Good day everyone,

Today I would like to share some interesting information on the Peppermint Plant.

I got the information from Wikipedia.

Peppermint, Mentha × piperita

“Peppermint, Mentha × piperita, also known as Mentha balsamea Wild is a hybrid mint, a cross between Watermint and Spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world. It is occasionally found in the wild with its parent species.

Peppermint generally grows best in moist, shaded locations, and expands by underground rhizomes. The rhizomes are wide-spreading, fleshy, and bear fibrous roots. The leaves can be 4–9 cm long and 1.5–4 cm broad. They are dark green with reddish veins, and they have an acute apex and coarsely toothed margins. The leaves and stems are usually slightly fuzzy. The flowers are purple, 6–8 mm long, with a four-lobed corolla about 5 mm in diameter; they are produced in whorls around the stem, forming thick, blunt spikes. Flowering season lasts from mid- to late summer.

Young shoots are taken from old stocks and dibbled into the ground about 1.5 feet apart. They grow quickly and cover the ground with runners if it is permanently moist. For the home gardener, it is often grown in containers to restrict rapid spreading. It grows best with a good supply of water, without being water-logged, and planted in areas with part-sun to shade.

The leaves and flowering tops are used; they are collected as soon as the flowers begin to open and can be dried. The wild form of the plant is less suitable for this purpose, with cultivated plants having been selected for more and better oil content. They may be allowed to lie and wilt a little before distillation, or they may be taken directly to the still.

Fresh or dried peppermint leaves are often used alone in peppermint tea or with other herbs in herbal teas (tisanes, infusions). Peppermint is used for flavoring ice cream, candy, fruit preserves, alcoholic beverages, chewing gum, toothpaste, and some shampoos, soaps and skin care products.”

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” ~Frank Lloyd Write

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Have a wonderful day.

Coreen

Silene coronaria, the Rose Campion, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native to Northern Africa, the Middle East, Southern Europe, and many parts of the United States. Other common names include dusty miller, mullein-pink, and bloody William. In the United Kingdom, it is still widely referenced under its synonym Lychnis coronaria.

It grows naturally on rocky, scrubby hillsides. The plants do well in rock gardens, xeriscaping, wildflower meadows, and cottage gardens. The genus name ‘Lychnis’ (Greek for lamp); comes from the fact that the felt-like leaves; were used as lamp wicks in the olden days.

It is a perennial growing to 80 cm (31 in) tall by 45 cm (18 in) wide, with grey felted leaves and single, bright magenta flowers. The soft, pale, gray-green foliage makes the perfect backdrop for the brightly colored flowers, with each blossom lasting only a day. The foliage adds texture to the garden when the flowers are not in bloom. Flowers are sparse the first year but numerous in the second year. In the third year, the numbers of blossoms begin to decline, but they are eager seeders that regenerate themselves every year.

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” ~Frank Lloyd Write

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Black-headed Heron, Ardea melanocephala

A large, grayish heron of drier habitats; note distinctly dark cap and nape contrasting with white throat. In-flight, the underwing is strongly contrasting black-and-white. The juvenile is duskier and duller. Juveniles resemble juvenile Gray Herons, juvenile Black-headed Herons have slate-gray rather than yellow legs. Gray Heron also has uniformly gray (not black-and-white) underwings.

It often feeds in shallow water, spearing fish or frogs with its long, sharp bill. It will also hunt well away from water, taking large insects, small mammals, and birds. It will wait motionless for its prey, or slowly stalk its victim.

The black-headed heron is largely sedentary, meaning that they will only migrate in response to a depletion of food. They are happy to nest in colonies of mixed bird species, often consisting of as many as 200 other birds. Generally, they hunt alone, but are not opposed to the idea of hunting while in a loosely-congregated feeding flock. A heron may travel up to 30 kilometers a day between its preferred feeding ground and its roost. This is a monogamous bird, sticking to one partner for life.

Herons usually breed in the wet season in colonies in trees, reedbeds, or cliffs using sticks, leaves and straw .

The male will use a loud yelp to attract a mate. Once the breeding pair has mated, she will build the nest from the materials that he gathers and then she will lay between 2 and 4 eggs in it. Both the male and the female are responsible for incubating the eggs until they hatch. Little is known about these chicks until they fledge, which happens at around 52 days of age, a week after which they become completely independent of the care of their parents.

Up to 35 breeding pairs can be found in one large tree, making this a very social, gregarious time for the adult birds.

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” ~Frank Lloyd Write

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Cleretum bellidiforme, Livingstone Daisy, Bokbaaivygie

It is a low-growing succulent annual growing to 25 cm (10 in), and cultivated for its iridescent, many-petalled, daisy-like blooms in shades of white, yellow, orange, cream, pink and crimson. In temperate areas it is popularly grown as a half-hardy annual, and lends itself to mass plantings or as edging plants in summer bedding schemes in parks and gardens.

It is adapted to disturbed sand, such as found on riverbanks or desert dunes; the small flat seeds easily slip deeper in loose sand out of the summer sun. It is also found on clay slopes, limestone ridges and granite outcrops. It is very short-lived, the seeds germinating with the first autumn rains, and growing and flowering from late winter to spring (July to October).

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” ~Frank Lloyd Write

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Blacksmith Lapwing, Vanellus armatus

It is not difficult to recognize a Blacksmith Lapwing. Their plumage is boldly marked in black, white, and grey, and they are unlikely to be mistaken for other species. They have grey and black wings, while the rest of the body and the head are boldly patterned in white and black – also the underparts. They also have red eyes. Females are bigger than males, but both sexes generally look alike.

They typically live where their needs are best met, or environmental conditions are most suitable for them to live. If nothing tempts them to stay, they will merely pass through on their way elsewhere. Blacksmith Lapwings prefer areas of short open grassland with plenty of water. Such as mudflats around dams, open gardens, parks, sports fields, sewage pans, rivers, lakes, and estuaries.

They look for food on foot when they run around, scanning the area for small aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates to eat. This includes insects, worms, dragonfly nymphs, larvae, beetles, ants, mollusks, crustaceans, and occasionally some plant material.  

During the breeding season, the species often react aggressively to other lapwings that may enter its wetland habitat. Nests are shallow depressions on bare ground or short grass, close to water, and tend to be spaced at least 400 m apart. The blacksmith lapwing breeds in spring, but its choice of nesting site and timing may be opportunistic. The young separate gradually from their parents and do not return to natal areas afterward.

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” ~Frank Lloyd Write

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis

The Cattle Egret is a stocky heron with an 88–96 cm wingspan; it is 46–56 cm long and weighs 270–512 g. It has a relatively short, thick neck, a sturdy bill, and a hunched posture. The nonbreeding adult has mainly white plumage, a yellow bill, and greyish-yellow legs. During the breeding season, adults of the nominate western subspecies develop orange-buff plumes on the back, breast, and crown, bill, legs, and irises become bright red for a brief period before pairing. The sexes are similar, but the male is marginally larger and has slightly longer breeding plumes than the female; juvenile birds lack colored plumes and have a black bill. 

The adult cattle egret has few predators, but birds or mammals may raid its nests, and chicks may be lost to starvation, calcium deficiency, or disturbance from other large birds. This species maintains a special relationship with cattle, which extends to other large grazing mammals; wider human farming is believed to be a major cause of their suddenly expanded range. The cattle egret removes ticks and flies from cattle and consumes them. This benefits both species, but it has been implicated in the spread of tick-borne animal diseases. Their feeding habitats include seasonally inundated grasslands, pastures, farmlands, wetlands, and rice paddies. They often accompany cattle or other large mammals, catching insects and small vertebrate prey disturbed by these animals. Some populations are migratory and others show post-breeding dispersal.

It is a white bird adorned with buff plumes in the breeding season. It nests in colonies, usually near bodies of water and often with other wading birds. The nest is a platform of sticks in trees or shrubs. Cattle egrets exploit drier and open habitats more than other heron species.

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” ~Frank Lloyd Write

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Helmeted Guineafowl, Tarentaal, Numida meleagris

The Helmeted Guineafowl is a large bird 53 to 58 centimeters with a round body and a small head weighing about 1.3 kilograms. Their plumage is gray-black spangled with white. It has no feathers on its head. They are decorated with a dull yellow or reddish bony knob, bare skin with red, blue, or black hues. The wings are short and rounded, and the tail is short. Various sub-species are proposed, differences in appearance being mostly a variation in shape, size, and color of the casque and facial wattles.

This is a gregarious species, forming flocks of about 25 birds outside the breeding season that also roost communally. Guineafowl is particularly well-suited to consuming massive quantities of ticks, which might otherwise spread Lyme disease. They are terrestrial and prone to run rather than fly when alarmed. Like most gallinaceous birds, they have a short-lived explosive flight and rely on gliding to cover extended distances. Helmeted Guineafowl can walk 10 km and more in a day.

Their diet consists of a variety of animal and plant food. During the non-breeding season, they consume corns, tubers, seeds, agricultural weeds, and various crop spillage. During the breeding season, more than 80% of their diet consists of beetles. Guineafowl is equipped with strong claws and scratches in loose soil for food, like domestic chickens, although they seldom uproot growing plants in so doing. They may live for up to 12 years in the wild.

Males often show aggression towards each other and will partake in aggressive fighting. They will attempt to make themselves look more fearsome by raising their wings upwards from their sides and bristling their feathers across the length of the body. They may also rush towards their opponent with a gaping beak.

The nest is well-hidden in long grass or under a bush. They lay 6 to 19 light yellowing-brown eggs. Only the female incubates for 26 to 28 days. It has been noted that domesticated Guineafowl hens are not the best mothers and will often abandon their nests. They are seasonal breeders.

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” ~Frank Lloyd Write

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Cullumia squarrosa, Snake Thistle, Steekhaarbos

Spiny shrubs, often sprawling, sometimes cobwebby. Leaves alternate, overlapping, small, with spiny or bristly margins and often spine-tipped. Flowerheads solitary and sessile, radiate, with 4 rows of stiff, hairless, often recurved involucre bracts with spiny margins, joined at the base. Ray florets sterile, 4-toothed, yellow. Disc florets fertile, deeply 5-lobbed; fruits oblong or ellipsoid, smooth, without a pappus. Coastal Bush in the extreme southwestern Cape.

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” ~Frank Lloyd Write

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Lampranthus aureus, Golden Vygie

Lampranthus aureus is a neatly rounded, erect, small shrub that grows up to about 400 x 500 mm.

The leaves are paired, free or slightly fused at the base, dark green, and grow to 50 mm. The most attractive aspect of the plant is its unbelievably bright orange flowers. The shiny orange flowers in clusters on short stalks are 60 mm in diameter and appear from August. Yellow forms also occur. After flowering, a woody fruit capsule that has five locules follow.

Lampranthus aureus is best suited for winter rainfall areas and hot summers. The plants do not thrive where they are subject to prolonged periods of frost. They can withstand extreme dry conditions and do not need much care.

They are pollinated by insects when flowers are fully open.

The swollen leaves ensure the survival of it during long, hot, and dry spells. Brightly colored flowers invite pollinators and ensure seed production. Another adaptation for survival is an abundance of seeds produced. The more seeds there are, the better the chances of germination and survival.

According to the current Red List, Lampranthus aureus is Vulnerable. 

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” ~Frank Lloyd Write

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Hedera, Ivy

Hedera, commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central, and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa, and across central-southern Asia east to Japan and Taiwan.

On the ground, they remain creeping, not exceeding 5–20 cm in height. It can climb up to at least 30 m above the ground on suitable surfaces like trees, natural rock outcrops, or man-made structures. 

Ivies have two leaf types, with palmately lobed juvenile leaves on creeping and climbing stems, unlobed cordate adult leaves on fertile flowering stems exposed to full sun. 

The juvenile and adult shoots also differ. Juvenile leaves are slender, flexible, and scrambling or climbing with small aerial roots to affix the shoot to the substrate (rock or tree bark). Adult leaves are thicker, self-supporting, and has no roots. 

The flowers are greenish-yellow with five small petals; they are produced in umbels in autumn to early winter and are very rich in nectar. The fruit is a greenish-black, dark purple, or (rarely) yellow berry 5–10 mm diameter with one to five seeds, ripening in late winter to mid-spring. The seeds are dispersed by birds that eat the berries.

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” ~Frank Lloyd Write

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Kelp Gull, Larus dominicanus

The kelp gull superficially resembles two gulls from further north in the Atlantic Ocean, the lesser black-backed gull, and the great black-backed gull, and is intermediate in size between these two species.

The adult kelp gull has black upperparts and wings. The head, underparts, tail, and the small “mirrors” at the wing tips are white. The bill is yellow with a red spot, and the legs are greenish-yellow (brighter and yellower when breeding, duller and greener when not breeding). Juveniles have dull legs, a black bill, a dark band in the tail, and an overall grey-brown plumage densely edged whitish, but they rapidly get a pale base to the bill and largely white head and underparts. They take three or four years to reach maturity

In South Africa, the kelp gull breeds in spring and early summer at Wolfgat Nature Reserve (Swartklip) and Rondevlei. They usually breed on off-shore islands and, nests are sometimes found on unfrequented cliffs. The nest is a scrape in the soil and lined with grass, feathers, or twigs. Two to three eggs varying in color from light green to turquoise or ochre with dark markings are laid.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Hartlaub’s gull Chroicocephalus hartlaubii

It is a small gull which is a non-migratory breeding resident endemic to the Atlantic Ocean coastline of South Africa and Namibia. It is also known as King gull. It is predominantly coastal or estuarine and is rarely seen at sea far from land.

Hartlaub’s gull is 36–38 cm in length. It is a mainly white gull with a grey back and upper wings, black wingtips with conspicuous white mirrors, and a dark bill and legs. It has a very faint lavender grey head when breeding but otherwise has a white head. Sexes are similar. 

It breeds in large colonies, and the main traditional breeding colony for the Cape Town area is on Robben Island. The adults fly to the mainland to find food for their chicks, a round trip of about 24 km. The Hartlaub’s gull takes two years to reach maturity. Juvenile birds have a brown band across the wings. They differ from same-age grey-headed gulls in that they lack a black terminal tail band, less dark areas in the wings, darker legs, and a white head.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Burchell’s Zebra, Equus quagga burchellii

Burchell’s Zebra,is a southern subspecies of the plains zebra. It is named after the British explorer and naturalist William John Burchell. Common names include the Bontequagga, Damaraland zebra, and Zululand zebra . Burchell’s zebra is the only subspecies of zebra which may be legally farmed for human consumption.

Like most plains zebras, Burchells live in small family groups. These can be either harem or bachelor groups, with harem groups consisting of one stallion and one to six mares and their most recent foals, and bachelor groups containing two to eight unattached stallions. The males in bachelor herds are often the younger or older stallions of the population, as they are most likely not experienced enough or strong enough to defend breeding rights to a group of females from challengers. These small groups often congregate together in larger herds around water and food sources, but still, maintain their identity as family units while in the population gatherings.

Formerly, the Burchell’s zebra range was centered north of the Vaal/Orange river system, extending northwest via southern Botswana to Etosha and the Kaokoveld, and southeast to Swaziland and KwaZulu-Natal. Now extinct in the middle portion, it survives at the northwestern and southeastern ends of the distribution.

Burchell’s zebra migrates the longest distance of any terrestrial animal in Africa, traveling 160 miles one way.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Oxalis purpurea, Grand Duchess Sorrel

Got the following information in my Field Guide to Wild Flowers of South Africa by John Manning.

‘Stemless perennial with the leaves divided into 3 broadly heart-shaped leaflets, finely fringed on the margins and purple beneath, and lare purple, pink, yellow or white flowers with a yellow tube, 25-40mm in diameter. Widespread and common on damp flats and slopes from Namaqualand to the Eastern Cape. Flower time from May to September.

I took the following photos in the West Coast National Park.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Brants’s Whistling Rat, Parotomys brantsii

I got the following information in my Stuarts’ Field Guide to Mammals of Southern Africa. By Chris & Mathilde Stuart. The photos was taken in the Goegap Nature Reserve just outside of Springbok.

Brants’s Whistling Rats are stockily built, with tails shorter than the head-and-body length. Body colour is very variable and ranges from pale reddish-yellow with white underparts to a brownish or greyish yellow with grey underparts. The tail may be similar in colour to the upperparts or dark above and pale below.

Brants’s Whistling Rats can be observed in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and Goegap Nature Reserve, South Africa. They occur mainly in areas receiving less than 300mm of rain per annum.

Brants’s Whistling Rats commonly live in colonies, but they do not share burrows; may live in Solitary. Large Brant’s colonies stand out on the landscape because they are generally stripped of most vegetation. When alarmed they stand on their hind legs, in close proximity to the burrow.

They occasionally feed at the food site, but more commonly they bite off pieces of vegetation and carry them back to eat at the burrow entrance. When feeding, they stand on the hind legs, using the front feet to hold and manipulate the food.

They are vegetarian, eating the leaves of succulents and other green plant food, as well as seeds and flowers.

Brants’s Whistling Rats gives birth to 1-4 young, mainly during late summer and gestation last up to 38 days. Their lifespan in the wild is around 2 years.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Dimorphotheca pluvialis, White Rain Daisy, Reënblommetjie

Dimorphotheca pluvialis is a glandular-haired annual herb and grows up to 30cm. It has lance-shaped, lobed to toothed leaves, and radiate flowerheads, 40-50mm in diameter. The rays are white and purple at the base and darker on the reverse side. The disc is dark purple.

Dimorphotheca pluvialis is an annual endemic to sandy and clay flats and slopes from Southern Namibia, Namaqualand and the Southern Cape.

During spring huge fields are covered with this bright white daisy, forming a dazzling mass. In their natural habitat the flowers are pollinated by small horseflies that get covered with pollen as they fly from one daisy to the next in search of tiny amounts of nectar.

These annuals are adapted to germinate, grow, flower and set seed during the rainy winter and to survive the long dry summer as seed. The seeds are interesting in that two different forms are produced. 

Flower season is between August and October. They are normally the first flowers to showcase their beauty after rain.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen

Southern Masked-Weaver Ploceus velatus.

I got the following information in my Sasol Birds of Southern-Africa Book.

The bill is short, strong and conical. It is black in breeding males and pale pinkish-brown in non-breeding birds. The eye of the breeding male is red. The legs and feet are pinkish brown.

The male Southern Masked Weaver in breeding plumage has a black facemask, which extends onto the throat and covers just the forehead and the sides of the face. The underparts and rest of the head are bright yellow, and the back is plain yellowish-green.

The female has a brown or red-brown eye (may be red in some breeding birds) and is dull greenish-yellow, streaked darker on the upper back. The throat is yellowish, fading to dirty white on the belly.

They are common in gardens, parks and around farmsteads. It is usually seen singly or in small groups. It may also form larger flocks, and is often seen in mixed bird parties, and flocking together with other seedeaters.

They eat insects, seeds, parts of flowers; nectar.

It nests mainly from September to January. Males are polygynous (have more than one partner) and usually nest alone, building a succession of nests (about 25 nests each season), although several males may nest alongside in one colony. Nests are usually situated in trees, and often around homesteads, or over water. The nests are typical weaver nests – made of tightly woven strips of reed, palm or grass. The nests have a neat finish, and once selected by the female she will add a lining of soft grass and feathers

This poor guy has been building his nest since August 2020. Every time he is finished, and it is time for the female comes to inspect she, ripped the nest into pieces. Mother nature is also against this poor guy. After a windy day, the nest lies in shreds all over the grass. But he does not give up.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen