Spiderhead

Our hike this morning took us from Simonstown up onto the mountain to Swartkops Peak and along the spine of Table Mountain and down to Smitswinkel Bay - a most spectacular five and a half hours. On the way we passed the famous Swartkops Spiderhead population - the only one left of these beautiful spiderheads - Serruria hirsuta. They are listed as Critically Endangered on the internationally endorsed IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria in the Red List of South African plants. The genus Serruria belongs to the protea family and was named in honour of J. Serrurier who was Professor of Botany at the University of Utrecht in the early eighteenth century. The most famous one is the Blushing Bride, Serruria florida from Franschhoek.