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 ambigua Photo was taken near Nieuwoudtville by Mary Sue Ittner September 2006.
Babiana framesii The first two photographs were taken by Mary Sue Ittner and three and four by Bob Rutemoeller near Nieuwoudtville in September 2006.
Babiana praemorsa I believe these pictures taken near Nieuwouldtville in September 2001 and 2006 by Mary Sue Ittner are this species.
Babiana sambucina ssp. longibracteata Photos taken by Bob Rutemoeller September 2006 near Nieuwoudtville.
Babiana vanzijliae The first photo shows this species 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. The other photos were taken by by Mary Sue Ittner and Bob Rutemoeller September 2006.
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
Corycium ingeanum is endemic to the BokkeveldPlateau. Photos taken September 2006 near Nieuwoudtville of what I think is this species by Mary Sue Ittner. I suppose it could also be Corycium orobanchoides
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 pritzeliana.
Cyanella hyacinthoides The photograph seen below was taken by Mary Sue Ittner north of Nieuwoudtville September 2006.
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 bachmannii blooming near Nieuwoudtville September 2006. Photos by Mary Sue Ittner and Bob Rutemoeller.
Hesperantha cucullata blooming near Nieuwoudtville in September 2006. Photos by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner.
Hesperantha pauciflora blooming in the first photo in Nieuwoudtville in the middle of Romulea sabulosa August 2001. The next three photos were taken September 2006 near Nieuwoudtville. Photographs by Mary Sue Ittner
Hesperantha vaginata blooming on a farm east of Nieuwoudtville September 2006. Photos by Bob Rutemoeller and 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 first three photos taken September 2006 near Nieuwoudtville by Bob Rutemoeller and Mary Sue Ittner. The last shows a very different color form. It was taken by Andrew Harvie.
Moraea vallisbelli (syn. Homeria vallisbelli) Photos by Mary Sue Ittner taken September 2006 near Nieuwoudtville.
Oxalis pes-caprae Photos were taken near Nieuwoudtville by Mary Sue Ittner and Bob Rutemoeller September 2006.
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
