Namaqualand page 5

Water

Water is very seasonal in this part of Africa. Namaqualand is on the northern edge of the winter rain area of the Cape. Many years are very dry. This winter has been exceptionally wet and all the streams and rivers were still flowing. In one i saw my first spoonbill but could not get close enough to photograph.

On the right bank here are some Osteospermum, very common everywhere this year. More are below

Mesembryanthemums of different colours and sizes were everywhere. Their names seem to depend on which guide you use but

Above is probably Pig Salad (Varkslaai), Conicosia elongata. Below is probably Sand Salad (Sandslaai), Cleretum papulosum. I dont know whether the names imply that the Afrikaners used to eat them; they certainly seem to have tried most plants.

Cabbages and peas. Left is a brassica, Heliophila amplexicaulis, I think, because its seeds are in strongly beaded pods. Above is a rather spectacular common climbing pea, the scarlet balloon pea, kankerbos

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I'm pretty sure this one is a fine example of the common Roadside Dew Vygie, Drosanthemum hispidum. Surrounding it is the orange osteospermum that gives such a bright colour to the veld, and some Felicia. Some small irises can also be seen top lef