The Bokkeveld Plateau is an area in the northwest Cape that includes Cape fynbos, mountain renosterveld and succulent karoo vegetation types. Near the town of Nieuwoudtville where there has been heavy grazing in the renosterveld there is a wonderful show of annuals and geophytes which have led it to be called the bulb capital of the world. Other species grow in the doleritic clay of the mountain karoo vegetation. Grazing has eliminated the shrubs so that the smaller plants have light. Most of the low rainfall occurs in winter and spring and the greatest display of wildflowers occur from August to September. In March the Amaryllidaceae make a spectacular display as well, flowering as the temperatures drop after summer showers and before their leaves appear. 2001 was a very wet year and there was a very good display of flowers late winter into spring.
Albuca canadensis, syn. Albuca maxima is found on rocky slopes. Photos taken September 2006 by Mary Sue Ittner.
Androcymbium latifolium syn. Androcymbium pulchrum blooming in the Nieuwoudtville reserve August 2001. Photo by Mary Sue Ittner.
Babiana flabellifolia growing in doleritic clay outcrops in rock cracks where it is protected from the predators photographed in the Nieuwoudtville Reserve August 2001 by Mary Sue Ittner.
Babiana framesii seen in Nieuwoudtville in September 2006 growning not far from the road. Photographs by Bob Rutemoeller
Babiana vanzylieae blooming in mass near Nieuwoudtville August 2001. Also in the picture is Hesperantha pauciflora and an unidentified Spiloxene, possibly Spiloxene serrata Photo by Mary Sue Ittner
Boophone haemanthoides leaves near Nieuwouldtville August 2001. Photo by Mary Sue Ittner.
Bulbinella elegans blooming in clay soils in renosterveld August 2001. Photo by Mary Sue Ittner.
Bulbinella latifolia ssp. doleritica, one of the endemics, blooming in the Nieuwoudtville Reserve August 2001. Photo by Mary Sue Ittner.
Bulbinella nutans ssp. nutans blooming in a very wet area in August 2001. Photo by Mary Sue Ittner
Crossyne flava has strap-shaped leaves fringed with long, white or straw-colored bristles, with small, angular, red speckles beneath. This photo by Mary Sue Ittner shows the leaves on plants growing near Nieuwoudtville August 2001.
Cyanella alba photographs seen below were taken by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner south of Nieuwoudtville September 2006. In the first picture it is growing with Moraea pritezliana.
Eucomis regia photographed in Nieuwoudtville by Cameron McMaster.
Geissorhiza inaequalis photographed by Mary Sue Ittner in September 2006 in the Nieuwoudtville flower reserve.
Geissorhiza splendidissima was seen blooming near Nieuwoudtville September 2006 with Sparaxis elegans. Photos by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner.
Gladiolus scullyi photographed by Bob Rutemoeller September 2006 near Nieuwoudtville.
Gladiolus watermeyeri blooming near Nieuwoudtville August 2001. Photo by Mary Sue Ittner
Hesperantha cucullata blooming near Nieuwoudtville in September 2006. Photos by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner.
Hesperantha pauciflora blooming in Nieuwoudtville in the middle of Romulea sabulosa August 2001, photograph by Mary Sue Ittner
Lapeirousia jacquinii blooming near Nieuwoudtville September 2006. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner.
Lapeirousia oreogena blooming in the Nieuwoudtville Reserve September 2006. Photo by Bob Rutemoeller.
Moraea bubalina Photos by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner taken September 2007.
Moraea gawleri Photo taken September 2006 by Mary Sue Ittner near Nieuwoudtville 
Moraea pritzeliana photographed September 2006 by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner south of Nieuwoudtville.
Moraea tripetala photos taken September 2006 near Nieuwoudtville by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner 
Moraea vallisbelli (syn. Homeria vallisbelli) Photos by Mary Sue Ittner taken September 2006 near Nieuwoudtville.
Romulea amoena photographed by Mary Sue Ittner near Nieuwoudtville in August 2001
Romulea sabulosa flowering in mass in Nieuwoudtville, South Africa in August 2001, where it was growing in wet sand. Photo by Bob Rutemoeller. See also the photo with Hesperantha pauciflora above.
Sparaxis elegans seen blooming near Nieuwoudtville September 2006. The pictures below were taken by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner. They show a number of them blooming next to the road with close-ups showing a pollinator and the detail of the flowers. The next to the last picture shows a plant with different coloring in the same population and the last shows a group mixed with Geissorhiza splendidissima blooming at the same time.
Sparaxis tricolor seen flowering in Nieuwoudtville September 2006. Photos taken by Mary Sue Ittner and Bob Rutemoeller including a close-up with a beetle pollinator and the last shown with Lapeirousia jacquinii
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