My brother together with Terrance the guy in the picture, safely and umharmed got this big beautu into a bucket. For a few days now they keep seeing a snake by the pallats, but keeps dissapearing about 30 minutes ago, they saw the snale again and safely re-located it into the field not to far from the workshop. I am very proud of them for handling the snak woth such love and care. Snake was released safely and unharmed.

Mimetes chrysanthus cn

The Outramps discovered the 2nd only colony of Mimetes chrysanthus in 1996 when we were working for the Protea Atlas Project. The first colony was found 100kms to the west at Gamkaberg in 1987. It was one of the most exciting and memorable moments in our lives. This is why I have chosen it for the iSpot Celebratory Launch.

It is also a tribute to Casey Nootenboom who produced the most stunning photographs over the years for the Outramps. Health issues now prevent his joining us on field trips, but his wonderful photos will remain a lasting legacy.

We live out in the sticks far away from the corridors of botanical power. For us, iSpot has been a life-changing experience. We now have a whole community of like-minded people and experts to help us. The linking of the Red List to iSpot has made a huge difference to the work we do for CREW.

Thank you Tony, for all your help and enthusiasm and for making it so much fun. Long live iSpot!!

Mimetes chrysanthus is Redlisted as Vulnerable

Cytinus capensis flower info

Parasitic plant producing deep red flowers in clusters that protrude above ground. Males and females produced on separate plants (dioecious). Not scented (at least not what humans can detect). Flowers comprise only 4 very dark maroon-coloured perianth lobes with inclined hairs covering most of their surface except for the margins. Confined to the Cape Peninsula (so far). This plant has only been available for study as a result of its discovery by amateur botanists.These piccies were taken after Jayne McDermid and Marland Holderness had found the plants and let me know about them.

Rat caught in a DOC200 trap.
2 weeks between its first visit to trap and being caught (see 974739). Bait: Peanut butter.

Female, body length aprox 20cm, tail 15cm, weight aprox 160gm.

Second photo is from a monitoring infrared webcam and is the product of low light levels and slow shutter speeds - simultaneously showing the live rat, the trigged trap closing and the closed trap (so we have a photo of a simultaneously alive and dead rat).

see also 975015

Found while exploring a small wetland. The first indication of its presence was two "zick" notes soon followed by the typical call. Only a solitary male was heard and found. See http://frogmap.adu.org.za/Species_text.php?sp=40

The Ugly Duckling Conebush: Wolseley Conebush

Wolseley Conebush Leucadendron spirale
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This Conebush is undoubtedly the ‘ugly duckling’ in the genus. Describing it in 1809, Richard Salisbury - in Knight's book on the cultivaton of proteas - noted that ‘cuttings grow freely, but possessing little beauty it should only be admitted in extensive collections’. Indeed, few people would recognise it as a Conebush, as its leaves are small and ericoid, and the fully mature cones, are only 20 mm in diameter.
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L. spirale has been collected only four times in the past:
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* James Niven found it in 1801 at the Breede River;
* Leopold Mund collected it at the same locality in 1819;
* James Bowie gives as his locality the swamps at Soetmelkrivier and Langklooof (but he has a reputation for giving incorrect localities); and
* Alfred Meebold collected it in 1933, describing the locality as ‘Wolseley, heath, containing only few species, but river ground and swampy ground, few hours only’.
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As far as is known the plant is extinct, but some populations may still lurk in the Worcester Valley.
If the Breede River and Wolseley localities are correct most of its habitat has probably been ploughed up, but small pockets of plants may still exist.
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Acknowledgements for drawing: Nicci Page
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A R1000 Reward of was offered, and posted around Tulbagh, Wolseley and Worcester, between 1995 and 2000 for the finding of confirmed plants - it was never claimed.
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The plant has needle-like, rough, leaves 4-9mm long. The male flowerheads are 6-8 mm long and do not have floral bracts - they probably liberate clouds of pollen if knocked while flowering. The female plants produce seed-bearing cones: these form hard balls about 20 mm round. It is closely related to the Strawberry Conebush, which has longer leaves, and bigger, red cones. It probably flowers in summer.

Wynberg Conebush - extinct for 200 years

Leucadendron grandiflorum (Salisb.) R.Br. Wynberg Conebush
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Global Status: EX.
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Last seen in 1806 in Clapham. No records exist of its ecology, habitat, extent or time of demise, other than that it used to occur on Wynberg Mountain. The area was the location of the earliest colonial farms.
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Based on its sister species, L. globosum and L. elimense, it probably occurred on the upper south slopes of Wynberg hill on moister granite soils.
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Because of the feud between Robert Brown and Richard Salisbury at the turn of the 19th Century, Salisbury’s description was incorrectly synonymized and its existence neglected until Ion Williams revised the genus in 1972. During this entire period there are no records alluding to the species, and to this day it is only known from Salisbury’s description and a single drawing of a male plant (shown above: that is it!). Its local date of extinction is thus unknown, and can be anywhere from the turn of the 18th century until recently. However, as it was not collected by collectors in the middle 18th century it was either very rare or extinct by the early 1800s. From the description and drawing there can be no doubt that this is a valid taxon, that it belongs to the Crowned Conebushes, and that its sister species is L. globosum.
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Considerable confusion was caused by the use of L. grandiflorum for the unrelated Sun Conebushes L. barkerae, L. daphnoides and L. tinctum during the 1900s, and illustrations of Leucadendron sessile that were misidentified as L. grandiflorum in the 1800s. The previous Red List status in 1996 as of uncertain taxonomic status is thus not valid, being partially as a result of this confusion. This confusion persists in the literature today.
A few persons have claimed that it might not be a good species based on a single plant, but Salisbury's description leaves no doubt that at least the male was quite distinct from the other Crown Conebushes. That coupled with the distribution make it highly likely that this was quite a distinct species. One unique feature mentioned was the strong and disagreeable odour, which unfortunately is not adequate to determine if it might have been fly pollinated.
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It is sadly too late to do anything about this apparently impressive plant. Wynberg Hill is today covered by Bishops Court and Constantia, and either under houses or vineyards. The odds that any undiscovered seedbanks may survive under hedgerows and pine stands is exceedingly small. Road verges and undeveloped erven have been well searched, to no avail.
This must be our earliest documented extinction in South Africa, and perhaps attributable to our Mediterranean love of wine.
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Illustration from Paradisus Londonensis page 105
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ia/mobot31753000575172#page/248/mode/1up