Clematis villosa subsp. stanleyi

A broad but short Clematis villosa subsp. stanleyi shrublet is fruiting ostentatiously here in its rocky perch on a Witwatersrand slope. The company it keeps includes a stamvrug (Englerophytum magalismontanum) on the right and a taller, leather-leaved fluffbush or pluisiesbos (Lopholaena coriifolia) on the left.

Rocky slopes tend to add diversity in the scattered shrubs of grassy hillsides. Highveld flats without rocks display grasses, while concealing small bulbs and succulents, the lower growing species annually burnt right down in winter fires of the dry grass. Among the rocks some bigger, perennial species may thwart the flames, growing taller and lasting longer.