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Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve
Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve, Free State, South Africa is an 18,000 Ha reserve situated to the south west of Harrismith. The reserve is close to the Drakensberg Mountain nature reserve. The reserve offers campsites and hiking trails and a large variety of fauna and flora. Fauna and flora Antelope *Oribi *Mountain reedbuck *Grey rhebuck Birdlife African fish eagle just caught fish.jpg, African fish eagle Bartgeier Gypaetus barbatus front Richard Bartz.jpg, Bearded vulture Polemaetus bellicosus -Masai Mara-8.jpg, Martial eagle Gyps coprotheres1.jpg, Cape vulture Witkruisarend.jpg, Verreaux's eagle Black_eagle.jpg, Black eagle Trees * Yellowwood * Wild peach *Koko tree *Silky bark Grasses and bushes *Wild myrtle *Redwood rooihout (not to be confused with the redwood tree) *Ouhout *Bush guarri * Highveld protea * Silver sugarbush *Tree fern Gallery (Click to enlarge) Image:Sterkfonteindamcampsite.JPG, A campsite with chalets at the water's edge of the Sterkfontein Dam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grey Rhebuck
The grey rhebok or gray rhebuck (''Pelea capreolus''), locally known as the ''reebok'' in Afrikaans, is a species of antelope native to South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini (Swaziland). The specific name ''capreolus'' is Latin for 'little goat'. Description left, A female at the San Diego Zoo The grey rhebok is a medium-sized antelope weighing with a long neck and narrow ears. The coat is short and dense and coloured in various shades of grey. Only the males carry horns, which are straight, sharp, ringed at the base, and around long. Distribution and habitat Generally confined to the higher areas of Southern Africa, they typically inhabit grassy, montane habitats - for example, sourveld - usually 1000 m above sea level, and carry a woolly grey coat to insulate them from the cold. They are not strictly limited to this habitat as they can be found in the coastal belt of the Cape, almost at sea level. Reproduction and behaviour The grey rhebok is territorial and maintains it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koko Tree
Koko or KOKO may refer to: Animals *Koko (gorilla) (1971–2018), a gorilla trained to communicate in American Sign Language *Koko (dog) (2005–2012), the Australian kelpie in the 2011 film ''Red Dog'' *Koko (horse), an Irish racehorse that won the 1926 Cheltenham Gold Cup *Ko'ko' or Guam rail, a flightless bird Plants *Central African name for ''Gnetum africanum'', an edible vegetable Places *Koko, Benin, a town and arrondissement in Benin *Koko, Bouaké, a neighbourhood of Bouaké, Ivory Coast *Koko, Savanes, a village in Ivory Coast *Koko, Delta, a town in Delta State, Nigeria *Koko, a town in Koko/Besse Local Government Area in Kebbi State, Nigeria *Koko Head, the headland that defines the eastern side of Maunalua Bay along the southeastern side of the Island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi *Koko River, Rusizi District, a river in southwestern Rwanda that is a tributary of the Ruhwa River * Koko River, Rutsiro District, a river in the Rutsiro District of western Rwanda that flows in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature Reserves In South Africa
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for purposes of conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research. They may be designated by government institutions in some countries, or by private landowners, such as charities and research institutions. Nature reserves fall into different IUCN categories depending on the level of protection afforded by local laws. Normally it is more strictly protected than a nature park. Various jurisdictions may use other terminology, such as ecological protection area or private protected area in legislation and in official titles of the reserves. History Cultural practices that roughly equate to the establishment and maintenance of reserved areas for animals date back to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation Area
Maloti-Drakensberg Park was established on 11 June 2001 by linking the Sehlabathebe National Park in the Kingdom of Lesotho and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The highest peak is Thaba Ntlenyana rising to 3.482 m. The merged park includes Golden Gate Highlands National Park, QwaQwa National Park and Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve, (Free State); uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park and Royal Natal National Park, (KwaZulu-Natal) and Sehlabathebe National Park, (Lesotho). The park is situated in the Drakensberg Mountains which form the highest areas in the sub-region, and supports unique montane and sub-alpine ecosystems. These ecosystems hold a globally significant plant and animal biodiversity, with unique habitats and high levels of endemism. The park is also home to the greatest gallery of rock art in the world with hundreds of sites and many thousands of images painted by the Bushmen (San) people. The transfrontier conservation area was conceived as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve Panorama
Sterkfontein (Afrikaans for ''Strong Spring'') is a set of limestone caves of special interest to paleo-anthropologists located in Gauteng province, about northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa in the Muldersdrift area close to the town of Krugersdorp. The archaeological sites of Swartkrans and Kromdraai are in the same area. Sterkfontein is a South African National Heritage Site and was also declared a World Heritage Site in 2000. The area in which it is situated is known as the Cradle of Humankind. The Sterkfontein Caves are also home to numerous wild African species including ''Belonogaster petiolata'', a wasp species of which there is a large nesting presence. Numerous early hominin remains have been found at the site over the last few decades. These have been attributed to ''Australopithecus'', early ''Homo'' and ''Paranthropus''. History of investigations Modern excavation of the caves began in the late 1890s by limestone miners who noticed the fossils and brought t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tree Fern
The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ferns), Dicksoniaceae, Metaxyaceae, and Cibotiaceae. It is estimated that Cyatheales originated in the early Jurassic, and is the third group of ferns known to have given rise to tree-like forms. The others are the extinct '' Tempskya'' of uncertain position, and Osmundales where the extinct Guaireaceae and some members of Osmundaceae also grew into trees. In addition there were the Psaroniaceae and Tietea in the Marattiales, which is the sister group to most living ferns including Cyatheales. Other ferns which are also tree ferns, are ''Leptopteris'' and ''Todea'' in the family Osmundaceae, which can achieve short trunks under a metre tall. Fern species with short trunks in the genera ''Blechnum'', '' Cystodium'' and ''Sadleria'' from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protea
''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). Etymology The genus ''Protea'' was named in 1735 by Carl Linnaeus, possibly after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form at will, possibly because they have such a wide variety of forms. Linnaeus's genus was formed by merging a number of genera previously published by Herman Boerhaave, although precisely which of Boerhaave's genera were included in Linnaeus's ''Protea'' varied with each of Linnaeus's publications. Taxonomy The family Proteaceae to which ''Protea'' species belong is an ancient one among angiosperms. Evidence from pollen fossils suggests Proteaceae ancestors grew in Gondwana, in the Upper Cretaceous, 75–80 million years ago. The Proteaceae are divided into two subfamilies: the Proteoideae, best represented in southern Africa, and the Grevilleoideae, concentrated in Australia and South America and the other smaller segments of Gondwana that ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bush Guarri
Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: ***George H. W. Bush (1924–2018), former president of the United States ***George W. Bush (born 1946), former president of the United States and son of George H. W. Bush ***Jeb Bush (born 1953), former governor of Florida and candidate for US president **Vannevar Bush (1890–1974), American engineer, inventor and science administrator **Kate Bush (born 1958), British singer, songwriter, pianist, dancer, and record producer Places United States * Bush, Illinois * Bush, Louisiana * Bush, Washington * Bush, former name of the Ralph Waldo Emerson House in Concord, Massachusetts * The Bush (Alaska) *"The Bush," a small neighborhood within Chicago's community area of South Chicago Elsewhere * Bush, Cornwall, a hamlet in England * Bush Island (Nu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ouhout
''Leucosidea sericea'', commonly known as oldwood, is an evergreen tree or large shrub that grows in the highland regions of southern Africa. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus ''Leucosidea''. The name oldwood may reflect the fact that the wood burns slowly, as if old and rotting; the gnarled, twisted trunks reinforce this impression.K.C. Palgrave's (1977), Trees of South Africa Taxonomy ''Leucosidea sericea'' is a member of the Rosaceae, also known as the rose family. Although this family is very large and economically important worldwide, it is poorly represented in Africa generally and in southern Africa in particular. The genus name ''Leucosidea'' is a form of the Greek word ''λευκός'' (''leukos''), meaning "shining white", although in botany the root is more often used less specifically to indicate something of a generally white or gray appearance. The second or specific name ''sericea'' means "silky" and comes from ''σηρικός'' (), which means both "s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Redwood
Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ... Cupressaceae. It includes the List of superlative trees#Largest, largest and tallest trees in the world. Description The three redwood subfamily genus, genera are ''Sequoia (genus), Sequoia'' from coastal California and Oregon, ''Sequoiadendron'' from California's Sierra Nevada, and ''Metasequoia'' in China. The redwood species contains the largest and tallest trees in the world. These trees can live for thousands of years. Threats include logging, fire suppression, climate change, illegal marijuana cultivation, and burl poaching. Only two of the genera, ''Sequoia'' and ''Sequoiadendron'', are known for massive trees. Trees of ''Met ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trichocladus
''Trichocladus'' is a genus of plant in family Hamamelidaceae, consisting of shrubs or small trees. The distinguishing features of the genus ''Trichocladus'' are as follows: *Branches and leaves are often covered in dense, velvet-like, stellate hairs. *Leaves are simple, alternate or opposite, and paler beneath, with inconspicuous stipules. *Flowers are borne in dense, spherical heads, with floral parts in 4s or 5s. Sepals are fused together, forming a tube. Petals are long and narrow. ''Trichocladus'' flowers closely resemble those of the genus ''Hamamelis'' and are hermaphroditic or sexually separate, with male and female parts being borne on different flowers, either on the same plant of different plants (either monoecious or dioecious). *Fruits consist of a two-valved capsule which appears to be 4-valved at its apex.Coates-Palgrave, M. 2002. Keith Coates-Palgrave "Trees of Southern Africa", edn 3, imp. 4. Random House Struik (Pty), Ltd, Cape Town. . pp 243, 245 Species Specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All species are woody, contain essential oils, and have flower parts in multiples of four or five. The leaves are evergreen, alternate to mostly opposite, simple, and usually entire (i.e., without a toothed margin). The flowers have a base number of five petals, though in several genera, the petals are minute or absent. The stamens are usually very conspicuous, brightly coloured, and numerous. Evolutionary history Scientists hypothesize that the family Myrtaceae arose between 60 and 56 million years ago (Mya) during the Paleocene era. Pollen fossils have been sourced to the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. The breakup of Gondwana during the Cretaceous period (145 to 66 Mya) geographically isolated disjunct taxa and allowed for rapid speciation; i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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