campbellfleming's Favorites

2020 12 08 Uitkyk
Disa bodkinii
http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=2759-10
Observed by Helen Moss, and she comments:
They tended to grow in small groups, with maybe 3 or 4 plants scattered over a few square metres. They were noticeably absent from seeps and wet areas, but found on a steep well-drained quite dry harsh south-facing slope in the first year after a burn. The total number we saw in this population was probably around 30 to 40 individuals, but we did not do an exhaustive search. We just happened to come across them while cutting young pines on the slope.

It is very interesting to note how rapidly they had finished flowering. The specimens we saw yesterday had all finished flowering and closed up. I will send those photos to you now. It is also remarkable to note that the plants looked almost unrecognizable compared to when we first saw them 8 days ago. From being almost stemless, flat on the ground, with three flowers all facing upwards, they had in eight days grown to between 10 and 20 cm tall, with a number of leaves visible along the stem where before there had only been one small leaf visible, and the inflorescence stretched out vertically. If I had not known with 100 percent certainty that these plants were Disa bodkinii because I had seen them the week before, I would have considered the taller older plants to be a different species.

Critically rare. Previously recorded from two specimens from Klein River Mountains
A few plants in rock cracks on steep south facing rocky slope. Many plants of Anaxeton virgatum growing nearby and also in rock cracks but much narrower leaves and differences in inflorescence. Comparative photos of Anaxeton lundgrenii and A. virgatum included. Both species have 3 flowers per flowerhead.