Leucospermum cordifolium. I could NOT love this plant more. One of the most striking plants I can think of in bloom. Grootbos has whole hillsides of them – it’s spectacular!

The 2500 hectare (6200 acre, nearly 10 square miles) Grootbos Private Nature Reserve near Gansbaai, South Africa is home to 765 different plant species, four of which are endemic to the reserve only, and about 83 of which are of restricted distribution to the fynbos of the immediate surrounding region. The botanical diversity on display here is truly remarkable, and many of the flowers are of extreme beauty despite the superficially homogeneous appearance of fynbos. Here’s a brief selection of some of just the warm-toned flowers we saw in bloom on Sept 18, 2016. I did my best to identify the species shown but some I haven’t yet been able to pin down, so feel free to add a name if you know it.

Mimetes cucullatus. Another one of the amazingly beautiful proteoids (family Proteaceae) found mainly in South Africa and Australia.

A brief word on Grootbos (“Big Forest” or “Big Bush” in Afrikaans): This is a relatively new ecotourism destination, created since 1991, and unusual in South Africa since it focuses on an underappreciated botanical ecosystem rather than the large wild animals for which many African countries are known. While we were unable to stay at the lodge during our trip due to a fire in one of the main buildings that happened only two weeks before our scheduled arrival, it was clear from our day trip there with our expert guide Sarah that the accommodations are first-class and the staff excellent. We had two meals at Grootbos and the cuisine is top-notch. I would highly recommend staying at Grootbos if you are intending to visit the Whale Coast of South Africa, and hope to return for a longer period of time on a future trip. For more information visit www.grootbos.com.

Photo of the fire damage at the main dining lodge at Grootbos Nature Reserve, taken with a telephoto lens from a distance.

We were supposed to spend four nights at Grootbos. But sadly, just two weeks before our arrival, while we were in Kruger National Park, we got notice saying that their main dining lodge had burned down, not from wildfire but from one started in the building itself, possibly electrical in nature. The government wouldn’t allow resort visitors until that was fixed even though everything else (including another dining hall) was intact. So the Grootbos management put us up in a nice hotel in Hermanus, about a half hour away, and arranged for us to do several ecotours with other companies and also the one featured today with their staff, which was when I took all these photos. Grootbos personnel were very professional and accommodating despite their fire setback, and I hope to actually stay on-site at some future date.

Broom-rape, Hyobanche sanguinea, or possibly a related species of Hyobanche, which are root parasites upon various shrubs, especially in poor sandy soils.

Gazania rigens, one of many extremely colorful gazania species in southern Africa. Mass displays of these and other daisies are common in South Africa in springtime.

I looked and looked under numerous search terms to try to find a species of Erica that has this type of fleshy clustered fruits on the twigs beneath the top growth of fine leaves. No luck, not even close. There are hundreds of Erica species in South Africa – the family Ericaceae is a defining group of the fynbos ecosystem, and for a novice to the family like me they can be challenging to identify.

These shockingly cerise ice plants were scattered here and there in sandy open areas, lighting up the landscape with the most brilliant glowing flowers imaginable. I searched for quite some time to find the name of these online, but never came that close. Lampranthus sp? Delosperma? Help!

From a comment by Mark: “Our guide said this is Mesembryanthemum (Dorotheanthus) bellidiformis, aka Livingstone daisy. It’s an easy to grow winter annual, except that it’s frost-sensitive. I bought some seeds and am hoping for a mild winter.” (He was able to grow them to blooming size in his Tucson AZ garden.)

Oedera imbricata, one of the many Asteraceae family plants found in fynbos. They are resinous and resemble tarweeds of the northern hemisphere, and in fact are called gombos (“gum bush”) in Afrikaans.

A small orange-red oxalis, possibly Oxalis inaediquens. It looks fairly adequate to me, thanks to its color!

Another one of the hundreds of Ericas in South Africa. Most are quite pretty, with pink, white, red, purple, or orange flowers, although yellow and green ones exist too.

There were a whole range of other floral colors in the cool shades of purple, blue, lavender, and white which will be grouped separately at some point in another post. What majestic beauty and diversity at this reserve!