Observations by sarahleighrose

What parasite is this and how can it be removed?

A friend asked me what this parasite may be and how to get rid of it. It's on all the waboom trees on his farm. He says: "It gives them a proliferation of small growth leaves, these then die leaving a dark brown mass. I think it is colloquially called ‘witches broom’ but I am not sure." Do you have any idea what I could spray on the trees to get rid of the problem ?

Staavia pinifolia

Small, obscure little plant growing in rock crevices. We only found 5 plants on the top of Constantiaberg. You would need to spend the day scrambling and rock climbing about to do a thorough survey. Used to be called Staavia dregeana (DDT), but this was lumped together with S. pinifolia.

Erepsia forficata seeds

Seeds from this plant family (Aizoaceae) enclose their seeds in tight capsules (sometimes so tight you need a rock to break them open!). This very protective seed capsule only opens when rain drops fall and soften the hard fibres of the chamber walls. Once opened the seeds are exposed and 'bounce out' with the falling raindrops, all moistened and ready to germinate. The opened capsules form a unique star-shape, each one characteristic of the genus they belong to and therefore are very useful for identification for this family.

Leucadendron argenteum seeds

This is the first observation made on iSpot for the Millennium Seed Bank. I^m hoping to add many more observations such as these and hopefully expose a bit of light on the wonderful (and sometimes very tiny) world of seeds :)

Common Carp

There was a lot of commotion and activity going on in the water while we watched from one of the bird hides. We were told by the Rondevlei rangers that carp? were breeding ? I think that is what they said. It was difficult to catch a shot of them, they would occasionally, very swiftly show a fin or two. I think I managed to capture part of its head on camera though (1st pic).