We drove about 400km today: through the Pakhuis Pass to Clanwilliam, north up the Olifants river valley past Vanrhynsdorp, east up the Bokkeveldberge escarpment to Nieuwoudtville, and finally on a long unmetalled road across the high veld to the spectacular Cederberg. Actually to be precise, Greg Mellers drove whilst I was hanging out the passenger window on flower watch. One of the tricks of roadside collecting is spotting your species of interest whilst driving above 80kph. The problem is further exacerbated because everything is flowering and there are a lot of different species of orange coloured daisies out there! It's like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. Fortunately Gorteria diffusa has a certain gestalt - the flowers are smaller, it has a low lying habit, and a singular burnt orange hue that is quite distinctive from a distance. Recent heavy rains have also led to an exceptional flowering display this year, which means Gorteria is well-represented (although a few roads were impassible). All in all though we had a succesful day - we located three of the four archetypal Nieuw floral types and added GPS data for a bunch of additional populations. Eleven hours later, with 4 herbarium specimens, 40 packets of silica dried leaf tissue, 40 fresh flowers, and over 120 photos, we are back in our little cabin taking stock. Long roads and long days. But with the reward of seeing the Southern Cross set amid a crystal clear Milky Way.
