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The multi-hued appearance of these dunes – just a few kilometres inland from the Atlantic Ocean – shows that their composition is diverse, not overwhelmingly silica-dominant.
Silica does not rust; iron does.
Rust is clearly evident in some of the pictured sands, albeit less spectacularly so than in much of Australia’s “Red Centre”…and in the Namib too, further inland.
Most of the sands in the Namib Desert’s dunes are not of “local” origin.
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The Namib’s plants are as astonishing as its animals.
We were just a few kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean, near Swakopmund, when I took this post’s photos, one November mid-afternoon.
Swakopmund’s “round figure” rainfall average for the month of November: 1 mm.
November is “infinitely” wetter than October!
Average October rainfall in Swakopmund: 0 mm.
Average total for the calendar year’s entire final quarter: 2 mm.
Q: how on earth can a very shallow-rooted, Namib-endemic shrub – one that often grows on the upper part of a dune – manage to survive? (and be a useful “emergency water source” for desert animals – parched humans included)
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As we walked from the jetty to the school in Aduwey village, it was easy to see that most inhabitants were not materially wealthy.
It was also readily apparent that they had self-respect, they enjoyed each other’s company, meticulously maintained their houses and paths, and fully appreciated the natural beauty of their particular part of the world.
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You are looking at a “succulent” which is highly prized by gardeners, worldwide.
Very probably, this wild, uncultivated one is an example of Cotyledon orbiculata, commonly known as “pig’s ear”.
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Some Namib-dwellers – plants and animals – look extremely tough, “hard-shelled”, “brutal”.
Others, however, have a surprisingly “delicate” appearance.
I have no idea of even the common name of the pictured example.
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This post and the next two in this series are devoted to striking examples of plants that have evolved/adapted to survive in the least-rainy part of the Namib Desert.
The featured image’s stark centre of attention is (I am almost sure) a particularly hardy member of the geranium family.
It is probably one of the “Sarcocaulons” – members of what was formerly the generally-recognised genus Sarcocaulon.
Since 1996 these plants are usually numbered as members of the genus Monsonia.
One species – which may or may not be the one pictured above – contains a highly flammable resin which persists even when the plant is “dead”…or “dead”-ish.
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If it had presented itself to us a few days earlier, the “unanswerable question” would have qualified for the “quirky moments” series.
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(see immediately-preceding post for human context)
Pictured is one of an enormous number of water lilies (not lotus) then blooming, pink, on the edges of Vembanad Lake and its backwaters.
”Pests” to rice-growers in and around Kumarakon, they have in recent years become tourism “gold”.
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…and – certain prejudices and misinformation notwithstanding – neither is a noxious pest in southwestern Western Australia.
The South African is a flowering plant.
The FIFO is a fly.
Flies deserve rather more credit for their beneficial activities than most human Australians realise.
Not every South African plant “runs riot” and/or becomes a “noxious weed” when/if it “succeeds” on Australian soil.
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16 October 2022 was – even by Perth standards – a particularly benign Spring day.
All photos in this post involved a long lens peeking over North Fremantle residents’ front fences, into gardens of highly diverse persuasions; the “unkempt” and the “manicured” proved equally alluring.
The two first images were taken from Stirling Highway’s western footpath; I suggest you zoom in/enlarge – the Hibiscus’s stamen is especially worth a closer view.
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