Blooming in the veld right now is Harveya purpurea, aka the ink plant (because the flowers turn an inky black colour if they are bruised). More sceptical members of the public might say that there is another reason for this to be the patron plant of journalists: it’s a parasite.

(Actually the colour varies a little from the standard Harveya purpurea as far as I can see – these flowers are far more white with only edgings of purple, and there’s less yellow than in the usual illustrations which list Harveya purpurea as occurring in the south and western parts of the Western Cape. Perhaps that simply means the local south east Free State version speaks a slightly different dialect.)