which reservoir supplies a lot of water to Haenertsburg and Tzaneen, a town more to the East.

Along the trail, the grass was resprouting after recent fire, along with a plenitude of other herbs and small shrubs including lots of flowers. The bright green daisy flowers you see here are Berkheya setifera, and you also see the dense cream-yellow flowers of a Helichrysum or Everlasting, also in the daisy family. A couple of spotted beetles are feasting on the pollen and likely on the petals themselves of these flowers. What you see here, is actually a double-compound flowerhead. The main head consists of many smaller heads, each of which is composed of a great many reduced individual flowers. Everlastings occur in abundance and in great variety in the mountain grasslands of South Africa.

Another interesting thing we found were these small 'leafy' green, twining plants. Believe it or not, these are Asparaguses! Specifically, they are Asparagus asparagoides, which means 'asparagus-like asparagus', which name they might have got before actually being classified as proper Asparagus. Whatever the case, we have a great many wild asparagus species in South Africa, and they, too, are amazingly diverse. This is one of the commonest and most widespread ones, indeed occurring over much of Africa, and in a variety of habitats. It is unusual because you can find it both in the open grassland as well as in the shade of forests, which are very different environments. What few people realize, is that what looks like the leaves here, are not! They are actually shoots, technically twigs or branches, that become flattened, green, and fulfil the function of leaves. In different asparaguses, they take on different forms. In edible asparagus, the cladodes are the short scale-like protrusions on the 'spears', but they grow in a variety of different configurations in the wild South African species. This one has the most leaf-like cladodes of them all.

The majority of our walk was through the open grassland, but we also passed through a small patch of forest that grew along a mountain stream. Here is a shot of the interior. It is suddenly a totally different atmosphere, with soft shade and mosses and the peaceful little stream, with the welcoming calls of forest birds.

It was a fun little walk, and my sister appreciated it. If you're ever in this region, you might give it a go yourself, I'd be happy to offer my assistance as a guide!

Willem

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