Volume 5 • February 2009 CREW in 2008– a reflection REW, the Custodians of 2008 was a very successful starting a CREW group in Port C Rare and Endangered year for CREW. The programme Elizabeth (PE). PE is situated Wildflowers, is a programme is now well established in KZN on a hotspot of diversity that involves volunteers from with five CREW groups operat- with the , Thicket and the public in the monitoring ing in this priority province for Succulent Karoo Biomes inter- and conservation of South threatened plant conservation esting in this region. Over the Africa’s threatened . (see pages 3-6 for informa- millennia many highly localized CREW aims to capacitate a tion on CREW’s development plant have evolved in network of volunteers from in KZN). Another highlight was the ecotonal habitats where the a range of socio-economic backgrounds to monitor and conserve South Afri- ca’s threatened plant spe- cies. The programme links volunteers with their local conservation agencies and particularly with local land stewardship initiatives to en- sure the conservation of key sites for threatened plant species.

CREW staff and C-Team Volunteers on the hunt for rare and threatened species in the Piketberg district.

 biomes intersect. These plant species are now highly threat- This year we will ened by the urban expansion of be exploring a PE and by the ongoing develop- ment of the Coega Industrial new approach for Zone. Having a CREW group CREW. Due to closely monitoring populations of the lack of botan- the restricted endemic plants ical capacity es- around PE is extremely useful pecially amongst as we can now keep an eye on young black what is threatening them and South Africans intervene to conserve them we want to start wherever possible (see page 8 working more for details on the CREW in PE). closey with the Two other highly threatened universities to hotspots of plant diversity in encourage them the Fynbos, the Kogelberg area to engage more Honors students from the university of and the Vredenburg peninsula learning how to conduct Red List Assessments. also had new CREW initiatives actively with the started in 2008. CREW programme. Last year Phetole Manyana (TSP Red list officer) piloted The Pretoria team have been this initiative in the Limpopo province and we had very good working very hard on the Red response from the students. This year we would like to work Data List of plants for South closely with the major universities and technikons, Africa, the list is finally com- plete and the book is with SAN- the Durban University of Technology and University of Kwa- BI’s publication team and will Zulu-Natal (Westville and PMB campuses) and the University be published later this year. The of Limpopo to pilot getting students involved in CREW. process of updating this list has been taking place for the last 8 years. It has been a massive job to systematically assess all 20 456 plant species that oc- likely to be extinct (listed as not been collected for over 70 cur in . This is the Critically Endangered Possibly years but where the species first time that all plant species Extinct). We will be relying on was last collected in an area have been assessed. The up- CREW volunteers to try and where there are many threats. dated Red List will over double refind Critically Endangered We have no information on the the number species listed as Possibly Extinct species, as we current status of these species threatened by Hilton-Taylor in need thorough field surveys of and we would like CREW volun- 1996. South Africa now has the last remnants of habitat of teers to please focus on finding 2 577 plant species that are these species before they can Data Deficient species. Besides in danger of regional or global be officially listed as extinct. these two priority groups of extinction, which represent species all of the 4809 species 13% of the indigenous flora. We truly hope that many of A further 2 232 species are them are not extinct and that of conservation concern need listed under other categories they may still be surviving on monitoring. So we certainly have of conservation concern, which small fragments. Just last year our work cut out for us! Thus include the IUCN categories Ex- CREW volunteers found three far as you will see in the articles tinct, Extinct in the Wild, Near species that at the time were in these newsletters that you Threatened, Data Deficient and listed as Critically Endangered all as CREW volunteers are con- the South African categories Possibly Extinct (CR PE), the tributing significantly to moni- Critically Rare, Rare and Declin- Friends of the found toring our species of conserva- ing. Combining the number of Aspalathus lenticula near Paarl, tion concern. threatened species with those the Port Elizabeth group re- listed under other categories of Last year 402 species of con- conservation concern brings the found Aspalathus recurvispina proportion of the South African (see page 8) and the Caledon servation concern were moni- flora that is of conservation group found Agathosma orbicu- tored this represents 8% of the concern to 24%, or one in every laris. It is great to know that at species of conservation concern four species. least these three species are in the country. I think this is not extinct. Along with the 76 an amazing achievement for South Africa currently has CR PE species we also have 359 one year. So please keep up the 40 plant taxa that are either species in South Africa that are great work during 2009. extinct, or extinct in the wild, listed as Data Deficient, these  and a further 76 that are highly are typically species that have Domitilla Raimondo CREW CFR update Its 2009 already!

ts 2009 already! Where has Ithe time gone? I feel that it was only yesterday we started this phenomenal project and look how it has grown over five years. This year will indeed be an exciting one. There have been quite a few changes in the programme since the last newsletter was published. The biggest news is that Caitlin has decided to pursue a Masters The Crew team at the annual strategic planning. degree in Botany and will be working in collaboration with Bruce Anderson, Steve John- (Campanulaceae expert) the son and Kim Steiner on the CREW team had to keep a Drosera. We will miss look out for this species. her and we wish her the best This species was last seen for the future. in 1940 and rediscovering The past year has been filled it near Worcester was an with exciting discoveries and incredibly exciting find. wonderful new interactions. This • Erica piquetbergensis: Only year we tested a new strategy known from very few speci- for the C-team field trips. We mens in the herbarium and decided to focus our fieldtrips last seen in 1982 the CREW on two areas; we chose the not only successfully refound Piketberg area and the area this species but managed to between Worcester and Vil- find a number of additional liersdorp. This yielded much populations in the Piketberg. more effective results for the We must extend a special field season. We managed to thanks to Albert Mallol Cam- get a much better idea of where prubi, our Spanish volunteer for the special species are likely to the wonderful support this year. occur by getting a good feel for Albert was promoted to one of the different habitats. It also the Chief photographers on the Lachenalia moniliformis back from helped with maximizing the time CREW field trips. Our CREW the dead! we had in the field to find the office volunteers have been special species. Other benefits steaming ahead. Margaret has incredibly exciting to work in included getting to know the diligently been checking all the these new areas meeting new, landowners in the area as well existing records in the CREW passionate individuals and expe- as getting those landowners database for errors as well as riencing a host of new threat- excited and interested in the assisting us with capturing ened plants to monitor and Rare and Endangered species. new data into database. Ky has conserve. Some of the exciting finds this been organizing and mounting year include: specimens in our quick guides The Port Elizabeth trips have • Lachenalia moniliformis: and scanning all the documents been very successful and one Thought to be extinct, the from the ISEP database. We of the major highlights was the CREW volunteers managed thank them for all their hard re-discovery of Aspalathus recur- to re-discover the species. work. vispina. Thought to be extinct This stunning Lachenalia is we found a small population still only known from the Worces- This year we initiated two new hanging in there on an open ter area. groups, one in Port Elizabeth, space between residential area • Prismatocarpus lycoides: On and the other in the Kleinmond/ and a main road in Port Eliza- the request of Chris Cupido Hermanus area. It has been beth.  Our initial Kleinmond/ Hermanus and processing system. Last So, once again we look forward field trip was very fruitful. We year we redesigned the CREW to a fantastic year of working monitored Disa sabulosa, which database and worked on provid- with “Fynbos and Fynmense”. is listed as Critically Endangered ing the groups with a simpler Best of luck for the New Year and only flowers in the first year system of capturing field data and we look forward to seeing after fire. It was a perfect op- and sending it to the CREW of- you soon. portunity to see the species in fices. The electronic excel forms flower and record as many local- are working well and we want Ismail Ebrahim ities as we could. The next day to ensure that they are fully we met the Botsoc volunteers integrated and used by all the CREW CFR Programme Man- from Hermanus and we were groups. ager taken on a walk in the Fernkloof Nature Reserve. It was amazing to see how much knowledge the local volunteers have of the flora in Fernkloof. I’m sure we will be getting fantastic data from that CREW in KZN 2008 part of the world.

This year I was also involved in a project that was quite dif- ferent to what we usually do. The Mamre project is in its final phase and this past year our main focus of the project was to build on the existing tourism activities in Mamre. This has been an extremely challeng- ing but equally rewarding task. Needless to say, I had to ac- quire a whole new set of social communication skills to make it through last year. The end result has been good and the The Summer Rainfall Volunteer Workshop held at Mtunzini in July 2008. project will be completed by May 2009. REW is now firmly established in KZN with five active volun- Cteer groups based in Pondoland and in central KZN. During This year we did not have as the coming year we hope to set up a PMB based “hit team” simi- many Id courses as we would lar to the C-team in Cape Town and target some areas not cov- have liked but at least we did ered by existing CREW groups (most of our original PMB based have some really successful team have become incorporated in new volunteer groups such ones. Personally, the highlight as Nkambatini). We would also like to contact interested folk in for me was Wendy Hitchcock’s northern KZN (full of threatened and data deficient species!) to botany course. Wendy’s course initiate some CREW activities there. is fantastic at teaching ba- sic dissecting and microscope The KZN volunteer groups have reported on many of the outings skills. Participants found this and finds that we have had during the past year. It is evident that useful for identifying specimens. we have spent quite a bit of our time looking for threatened plants In November 2008 we were in Protected Areas. This has become necessary as a result of fortunate to have Dr Charles the large number of land claims on Nature Reserves in KZN (e.g. Stirton present at a Fabaceae Ndumu, Impendle, Vernon Crookes). Not all the reserves are well id course. The course focused documented in terms of their flora, so we need to find out exactly on giving us the basic charac- what is in them! teristics of the family and went into detail on two genera that A highlight for me was being invited (actually, I think I may have he is working on, namely Otholo- invited myself!) in February last year to accompany two expert bium and Psoralea. botanists, Neil Crouch (SANBI ethnobotanist) and Trevor Edwards (ex-curator of the Bews herbarium and back briefly from Oz) on a One of the other top priori- fantastic trip to and Swaziland where I met some of ties for the coming year is to the members of the Mpumalanga Plant Specialist Group (PSG),  consolidate our data capturing and spent a few days tracking down ferns for Neil, and finally to Border Cave in northern KZN where we visited Gwalaweni Forest. Getting to the cave was not for the faint-hearted, but awesome Plant (in the true sense of the word) – humans have been living there for over 200 000 years! Quite sobering to reflect that we have man- Monitoring aged to mess up our habitat in less than 0.0005% of that time. Day In April CREW helped to investigate what lies below the surface comes to KZN of coastal grasslands with some students from Wits University. We’ve long wondered how old some of are grassland species are and may get some light on this soon. Anisha Dayaram is doing her Masters degree on carbon dating of some of the species. In col- laboration with CREW, a site soon to be developed on the south coast was targeted and representatives of a few long lived species were painstakingly excavated (at much expense to fingernails etc!) by the students, ably helped by Tony and Maggie Abbott, Dorothy MacIntyre, Steph and Piet Breedts and others of the Thursday Group. What was revealed was really fascinating as we seldom get much below the surface when collecting these geophytes. Anisha has taken samples for carbon dating and we will get her results in Looking for dominant plants in due course. selected quadrats. The first CREW Summer Rainfall Volunteer Workshop was held at n 2008 plant monitoring day Twinstreams at Mtunzini on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast in late Iextended to KZN. The CREW July last year. 45 volunteers from KZN and Mpumalanga and CREW Pondoland group took learn- folk spent the weekend discussing threatened plants in the summer ers from Ithongasi primary rainfall region. Talks by Derrek Ruiters of the Biodiversity Steward- school on a trip to the Red ship Programme (EKZNW), Rob Scott-Shaw (plant ecologist at Dessert Nature reserve near EKZNW), John Burrows of the PSG (a great illustrated key to that Port Edward. At the crack of endless genus – Helichrysum), and Elsa Pooley who kept us all riv- dawn of 14 November, Isabel, eted with her talk on Drakensberg flora in spite of the slide projec- Suvarna and PMD expert, tor crashing! We also had reportbacks from Tilla and the groups as Caitlin, set out to Pondoland. well as a brainstorming session on the CREW operations manual. The team was greeted by In spite of the full schedule we spent a wonderful afternoon botan- Pondoland CREW volunteer, izing in the coastal grassland of the Amatikulu Nature Reserve. It Ruth Mathias, and Ithon- was fantastic getting so many of the summer rainfall plant experts gasi primary school’s biology and enthusiasts together. The next workshop will be in Pondoland in teacher. The learners were October and we hope to see you there. briefed as to: the importance of the Pondoland area and Our close relationship with the EKZNWildlife Biodiversity Steward- grasslands; the aim of plant ship Programme continues, and CREW continues to give input at monitoring day; the impor- site assessments. tance of scientific method as Another highlight for CREW KZN was getting Suvarna Parbhoo on well as the types of plants to board as the new CREW KZN coordinator. Many of the summer be monitored. rainfall CREW folk will remember her from the Mtunzini workshop for her friendliness and quiet but effective organization. The CREW After the briefing, learners set office is doubly blessed as she brings with her the administrative out to the site where they met skills very necessary when dealing with a large institute like SANBI Pondoland experts, Tony Abbott and Joan Smith. Equipped with from a ‘small outpost’. monitoring kits and assistance Lastly, my special thanks all of the from teachers and CREW rep- CREW volunteers. It has been resentatives, learners worked in groups to set up the 10 x fantastic working with such 10m plots within the already committed and enthusiast folk, marked 50 x 50m plots. They and I look forward to focusing monitored dominant species in on finding many more five randomly selected quad- ‘specials’ with you in rats, using random numbers 2009. provided in the booklet. The key species was Phylica natalen- sis; which is a very confined Isabel Johnson range species of the Pondoland CREW KZN Programme Centre with this population Manager being the only one with large  numbers of plants so far dis- covered; it is usually found in very low numbers usually <10. The four plants for recording were Cyanotis speciosa, Eugenia albanenis, Tristachya leucothrix and Pentanisia angustifolia. Fol- lowing this, they performed a ‘chicken parade’ that involved walking through the site in rows and systematically counting the threatened Phlyica natalensis (butterfly bush).

At the end of the fun-filled morning a question and answer session, as well as a brief recap of the whole exercise was car- ried out. Learners enjoyed a lunch sponsored by Ruth Math- ias.

Suvarna Parbhoo Plant Monitoring Day at Red Desert, Pondoland, learners doing the ‘chick- CREW KZN Coordinator en parade’ to count the special plants.

CREW Nkhampatini in KwaZulu-Natal

n enthusiastic group of eight people gathered at the Ainitial meeting of the new CREW group in October last year. We adopted a name and set a date for the first out- ing. Our basic team includes Doug Cook, a local nurseryman, Malcolm Stainbank, who has land that has been conserved by the family for many years, George Edelman and Bev Stu- art of the BEFA Conservancy, Rob Hart, the CREW photog- rapher, Mary Thrash from Botsoc and landowner, who helps co-ordinate the outings and Alison Young who does vouch- ers and identification with the use of the Bews Herbarium facility. Our area consists of (although not excusively to) the area between Gwahumbe Valley (Impatiens flanaganiae) to Cato Ridge (Cyrtanthus obliquus and Zaluzianskya pilosa) and Richmond (Moraea hiemalis). Rain prevented us meeting on our first outing which was rescheduled for early December. We have been fortunate with Cyrtanthus obliquus one of the spe- the weather ever since although I don’t think Rob agrees cial species that occurs in the area – conditions were rather gusty for photographs. We have had where the Nkhampatini group are a lucky start. Doug Cooke has been, with the help of Geoff operating. Nichols and Rob Scott-Shaw developing inventories for the Gwahumbe Valley area. So we have spent the initial few out- ings familiarising ourselves with the mistbelt grassland flora. Unfortunately we started rather late in the growing season. The terrestrial orchids were at their prime in early December and most of the legumes were over. Data Deficient Aloe parvi- flora are flowering now and are very common in grasslands that have been left undisturbed. We have added a substantial number of species to the plant list and are in the process of making up some quick guides for the Legumes and Composites.  Alison Young Pondoland CREW

Brachystelma molaventi (Vulnerable) growing on a rock sheet at Ngeli.

took a more sedate excursion. This was rewarded by a truly beautiful group of Crocosmia pottsii along the stream above Fairview Falls with a white-flow- ering Bowkeria verticillata, the falls a superb dolerite slide of water into the depths. Here we also saw the Brachystelma molaventi, so-named for its windmill-like appearance, a rare confined range species dis- Tilla, Ruth and Lize scaling the heights at Ngeli. covered on another excursion here where Braam van Wyk and ugh Nicholson’s group of reserve. The mountains were Rose Williams were present HThursday walkers continues richly greened with plenty of among others (pity about the to enjoy ourselves with CREW flowering plants on show, or- diary). Another rare plant was there to spur us on. A couple chids in particular were plenti- Hesperantha ingeliensis, one of of events come to mind. A ful. We stopped on the way into the many Drakensberg specials very exciting first in this neck the cabin to show Tilla and Lize described by the renowned duo, of the woods was for a group the Struthiola anomala. I wish I Olive Hilliard and Bill Burtt. of school children (26 Grade had been diligent in diary-keep- The following day, I think all were 6 children) from Itongasi Pri- ing over the years so then I happy to take a drive and so mary School undertook plant could give details of the party went along the terrible track to monitoring exercise on the Red when the first collection of the the south west end of the re- Desert, a small area of coastal unknown species was made by serve. We stopped at a fairyland grassland currently under Balkwill and Cadman; Braam of a forested stream where we establishment as a nature van Wyk was one of the group. saw Babaretta aurea in flower, reserve through Hibiscus Coast We returned to the vehicles lots of Calanthe sylvatica (not Municipality (See report on a different way and the first flowering) and a strange twining Plant Monitoring Day in Pon- excitement was the discovery member of the Asclepiadaceae doland on page 5). This event of a small colony of Dioscorea which Ashley Nicholas suggests was the culmination of the brownii, a strange, erect mem- may be an undescribed species. encouragement for a spirit of ber of the genus, Isabel says All were bemused by the aura of conservation which our Thurs- that the seedling leaves are peace and beauty of this shel- tered grove of mistbelt forest, day member Ruth Mathias has typical Dioscorea as compared so lush that few surfaces failed been busy building up at the to the mature leaves. D. brownii is only known from two localities to carry a suite of orchids, school; her projects include an on Ngeli mountain and a pos- ferns, mosses or lichens. indigenous garden and alien sible further site to the east in One final view was of the won- invader weed identification. the midlands. Elsa Pooley told derful green slopes of the me of another nearer to Hard- reserve contrasted with the A really good CREW trip to ing. Second it was great to see grasslands across the river Ngeli Nature Reserve took place further colonies of Struthiola. new-burnt the previous day to over the 7/9 January 2009. The second day saw Tilla, Lize try and get some more grazing Tilla, Lize and Isabel joined local and Ruth (the younger members from the exhausted vegetation. volunteers Dorothy McIntyre, of the group) head for the high Many thanks to CREW for ar- Ruth Mathias, Maggie and me ground to look for high altitude ranging the trip. at Forestside, a mountain cabin specials while Dorothy, Mag- on a private farm within the gie and I, later joined by Isabel, Tony Abbott  Umvoti Group KZN

n 20 February 2008, Isabel can you be and how enthusiastic Oand I visited the western are botanists–some 15 people end of the Blinkwater Nature arrived in very misty/rainy condi- Reserve and Oribi Hill on the tions on the Saturday morning Mondi-Seele property. We set and we headed to the mountain off hoping to be able to drive tops. I rather think we had a to the top grasslands which similar report for 2007. (Per- were lost in the clouds, but haps we should learn to row due to the very wet and slip- a boat!) However, despite the pery track, we had to abandon miserable and rather cold condi- the vehicle and walk the rest tions, it was a rewarding expe- of the way! Unfortunately the rience and although we didn’t clouds didn’t lift until almost see all that we had hoped for, midday, but we did manage to the elusive Gerbera aurantiaca find some interesting plants was spotted along with Fanninia and one very unwelcome alien! caloglossa! And the visit did Christmas bells, Sandersonia auran- Amongst the more interest- inspire a further visit by a group tiaca, at Dobson’s Valley. ing species were – Alectra of varsity post grads. sessiliflora, Aloe ecklonis and The 2008-09 summer season tential for more serious study, possibly Aloe boylei; Pearsonia this will be done throughout the grandifolia; Berkheya rhaponti- has been a difficult season in the Natal Midlands, but we did year and especially in the Spring ca and Crassula vaginata - the of 2009. latter were in great profusion visit areas between Kranskop and really beautiful. and Greytown and New Hanover and Seven Oaks which have po- Sue Swan On Oribi Hill we found many specimens, albeit in seed, of Kniphofia buchananii; more Aloe ecklonis and Aloe boylei the lat- ter, the seeds all appeared to be rotting perhaps due to the Underberg CREW heavy rains. Both these areas new group in need to be monitored – a chal- AKZN, the Un- lenge for the next season! As derberg group, for the unwelcome alien, Lilium has recently been formosanum, this was removed formed by Anne and suitably destroyed, just how does such an alien find its Rennie and Liz way into pristine and remote McKay, last year. grasslands? This is a really im- portant area with Another very exciting area many new develop- visited is Dobson’s Valley where ments threatening there is a thriving colony of some of the Berg Gerbera aurantiaca besides a endemics. number of other really exciting Asclepias macropus at the Bulwer Quarry threatened plants to name but The tarring of the site. a few–Sandersonia aurantiaca, Sani Pass road is Watsonia canaliculata, and to a real concern and both Isabel and myself, a newy while necessary for many folk, will affect many plant species. –Barberetta aurea which was We visited the site last year and looked at recovery plan op- growing alongside the stream. Does CREW stand for some- tions. Another area of great concern is the proposed quarry thing else!???–our planned visit site near Bulwer which we surveyed last month to invent the to the Blinkwater Nature Re- plant species. serve was scheduled for 27/28 September, we felt it would be The Underberg group has also joined with the Boston group  weather favorable! How wrong on outings to the Impendle Nature Reserve. Boston Area

wo well-supported outings cies. New localities for CREW Twere enjoyed where annual were “Tillietudlem” Private visits are made – Impendle Na- Nature Reserve and “Sitamani” ture Reserve and Palmer Four in November and December. A farm, in October and January list of species totaling 145 on respectively. While flowers “Sitamani”, which is being added were excellent at both places, to daily, shows just what a jewel in spite of some strange weath- this small hillside is. The planned er this year, the search in the visit to “Edgeware” hill in Bos- vast Impendle Nature Reserve ton itself was washed out and for more plants of Asclepias this site still awaits our atten- concinna will have to be ongo- tion. ing. Coming right up to date, a Asclepias concinna, collected for We had collected this rare CREW visit to Bulwer with the the fourth time ever at Impendle! asclepiad in 2007 and were Underberg Crew group on 27 delighted when Ashley Nicolas January to assess the variety of species there, and this has identified it and told us that this species, following the declared been submitted as part of the was only the fourth time that it intention of the authorities to evidence against damaging this had been collected! At Palmer mine the dolerite koppie outside lovely spot. four new finds will be added to town for road material resulted the lists of already 146 spe- in a good coverage of the many David Clulow

Asclepias woodii – found and photographed recent visit to a wonder- to January, and shares this Afully species-rich grassland grassland with a number of in the KwaZulu-Natal Mist-belt other members of its family, turned up the Endangered including A. cultriformis and A. Asclepias woodii. This poorly- gibba. known species is a KZN Mid- Typical yellow form of A. woodii. David Styles lands endemic, and according to Rob Scott-Shaw, recorded only from the Dargle, Howick and Karkloof Districts,

Even within this grassland, occurrences were very sparse and scattered, with only seven plants noted over several kilo- metres.

On this occasion I was kindly loaned the farmer’s motor bike, making frequent stops to ex- plore, and followed by his inde- fatigable German Shepherd. In this grassland Asclepias woo- dii appears to have two colour forms – one with off-white flow- ers and the other with yellow. Asclepias woodii flowers late The yellow spot in the foreground is Asclepias woodii, in mistbelt grassland in the year, from December habitat.  The Mpumalanga Plant Specialist Group

he Mpumalanga Plant ful rediscovery of these taxa TSpecialist Group has now is proving very difficult. But firmly adopted the CREW 2008 provided a few hits. cause and just about all of Perhaps the greatest dis- its outings are now based covery was finding Senecio on performing some of the triodontiphyllus in the Barber- ton mountainlands. It was much needed CREW ac- previously only known from tivities. The implementation three specimens, the lat- of threatened plant pro- est being collected in the grammes is very dependant 1970s. No data existed on on foot soldiers to collect habitat, threats, localities, the necessary data. etc. The PSG CREW discov- ered a population of around In general the objectives of 83 plants in the mountains our outings are: 1) active above Barberton Town. Sadly learning; 2) contributing to we also searched for Kalan- botany and plant conser- choe alticola which we could vation; 3) exploring poorly not find. known areas; and 4) hav- ing fun. All of these were Of perhaps greater conser- Dioscorea sp. nov. male flowers achieved in 2008 in some vation importance was the form or the other as our out- follow-up monitoring of the ings were many and varied. medicinally popular and Criti- 35 plants were marked and They included trips to Swazi- cally Endangered Dioscorea measured for assessment. land, Sekhukhuneland, Mapu- sp. nov. This plant was first In 2008 the same group re- laneng forest (successfully discovered when it appeared measured these plants to rediscovered Adiantum phil- in the medicinal plant trade assess harvesting impact. lipense), Barberton mountain- and traced back to its lo- Sadly the results highlight lands (to search for Senecio cality. It is currently only a very sad plight of this triodontiphyllus and Kalanchoe known from this one site. It taxon. Although it must be alticola), conducting the annu- is probably Mpumalanga’s remembered that the plants al monitoring of Dioscorea sp. most threatened plant. In monitored comprise perhaps nov., continuing the search 2007 the PSG CREW set the most accessible and well for the ellusive Ledebouria up a monitoring programme known plants to collectors, parvifolia in Graskop area, for the population where they still show a very dis- hiking and overnighting up on Mananga mountain in search of Haworthia limifolia, and assisting with a threatened plant survey on the Wolkberg dolomites near Pilgrim’s Rest in light of a proposed open- cast gold mine. A few out- ings were either cancelled or changed because of poor planning or a lack in attend- ance, but generally the out- ings in 2008 were a great success.

Of particular importance to the PSG has been the focus on trying to relocate Data Deficient taxa. Very little information is known about 10 DD taxa and so the success- Closeup of Brachystelma minor turbing trend. Only 11.4% of the plants show no signs of Fourcade Botanical Group harvesting. As much as 40% of all plants have had more than 90% of their stems harvested for muthi, and are slowly dying (they appear unable to coppice). 37% of the plants showed a change in harvesting over a period of one year. The population is also dioecious with 40% of plants female. The monitor- ing has certainly enumerated the deterioration that many have suspected. Luckily these plants do grow easily from seed (but may be susceptible to die-off when still young) and Karin van der Walt is do- ing great work in propagating The Team in the veld near Humansdorp. these plants for reestablish- ment. Karin is a PSG member e are now focusing on the Humansdorp, Hankey and Pat- who works for SANBI at the Wensie area looking for rare and threatened species as well Lowveld Botanic Gardens and as always keeping the lookout for new species. specialises in the propagation of threatened plants. After three and a half years at Papiesfontein it is wonderful to be in pristine vegetation, both fynbos and sub-tropical thicket, hunt- While busy with the moni- ing among other things Haworthias, Strelitzia and Lotononis, and toring of Dioscorea, we also to know that the area is unlikely to be trashed in the foreseeable future. It is also very encouraging to meet farmers who are keen stumbled across a very to know more about their plants and to preserve them. strange distribution record Our monthly rambles have included looking at trees at Eerste- for Brachystelma franksiae rivier, a worm farm in St Francis Bay and the “fruit” of St Francis subsp. franksiae. Our record Links. There we found local, indigenous plants belonging to the was confirmed by Pieter apple, citrus, grape, mango or olive families. The November ram- Bester and David Styles as ble to Vicky Wilman’s nursery at the Kouga Dam was flooded out, a first for Mpumalanga. This but we got there in January. It is amazing to see the thousands taxon was originally thought of plants grown from seed collected from the areas to be reha- to be a Pietermaritzburg en- bilitated. Vicky and her three teams have had amazing success. Hats off to them! demic but has subsequently been found in a few localities When we take the children for a walk in May or June they cannot in KZN, the closest to Mpu- resist scrambling for “pokkas”. Despite the fact that vets find malanga being Ngome. Possi- Cynanchum natalitium poisonous to stock, the children gobble up bly the most exiting new dis- the fruits and show no ill effects. covery for me was finding the first confirmed record of the Caryl Logie very rare Brachystelma minor in Mpumalanga. B. minor is a dolomite endemic known from only about 5 localities. Sadly it was discovered in a grassland area on which a company has applied to open cast mine for gold! This dis- covery may in part lead to mine failing to get its mining license.

Mervyn Lotter Vickie’s nursery at the Kouga Dam. 11 News from the PE CREW team

he launch of the PE team Twas truly exciting for all of us who took part in the work- shop (conducted by Ismail and Tilla) and the field trip to St George’s Strand that followed.

We could share their excite- ment at finding Cotyledon adscendens at St George’s strand, as well as a chance discovery of a small popula- tion of Aspalathus recurvispi- na in a rather unexpected location: a patch of degraded coastal fynbos on a vacant lot opposite the E.P. Rugby Union Football Stadium in Hu- mewood. Subsequent visits Cyrtanthus spiralis an endangered The Critically Endangered As- to the area by the newly as- species occurring only between palathus recurvispina previously Uitenhage to Port Elizabeth. sembled group of volunteers thought to be extinct, but rediscov- ered by the PE CREW group in Feb- revealed a few more plants in ruary 2008 and monitored closely a better condition than the tanthus spiralis, not flowering throughout the past year. first few spotted by Tilla, but at the time, but recognized the situation of the entire easily from the corkscrew- the chances of finding some population is rather dire. In like leaves, as well as Euphor- in flower. However, with the December 2008, bulldoz- bia globosa, both “specials” is in the grip ers moved in and pushed all on our list. While there were of a persistent drought, it the thicket vegetation next a few potential lookalikes, the seems we’ll have to exercise to the Aspalathus patch into two species we went out to patience until the rain ar- rather unsightly heaps. For- look for eluded us. It was de- rives. tunately the Aspalathus pop- cided to repeat the trip after ulation came to no harm, but some good rain to increase Nelia Garner their future existence is not assured, as the vacant lot is earmarked for development. In an effort to locate more A. recurvispina populations, we also scanned potential areas in the nature reserve of Nelson Mandela Metro- politan University. We found only one individual within the reserve. Not good! Further searches in the beachfront suburbs and coastal fynbos are planned for this year.

A very well-attended trip to an area adjacent to the Swartkops River (primarily hunting for Trichodiadema orientale and Selago polyc- ephala.....) in Perseverance, led to the discovery of a Euphorbia globosa, another endangered species occurring only on low, 12 fair-sized population of Cyr- stony hills between Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth. Crew outings with the Outramps

28th March: Perdepoort and chrysanthus: We met Allistair and the Work- ing On Fire Team at 7.30am at Witfontein and made our way to the farm in the Lang- kloof. The usual long slog had the usual reward. When we reached the ridge we found Mimetes chrysanthus in early bloom and altogether about ten Disa arida. Other finds were Acmadenia maculata, Lotononis elongata and Aspal- athus pedunculata. Allistair, Twakkie and the team have cleared all the way to the beacon and plan to do it on an annual basis.

17th April: We are just back Picture showing dieback in the seepage area at Goukamma Nature from Besemfontein after a Reserve memorable trip. We had a marvelous time. The first 9th June: Two weeks ago we ing dieback in some of the re- afternoon we drove to the joined Jonathan Britton at serves we frequently walk in. Gamkapoort Dam and walked Windmeulnek. He is now in It was very alarming to see down to the Dam wall. On charge of the mountains on the masses of plants dying in the return journey, the faith- the east of Groenkop. The the seepage areas and it had ful but ageing Kombi had a purpose of the trip was to us very concerned. We start- puncture. We sort of fixed it see Disa racemosa, which ed asking the experts why with some Tyreweld. The next has decided to flower right this was happening. After morning we were off hiking to out of season. The plants a very productive workshop the top of the mountain and were stunning but unfortu- organized by Annelise Vlok what a day it turned out to nately no pollinators were and others we came to the be. Amongst others we saw seen however, if they follow conclusion that it was not canaliculata, Spatalla the same pattern as the drought that was causing confusa, centau- plants in Campherskloof, they the dieback but in fact flood- reoides, Protea scolopendri- will flower again in early sum- ing that occurred a couple of folia, Thamnochortus papyra- mer. years ago. We will be keeping ceous, Leucodendron dregei a close eye on these areas and of course the Holy Grail, On the way back down the to monitor the situation. Protea pruinosa. This is only steep path, Jen saw one tiny the second time that I have Erica that caught her atten- Di Turner seen this Protea and the last tion. We hadn’t noticed it on time was with Jan Volk at the way up. It would seem to the top of Blesberg some 20 be Erica inconstans, which is years ago. Thanks so much featured on the rare list. We to Annelise for alerting us to will be returning to find more its presence. We found it on plants of this rarely seen the koppie before the moun- Erica. tain with the mast. This was an eminently satisfying eight Throughout 2008 we have hour day. also been involved in monitor- 13 The story of a rusty Selago

uring the summer of D1831 the well known Danish and German plant collectors, Friedrich Ecklon and Karl Zeyher, traversed the Klein Karoo. On their way from Cape Town to the then Algoa Bay (Port Eliza- beth) they collected many specimens. Amongst these were a few twigs of a “ka- roobossie” that remained a mystery for 176 years.

Ecklon and Zeyher dispatched their specimens from Algoa Bay to Cape Town, from where they were sent to Europe. Seventeen years later this “karoobossie” was described by Choisy as a variety of Selago leptostachya, a good start as the genus of this “karoobossie” was established. Another 50 years lapsed before Rolfe had a look at these twigs again and their wagons took. Worst of all After the excellent summer rain described it as a distinct spe- – much of this land has since of 2007 there were many things cies in 1901. What struck been ploughed or ravaged by in flower, including about 10 him was the rusty colour of ostriches. Would this rusty “ka- plants of a lovely white-flowered the twigs that he ascribed roobossie” still exist? Selago. I brought a twig home to “ferruginous hairs” on the – and low and behold the micro- plant, so he called it Selago Spurred by the great work by scope said bingo! The material ferruginea. So 70 years after Dr. Hilliard I developed an inter- fitted the excellent description the twigs were collected the est in Selago, needless to say and diagnostic characters one “karoobossie” finally got a especially in the lost “bossie” hundred percent. So after 176 name, but it was never seen of my back yard. Collected many years we now know the colour of again. a twig of a promising looking the flowers and there is nothing plant over a period of six years, rusty about them. The next day on the 18th December 2007 I Almost another 100 years but the microscope said no, not went back to collect better ma- lapsed before Dr. Olive Hilliard yet. I kind of gave up, but then terial and to see if I could find studied this “rusty” Selago and on my way back from George I more plants. Nope – only the stopped at a “lekker” roadside noted in her fantastic revision handful on the roadside reserve. patch. It is almost a hectare in on the genus that these “fer- I still haven’t found it anywhere extent at the turn-off to Heim- ruginous hairs” are actually else. Must say I do not have ersrivier, where you do not have sand grains stuck to the copi- much hope as most of the moist ous small glands on the plant. to jump a fence and watch your clayey soils they seem to prefer Now we had a much better back for an angry farmer or one as habitat has been ploughed idea what to look for. Dr Hilliard of his forever-curious ostriches. under for wheat fields that pro- called for botanists to look Other delights from this rem- duce a crop only once a decade. for more material somewhere nant patch include an amazing The rest trampled to death by between “the Garrets river and disjunct population of Pelargo- ostriches. Well maybe there is Lange Aloof” as Zither noted as nium ochroleucum and at least another small corner at some a locality. That is a fair amount two shrubby mesems that I still other turnoff ….. of country to hunt in, especially have not been able to identify 14 if you have no idea which route with certainty. Jan Vlok Still Bay CREW News

arch saw us looking for Mand finding Triglochin compacta (previously confused with T. bulbosa) in and around Pauline Bohnen Nature Reserve for Sabine von Mering who is revising the genus in Germany as part of her Ph.D studies.

We visited the Wildcliff Private Nature Reserve bordering on Boosmansbos Heritage site in April and this was a wonderful treat for the CREW volunteers.

Minister Tasneem Essop offi- cially opened the Werner Frehse Nature Reserve (fine Renos- Aspalathus dasyantha, Critically th terveld) on the 17 of April Endangered species from the farm after it had been closed to the Klipfontein public for over 17 years. When Ismail and Vathiswa dropped in Learners from the Melkhoutfontein later that month, we found Ha- Primary School involved in Plant Some very interesting finds worthia marginata (Vulnerable) in Monitoring Day at Klipfontein Private Nature abundance there. We also went Reserve above west bank of on our first visit to limestone George. It has laid the founda- Goukou low water bridge were: koppies around Melkhoutfontein. tions for better identifications, Bartholina burmanniana, Tri- Jilian will be organizing rooikrans herbarium descriptions and chodiadema fergusonia, Critically hacks to stem the encroach- planted the seed to strive to- Endangered Aspalathus dasyan- ment and encourage the Hesse- wards getting the best learning tha and EN Erica prolata and E. qua Municipality to declare tool ever, the dissecting micro- platycalyx. these interesting spots as scope! Nature Gardens for Melkhout- People news: Dave Osborne fontein. Caitlin introduced us to National died on 17th of June after a long Plant Monitoring day on 25 struggle with cancer, Naomi An attempt to get the Pauline September. Thirty learners from gave us a very interesting be- Bohnen Nature Reserve de- Melkhoutfontein primary school ginner’s botanical course over clared a National Botanical Gar- were bused into the Pauline a weekend, and Vernon resigned den failed. This small 233ha Re- Bohnen Nature Reserve by Suid- serve alongside Cape Nature’s Kaap Karweiers and Stilbaai as environmental management Geelkrans NR, with over 40 Red SPAR provided hotdogs and fruit officer in Hessequa’s planning Data plant species, is under juice for all. Many of the children dept end of October. Esbe got threat by plans to upgrade an had never been to the reserve married 29 November and Rhett airstrip bordering the Canca and their enthusiasm for the lost his wife of 28 years sud- Limestone/Albertinia Sand Fyn- work on hand was infectious and denly on 21 December. bos ecotone with access road very encouraging. Wish some of running straight through the our locals would show the same Our Marine Protected Area Reserve. Our only hope now is interest in our plants! was officially declared on 17 to get it protected through the October and we’ll hopefully be Stewardship programme as a Spring firsts included visits to able to include seaweeds in contract nature reserve. Jongensgat Private Nature Re- our Herbarium. My article in serve between Jongensfontein Dec. Veld & Flora, “Hessequa’s The elusive tricolor-like Moraea and Still Bay, Kransfontein, 8 best-kept secret” (in memory of was even more difficult to find kms along the west bank of the Dave), has had positive feedback this year, making a brief ap- Goukou River and “Speldekuss- pearance at the end of May in ing” on the Blombos/Victoriadale including news of 10ha of Erica Skulpiesbaai Nature Reserve. road. We still are waiting for ID baueri subsp. baueri on Driefon- We were very grateful to CREW confirmations for possibly a new tein farm further towards the for sponsoring half of William’s buchu species. Two Lobelia valida coast and an invitation to visit (CapeNature) and my attend- plants in flower were found on the Groenkant Private Nature ance of Wendy Hitchcock’s 10 December at Witsand Na- Reserve in the Ystervarkfontein amazing Basic Botany course in ture Reserve. area. 15 CREW Swellendam: Highlights 2008

he year passed so quickly Tit seemed that nothing was accomplished but it passed fast because so much happened!

It has been a pleasure to work with Odette Curtis on her suc- cessful Stewardship Programme for the Overberg. More farms and extensive tracts of reason- ably undisturbed renosterveld have been made accessible to us.

Many more populations of Polhil- lia pallens (VU) and P. canescens (VU) have been recorded. A population of P. connata (CR) along with Xiphotheca guthrei (NT) and Gibbaeum haagei (EN) Polhillia brevicalyx. Finally we get pictures of this critically endangered plant have been found on the same site. It is really exciting that the owners of the farm have signed a Stewardship agreement.

At last, pictures and herbarium specimens have been taken of the critically endangered P. brevicalyx flowering. The Mille- nium Seed Bank group have also harvested seed. The same ap- plies to Lebeckia bowieana (DD) from the same site.

This has been a great year for the Haworthias. We have seen a few populations of H. mutica (VU) and one of H. heidelbergen- sis (VU).

New and very healthy popula- tions of Erica filamentosa (VU) CREW volunteers sampling renosterveld in Swellendam and Protea decurrens (EN) only previously seen in Bontebok Park have been found with Freesia fer- River that our scheduled plant The Zanddrift garden has es- gusoniae (NT) and Babiana patula days had to be forfeited. tablished well thanks to the time that each of us has gener- (Endemic) at the same site. A successful Plant Monitor- ously given to maintaining it. It The Aspalathus still keep us ing Day was held on the 5th is serving the main purpose for guessing but we are determined of September with 15 grade 9 which it was planted: to create to master this genus of Fa- students from Swellendam Hoër awareness amongst residents baceae. skool. and tourists of the diversity and importance of our indigenous Bontebok has a new manager Volunteers from Barrydale have plants. enthusiastic about placing more joined our group, mainly moun- value on their plants. Unfor- tain fynbos folk. We have had We look forward to a wonderful tunately the November floods great plant days together and 2009. caused so much damage to the plan for regular outings starting 16 roads and veld along the Breede in April. Flora Cameron Harmony Flats Nature Reserve

armony Flats Nature Re- Hserve (HFNR) is really mov- ing forward. In the past year the appoint- ed a new reserve manager, and the working group that for a while was only active only once or twice a year is back with lots of energy and enthusiasm. A couple of other organisations have also played a major role in keeping the reserve and its vol- unteers going such as CREW, Nature, South African Butterfly Conserva- tion Assessment (SABCA) and African Conservation Experi- ence. In addition, we will have a nature conservation student from CPUT assisting us at the Learners involved in CREW Plant Monitoring Day. Here they are doing the HFNR in 2009. ‘chicken parade’ to count the special species

The reserve, with all its part- The programme consisted of slideshow presentations by the City of ners, was involved in the follow- Cape Town staff, CREW and SABCA. The talks were followed by field ing programmes and activities: trips to the nature reserve and involved the learners in tree plant- Biodiversity week, Arbour week, ing, plant monitoring and butterfly monitoring activities. The pro- Weedbuster week and tor- gramme lasted for four days and four schools located close to the toise counts (although the last reserve attended the event. mentioned activity was not very successful, but it will continue The last event was the end of year function for the HFWG to thank in 2009). The Arbour week pro- them for all their assistance and support. We are all looking for- gramme, which has become a ward to more exciting projects and programmes in 2009. momentous event at the HFNR, was once again very successful. Sabelo Lindani

Tygerberg CREW Report for September to December 2008

ith our leader Karen Ma- trict, Hercules Pilaar in Joost- Wrais joining her husband enberg, Groot Phesantekraal in America on sabbatical leave, and Uitkamp in , the last few months have been Perdekop in , Zeven- very hectic without her. Luckily wacht in and for we always had good weather so the first time, Race Course. none of our outings had to be cancelled. All these areas are quite diverse We were able to cover many owing to the geology on which areas on our weekly excur- the plants thrive. At Groot Phe- sions, finding wonderful rare and santekraal we saw showy pink threatened species. Our chief Podalyria microphylla, stunning project this year was a monthly blue Babiana secunda, a carpet outing to Tygerberg NR but we of Lampranthus sociorum. Tilla also found time to visit River- (who was with us at the time) New population of Lachenalia lilliflora lands in the Malmesbury Dis- found the elusive Cliffortia acockii found at Groot Pheasantekraal 17 and we had Lachenalia orthop- etala, L. liliflora and L. contami- nata, all growing together and flowering at the same time.

The granite outcrops on Zeven- wacht, Perdekop and Hercules Pilaar, where we found the ab- solutely stunning Babiana regia exposed us to different and exciting vegetation type. Tyger- berg Nature Reserve, which supports shale renosterveld, has been a delight to explore. Going through old species lists and herbarium records tanta- lized us with what was once there and we are determined to search for these species. Pelar- gonium plurisectum, Xipotheca lanceolata, Gladiolus watsonius, Lampranthus scaber, L. socio- rum, Drosanthemum calycinum Members of the Friends of the Tygerberg on their way to the field and D. hispifolium are just a few despite rough weather conditions. of the specials we found in the reserve this year.

Riverlands Nature Reserve and Milnerton Race Course (Atlan- Wildflower Society tis Sand Fynbos and Cape Flats Darling Sand Fynbos respectively) are very unique areas and they are uring 2008 we sorted our herbarium after a flood and a highly threatened by housing Dnear fire disaster early in the year. All our records are up developments, sand mining and to date and the specimens hopefully in the correct place. With agriculture. Specials like Cliffor- all the name changes we now seem to have to revisit them all tia ericifolia, Hermannia procum- again. bens procumbens, levisanus, Babiana tubulosa and Progress is being made with respect to the proposed Flora Geisshoriza tennella can be seen Centre for Darling; the necessary processes are under way. at the Milnerton Racecourse. We have received the support from our Municipal Council to build in either of the reserves in Darling, for which we are very You will appreciate that there are not enough Fridays in the grateful. year in order to cover all these Now we have to find funding to supplement our own savings! places on a regular monthly This building will serve as a conservation centre, a visitor cen- basis. Some plants have only tre, and a data depository for the local flora. a short flowering period, some We received the list of the most highly endangered specimens only open their flowers in the which we still have to find and this is going to be a challenge afternoon for a couple of hours as the terrain has changed since some of those were last and many plants are only identi- seen. fiable when they are flowering, so sometimes we miss out! We had a successful Plant Monitoring Day We are so lucky to witness this year. The learners what is left of our botanical had a wonderful time heritage on our weekly forays. in the field monitor- We would like to thank all those ing the dominants and landowners who allow us to ex- specials in the Darling plore their properties to moni- flower reserve. tor the precious flora. We would like to extend a HUGE thanks We wish all the other to all the CREW members and groups a happy and staff at SANBI. successful year of threatened plant moni- Oxalis species in flower. The annual displays 18 Hedi Stummer toring. in Darling are always spectacular Involving communities in conservation of threatened plants – The Mamré experience

he aim of the Mamré project Earth Lightly), a very experi- Twas to involve local commu- enced practitioner in sustain- nities in monitoring and con- able tourism development, we serving threatened plants as took on the mammoth task of well as explore the possibility of developing and testing a tour- developing livelihood opportuni- ism product in Mamré. The first ties in the community. was to identify and train tour guides. We conducted a training This project has really given course in Mamré for ten young us an opportunity to apply our individuals where we trained minds to how we engage low- them on the basics of tourism income communities in CREW and involved them in developing Mamré tour guides with the tour- and conservation in general. The a tour route for Mamré. The ists. Tours were exceptionally suc- two key activities planned for test tour route was launched cessful. last year were to consolidate at the Mamré Wildflower show the Biodiversity facilitator posi- and was a raging success. The the weekend and have 71 tour- tion and assist the community tour included a walk through the ists join us over the weekend. to develop additional tourism Mamré allotment gardens, then activities linked to the annual through the back of the town The next step for the Mamré Mamré Wildflower Show. to granite outcrops and ending project is to involve the key off at the Moravian church to tourism stakeholders to make Marvin Wagenaar, the CREW see the historical buildings. We the test tours an official tour- biodiversity facilitator has been managed to run five tours over ism product for Mamré. absolutely fantastic. He has showed a keen interest in plants and is particularly passionate about engaging the youth of Mamré in conservation educa- CREW Napier Renosterveld tion activities. Last year we implemented a very success- Project Update December 2008 ful winter and summer school programme. The summer/winter school programmes were the e became aware of the monage had been taken over brain child of the Nieuwoudtville Wphenomenal richness by a syndicate that had cattle group and we have taken their and diversity of the Napier raising as one of its enterprises outstanding model and suc- Renosterveld flora when we and parts of the common- cessfully applied the concept in became involved with CREW. age were being established to other areas. We have also man- The small fragments on the pastures. This meant that the aged to establish an eco-club in commonage were close and pristine Renosterveld frag- Mamré and it has truly been one convenient to explore and well ments were in danger of being of the successes of the project. preserved as they fell within degraded by livestock and would The eco-club activities include an area that was leased for need to be fenced if they were the winter and summer school cropping and so enjoyed pro- to be conserved. programme, hikes in the Mamré tection throughout the winter Nature garden, Plant Monitoring growing season, a status Under the auspices of the Day and alien clearing activities. they have probably had for Southern Overberg Branch of many years. the Botanical Society we ac- The most challenging part of the cepted the challenge. Negotia- project was developing tourism We became very concerned tions with the lessees and the activities in Mamré. With the when last year we discovered Municipality were very cordial help of Stephen Lamb (Touching that the lease of the com- and positive with everyone co- 19 operating to help us with the project. The local community was supportive and our appeal for sponsorship and funding for the fencing was successful. A donation of R10000 by the Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative with contributions for some locals and a 10% discount on materials granted by Overberg Agric saw the first fragment fenced in May this year.

Since then we have had good publicity and thanks especially to members of IBSA (Indigenous Napier volunteers stand proud at the newly fenced Skurwekop. Bulb Association of SA), we have already raised sufficient money to complete the project.

On 5 December 2008 the fenc- Kenilworth Hack Group ing of Skurwekop, the second phase of the project was com- hroughout the summer our merry little hack group had many pleted. The final phase, the Treally excellent hack days with very few having to be called fencing of the Eastern Com- off due to inclement weather. Our efforts were mainly concen- monage will be done early in the trated on stands of Poplars, Stinkbeans, Sesbanias and Port New Year and it seems we have Jacksons. In all cases we hacked out both mature plants as well sufficient funds to complete this as pulling out myriads of seedlings. As a result some consider- phase. able areas are now clear of aliens. Naturally continual follow-up work will have to be done as new seedlings sprout. Many of We now need to compile check- these areas are now being replanted with seedlings and cuttings lists and photographic data bas- appropriate for the particular spot which have been propagated es for each of the three sites by the Conservation staff and the Friends Group (to which many and need volunteers for regular of our hack group belong and who have actively been involved in monitoring. Anyone visiting the propagation and replanting). Napier is invited to help us with this. It would be great to have Winter storms and steady heavy rains during May and June have filled the vleis and made the whole area extremely soggy – the CREW, IBSA and BOTSOC mem- advantage of this being the uprooting of aliens is made so much bers closely involved with the easier, and by the end of the morning, one looks and feels like a project. Odette Curtis, our local toddler who has been playing in the mud. Overberg Renosterveld Manage- ment Project Research Officer, We are delighted that our numbers have been strengthened by is negotiating with the Agulhas Buddy, the fearsome hacker of note; Michael from whom neither Municipality for a Stewardship seedling nor imposing bush will escape; and Deirdre our newest Contract to ensure the long member who keenly awaits her first hack. term future of the sites and a We meet on the second Monday of each month and hack for ap- supervised management agree- proximately three hours and would welcome any new members. As ment under the guidance of we have plenty of tools and now even gloves (thanks to the very Cape Nature. While we have just generous donation from the enough money to complete the Conservation staff), all that is fencing, there will be ongoing needed is plenty of enthusiasm maintenance and alien clearing and “joie de vivre”. Should you which will require funding. We be interested in joining our hope the Agulhas Municipality little group, you would be most and the Lessees will contribute welcome. Please contact Is- to the latter costs, but we will mail (021) 7998751 or Tessa also continue to raise further (021) 671 5468 for more funds to support this project. information. Members of the Friends of Kenil- worth heading back home after a 20 Cameron and Rhoda McMaster Margaret Kahle hard day of alien clearing. SABCA joins CREW excursion

In April 2008, I joined a CREW trip to the Elandsberg Nature Reserve and Bontebokridge Reserve. While CREW members looked for and found the very threatened Marasmodes spe- cies, I looked for butterflies. Unfortunately, it was a very windy day and few butterflies were seen. Six species were observed, mainly from the Lycaenid family. Two moth species were also observed.

CREW members can submit photos of butterflies seen during CREW trips to SABCA’s (Southern African Butterfly Conserva- tion Assessment) Virtual Museum. Instructions on how to sub- mit photos are on the website: http://butterflies.adu.org.za Beauty, Aeropetes tulbaghia, feeding on Kniphofia graci- Silvia Mecenero lis in KZN.

Plants without a past are plants without a future – improving CREW’s system of specimen processing

Background mens. We received feedback suggestions come from one on The preparation of pressed from Compton Herbarium that one discussions with herbarium dried specimens is an ancient, some of the CREW CFR speci- staff and from a meeting held but simple and effective means mens were not good quality, with all CREW and herbarium of preserving a record of the making it difficult for the her- staff. earth’s flora. This record pro- barium staff to identify these vides an enormous store of specimens. Three key issues For each specimen: information that is a basic were highlighted by herbarium • Major locality details must resource for botanical research, staff; sending sterile mate- be included as well as the teaching and documentation, rial (specimens with no flowers description of the locality and which means collection and or fruit), “eco-scraps” (small quarter degree square. preparation of herbarium speci- pieces of plant with not enough mens should be as representa- material to make a proper • Details about the plant col- tive as possible, i.e. have a col- herbarium specimen), and lack lected are very important: lection label with all necessary of vital information on the field e.g. height can determine data ranging from collector’s collection forms. This has led to the subspecies of that name to morphological infor- us working together with her- specimen or variety; with mation of the plant specimen barium staff to improve our sys- plants such as you collected. tem of collecting and processing have to indicate whether it specimens. The following section is resprouting or reseeding, CREW needs to improve their contains guidelines to the new for daisies (Asteraceae) you specimen collection - what has improved system. must collect the fruit and driven this need for improve- flowers, and for geophytes ment? What has been done? you must indicate if the A small number of well-pressed The list below are suggestions leaves are prostate. These and well-illustrated specimens from herbarium staff how to characteristics of the plant are far more valuable than a improve our collection and docu- help the taxonomist using large number of poor speci- mentation of specimens, these keys that require such de- 21 Examples of incomplete forms that cause frustration for the herbarium staff. Please note the important fields that need to be completed.

tails to correctly identify the The way forward • Habitat information and specimen. Flower colour is • When going on fieldtrips we abundance of the plants also of utmost importance as should avoid recollecting should always been noted. for many plant groups flower plants that we have already colour changes as the speci- collected and submitted to Please see the CREW op- mens dry. the herbarium over the past erations manual available as of • Habitat information and in- few years. If groups have March 2009 for more details on formation on local abundance small field herbarium files specimen collection. of the plant collected should these should be regularly be included. consulted to avoid duplica- tion. We will try and get regular feedback from the Herbarium to We also need to give a list of • Each CREW group should ascertain if there has been an places we are visiting to the have at least one member improvement in the specimen herbarium secretary prior to who has a collecting book to quality. the field trips, so that the record specimens collected taxonomists can give us the list on each field trip, collection of what plants they are inter- numbers should be allocated Acknowledgements ested in that may grow in these to each specimen collected These guidelines are taken from areas. and the numbers must be Herbarium Specimen collecting What are the outcomes so written on the CREW data manual by T.Dold & P. Phillipson. far? sheets. Please contact the CREW office Looking at the recent batches • Three specimens should be to obtain a copy. I would also from the herbarium, most of collected for each species like to thank Dr Dee Snijman for the specimens are labeled as sampled, and the plant char- her valuable comments on the “keep”- meaning that the speci- acteristics such as height, outcomes section. men must be retained for the flower colour, life history herbarium. This shows that the etc must be recorded on Vathiswa Zikishe herbarium is starting to value the labels accompanying the 22 our collections. specimens. CREW CFR A biodiversity management plan for the medicinal species Pelargonium sidoides

elargonium sidoides has a P wide distribution and oc- curs in grasslands throughout the Eastern Cape, Lesotho, , Mpumalanga, North West and southern and south-western . It is used locally in South Africa and Lesotho for treating diarrhea and general stomach ailments and is har- vested and exported overseas where it is used to treat respiratory prob- lems. Pelargonium sidoides has various local names and is called Kalwerbossie or Rabassam in South Africa. The distribution of Pelargonium The name Umckaloabo is most Lesotho official with a harvested sidoides in South Africa and Le- commonly used and originates Pelargonium sidoides plant, the sotho. (Data provided by PRECIS from the Zulu language and tubers are used medicinally for and by Vivienne Williams of Wits treating colds and diarrhea. Photo means “heavy cough”. The local University). peole in the Eastern Cape call David Newton it Uvendle and in Lesotho it is called “Koara”. There has been a great increase in demand in partnership with the NGO with the help from PRECIS for the plant for both local use TRAFFIC to develop a manage- (National Herbarium Pretoria and international pharmaceuti- ment plan for this species. The Computerised Information Serv- cal producers, therefore the first step of this work involved a ice) localities, expert knowledge, number of the collectors and fieldtrip to Lesotho in 2008 to interviews with harvesters and its rate of harvesting have assess the status of this spe- members of the communities. increased in recent years. cies in this country, the second At the end the 7 days, a total of step was to conduct a stake- 20 sites were visited and about According to the South Afri- holder workshop in the Eastern 100 transects sampled. The can Red Data List (2008), this Cape, in February 2009 and to road conditions made it difficult species has a huge range (EOO do field work in the areas around to cover more sites in 7 days. = 480 000 km2), tubers of Grahamstown, Peddie and Stut- Driving in Lesotho is quite an this species are harvested and terheim where the plant is being experience. The majority of the exported for the international harvested. roads are unpaved and poorly medicinal trade. Although the maintained therefore it is some- plants coppice after harvesting, During the fieldwork in Lesotho times very much complicated local extirpations occur when a total of 7 districts were and difficult to reach some harvesting takes place in the covered, from the Southwest- parts of Lesotho using gravel absence of rainfall, and plants ern parts (Mohale’s Hoek), the and dirt roads. cannot recover. The species is eastern parts (Quthing, Qacha’s undergoing a continuing decline nek, Mokhotlong), central parts The field study showed that and it is therefore listed as (Thaba Tseka, Katse) and the previously harvested sites had Declining. SANBI’s threatened northern parts (Butha Buthe). a larger number of stems re- plant team have been working Sites for sampling were located sprouting out of harvest holes 23 than sites that had never been harvested. This was observed on all the previously harvested sites and was also noted from the interviews with the harvest- ers where most of them argued that harvesting was increas- ing the numbers of P. sidoides. This indicated that P. sidoides was able to recover from the small cuttings of the roots that harvesters leave behind after digging out the plant. However, uncontrolled harvesting might lead to an extreme decline in the number of mature individu- als as these plants take years to recover and may die in the SANBI staff Namhla Mbona and Va- Domitilla Raimondo and Vatiswa Zik- absence of rain. tiswa Zikishe conducting transects ishe looking for evidence of harvest- to measure abundance of Pelargo- ing of Pelargonium sidoides near All the data collected in Lesotho nium sidoides in the Eastern Cape. Alice in the Eastern Cape. was analyzed at SANBI Preto- Photo Domitilla Raimondo ria with the help of the SANBI GIS (Geographical information system) unit to determine the distribution range and popula- tion densities of the species using ArcGIS. GIS is becoming a powerful tool in mapping out the potential distribution of species based on environmental data and other ecological as- pects. The study managed to give a clear distribution range of P.sidoides across Lesotho based on climatic factors, as- pect, slope, altitude, vegetation or habitat, and land use.

In the Eastern Cape, the work- shop we held in with individu- als involved in the trade of the species and the Eastern Cape conservation officials, indicated Digging up Pelargonium sidoides to establish how long the plant takes to that there are many issues recover after harvesting. Photo Domitilla Raimondo involved in managing the trade. Firstly we have little idea of the size of the population in South fieldwork, with 7 sites visited so far in the Eastern Cape and 35 Africa, we also do not know transects conducted. Further fieldwork will be carried out later this what are sustainable harvest- year. In partnership with the NGO TRAFFIC we are also looking at ing techniques or sustainable of sustainable harvest techniques by investigating how long the plants take limits. Currently the East- take to recover after harvesting. We hope the data gathered over ern Cape Nature Conservation the past year and that which we will still gather over the coming officials have banned harvesting year will be used effectively in managing and regulating the sustain- of this species. SANBI has com- able harvesting of P. sidoides. mitted to undertake a resource assessment of the species as Phetole Manyama–Red List officer for the Threatened Plant Pro- part of developing a manage- gramme & Domitilla Raimondo–Threatened Plant Programme Man- 24 ment plan. We have initiated ager.