JUNE TALK REPORT

Andrea Benn

Saturday 18 June: Cameron and Rhoda McMaster: ‘Bulbous plants within a 12 km radius of Napier’. How botanically special are our small village environments and the people who live there caring for them. Such a couple are Cameron and Rhoda McMaster who moved to Napier in 2003.

Cameron was an agricultural college student, who as a child had loved walking in the veld with his Dad. Rhoda has an interest in and knowledge of plants in the winter rainfall areas. Together they became passionate about the bulbs near their home.

If Nieuwoudtville is a bulb capital, then Napier must be another. Napier is actually more species rich but the bulbs there are more spread out and difficult to find. Together with a group of equally enthusiastic people, Cameron and Rhoda’s aim is to preserve the unique eco flora and so promote tourism to the area. Some areas of commonage were being used for cattle and sheep grazing where several rare and endemic bulb species had been found. With municipal support and other funding, certain areas were fenced off for conservation purposes, enabling monitoring and recording of the species.

Four areas are now protected – Skurwekop, Mansanto, East Common, and Reservoir Road. In one small site, ten species of gladioli were found, with flowering periods between March and November. The commonage area is due for a burn but this is not easy to arrange in a fenced urban area. There are two veld types in the area – the Renosterveld which is arable land with only 4% uncultivated, and the Fynbos on the mountains above Napier.

In the list of bulb types that Cameron and Rhoda shared with us, we noticed several on the vulnerable or critically endangered list. An orchid never seen before appeared after a fire. As in our area, there are two species of agapanthus – africanus in rocky places on mountains, and walshii, a rare species with narrow bell-like hanging flowers to be seen after a fire. Two Cyrtanthus of interest are carneus and ventricosus. Both are called fire lily and are found on south-facing slopes. Carneus blooms just a few days after fire.

Agapanthus africanus	Cyrtanthus carneus

JA mystery bulb last seen many years ago appeared after a fire. ‘Experts’ thought it was Lachenalia montana, but with wider leaves. It was named L. sargeantia – a new and exciting find. An interesting Moraea lurida, a small geophyte, flowers profusely after a fire, with a wide colour range from black, purple and violet to red. It has a putrid smell attracting flies by smell as opposed to the usual attraction by colour.

The talk was greatly enhanced by the pictures shown, allowing us to appreciate the beauty of the large number of flowering bulbs. The list was long and extensive. We congratulate Cameron, Rhoda and their small team for the care and conservation they are dedicating to that special area.