This Crassula ovata variation from the Mbashe area (where the very rare and endemic Aloe Reynoldsii grows) illustrates the basic evolutionary principle that where there is a niche, a species will adapt and thrive.As a landscaper, I initially struggled with the concept of good drainage for water lovers - I mean, how do you expect to provide drainage in a swampy, wet environment? Observing plants in a natural environment quickly brought the answer - just look at plants rooted in gritty, compost loam on a seasonal waterfall. Indeed, there is good drainage - the water is constantly moving over the rocky substrate, and air is being pumped through the root system.
3 comments:
Thanks John. Keep reading.
Very little is known about our endemic flora in so-called tribal areas. So much so that most of the popular plant guides can even mislead one on the basis of their poor distribution maps. Virtually every weekend I find plants that are unrecorded in my area. So often rural people are blamed for habitat degradation. Yet, in my experience, some of the richest species diversity is found in these areas.
I agree with you on the species distribution diversity. Understand though that Pooley (who does a brilliant job; I don't think there's a better popular guide for this region) works off what's available, and the distribution records ultimately reflect herbarium records. Look at the Transkei - the gaps are absolutely massive. Now go and google earth the area between Tsitsa-Tina and Mzimvubu. It is enormous. Its basically thornbush / Euphorbia thicket. Its inaccessible. Its not sexy (not coastal). Its perceived a safety risk / hostile (Qumbu - stocktheft, murder, going back a century; Flagstaff - faction fights, the Mpondo uprising). So plant expeditions are rare. WSU is a pathetic university, in serious need of strengthening its academic and research capacity - its just a glorified dumping ground for lazy careerists / disinterested 'academics' -what do they publish? (Of course there are exceptions.) The grasslands are badly hit - everywhere in communal areas (cattle; fire; goats to a lesser extent in my area, or the coast; probably more in the the drier KZN or Transkei interior). But by-and-large plant diversity remains much richer than on farmland / developed land. Compare the (devastated virtually non-existent) KZN South Coast part of the Mpondoland centre of Endemism with the mining-bound Mzamba-Mtentu-Mkambathi area. The great treasure troves in the Communal Land areas are the riverine forests.
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