Grass aloe

Aloe veracunda. It is one of a group of slender-leaved aloes known as grass aloes. The aloes have traditionally been classified under the family Liliaceae, and for the purpose of this blog, I'll keep them there. I have seen them classified under several different families though - taxonomy seems to be in a state of flux at the moment.

Wild apricot

Ancylobotrys capensis, Also known as wild apricot. The fruits are pleasantly sweet-sour. If the baboons leave you any, that is. They are found mostly along the edges of rocky hills.

Wild wormwood

Artemisia afra, also known as wild wormwood or, in Afrikaans, wilde als, a common herb in Gauteng. Used by traditional healers to treat chest conditions and intestinal worms. The crushed leaves are fragrant and probably actually help to open up the sinuses. Not sure about the worms, mind you.

Protea

Protea caffra, one of the most common species of Protea in Gauteng province.

Sweet thorn

Acacia karroo, a.k.a. sweet thorn, found throughout much of southern Africa. According to the Wikipedia page on the species, it is also known as Vachellia karroo, and it has a whole collection of other Latin synonyms. It is somewhat unusual in that it seems to have more (and more confusing) scientific names than common names.

Still alive

Having sort of given up on visual art, it has been ages since I posted anything here. But I found myself regaining my old interest in natural history, and thought this blog might serve me as a sort of personal, online field guide to whatever I find in nature.

I still do the odd sketch, but now mostly to aid plant identification.

This is a ballpoint sketch illustrating some features of the Cape honeysuckle, Tecomaria capensis. Often used as garden hedge plant around here.

Some photos:

And two more...

Two more miniatures in post-impressionist style. Both are in oil on canvas board, 10 cm x 10 cm (4 x 4 inch).

This is not altogether whimsical; I took the reference photo of this strange friendship a year or two ago. The calf is not quite as blue in the original as it appears here - it can be rather difficult to get the colours on a digital photo exactly as they appear in the original:

Portrait of Itumeleng:

I have never actually tried to paint (as opposed to draw) a portrait, so the whole thing was done in a somewhat overcautious and tentative manner. Maybe it will go better next time.