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September 2007

Veld

Flora

142

Meadowridge Common

An update on the wildflowers of this precious remnant ofCape Town’s lowland fynbos

Fiona Watson

, Botanical Officer,Friends of Meadowridge Common

Lowland fynbos

ince my article ‘The wildflowers of Meadowridge Common’ appeared in theMarch 2001 issue of

Veld & Flora

, myspecies list of flora on the Common hasincreased from ninety to 120. We haveidentified some Red Data species, andmade some interesting observations onthe flowering of the kukumakranka,

Gethyllis afra

, and on the effects of early and late winter rains and a fire onthe flora of this precious lowland fynbosremnant.

Red Data Species

Meadowridge has three Red DataBook species:

Moraea elsiae, Diastella proteoides

and

Lampranthus reptans

. These have been registered with CREW(the Custodian of Rare and EndangeredWildflowers) who lent me their GPS toprovide them with their exact positions. They are being monitored regularly forany changes.

Moraea elsiae

which was consid-ered ‘rare or possibly extinct’ by PeterGoldblatt in his book

The moraeas of South Africa

is particularly threatened. There are five plants on the Common.For the first time since I started observ-ing them seven years ago, two of theplants set seed after flowering between5 November and 5 December in 2006.I had cross-pollinated two flowers, andhaving observed a bee on one of theplants, assume bees are the pollinatorof the others. At the end of December Iharvested six seeds which I handed overto Graham Duncan of Kirstenbosch. It would be wonderful if they are viableand germinate so that more of theplants can be propagated.

Diastella proteoides

was originallyrepresented by three plants on theCommon, but one was mowed down byCity Council employees who acted out-side their instructions for the day. Thegood news is that plants have also beenfound on Kenilworth Racecourse, closeenough physically for a DNA match.We hope to introduce more plants fromthis source. Meanwhile we endeavour tokeep the established plants as clear aspossible of invading sorrel (

Rumex

) spe-cies,

Cynodon dactylon

(kweek grass)and

Pelargonium capitatum.

Our five clusters of

Lampranthus reptans

appear stressed during sum-mer, their leaves turning reddish, butthey soon revert to green and growactively when the winter rains come. Their golden yellow flowers form attrac-tive carpets in the spring. One of theclusters was dug up by some teenageboys collecting soil to make bicycleramps on a path, but they were soonconfronted by me and some others andpersuaded to cease such activities.

ABOVE:

Ursinia anthemoides.

BELOW

: Diastella proteoides.

BOTTOM LEFT:

Moraea elsiae.

BOTTOM RIGHT:

Lampranthus reptans.

Photos: Fiona Watson.

September 2007

Veld

Flora

143

Kukumakrankas under pressure?

Gethyllis afra

, which grows on theCommon, is a beautiful white kuku-makranka with a red median stripunder each of its 3 cm long outer peri-anth lobes. The three inner lobes arethinner and without any markings. Iobserved a large bee visiting a flower tocollect pollen, and wondered if it was thepollinator. I have been recording weath-er patterns in relation to its floweringand submitted some data in 2006 tothe South African National BiodiversityInstitute (SANBI). My data* (shown onthe graph opposite) over the two yearssupports Chris Daniels observations onkukumakrankas in his article, ‘Are thedays of the kukumakranka numbered?’ in the March 2007 issue of

Veld & Flora

where he wrote that ‘passing coldfronts accompanied by a definite dropin atmospheric pressure, irrespective of whether there are showers or not, havea definite effect on the production …of flowers during the flowering season.’

ABOVE LEFT: A bee collecting pollen from thekukumakranka,

Gethyllis afra

.BELOW LEFT:

Gethyllis afra

leaves.BELOW:

Gethyllis afra

flowers after a drop inatmospheric pressure, regardless of rain.

Photos: Fiona Watson

September 2007

Veld

Flora

144

ABOVE:

Oxalis obtusa

Photo: Fiona Watson

Fire on the Common

Fire is necessary approximately everyfifteen years for the healthy growth of fynbos, and we tried hard and longto organize a controlled burn for theCommon. Authorities, however, wereunsupportive since the Common issituated in an urban area. But on 10December 2003, a fire occurred on onesection of the Common, possibly startedby vagrants and extinguished by theFire Brigade. It was not the areas wehad envisaged for a fire, or the favouredtime of April but nevertheless it provedto be a blessing. The displays of

Oxalis obtusa

and

Ursinia anthemoides

in late winter were stunning. A new plant of

Aspalathus callosa

appeared near whereanother had died two years previous-ly, and

Struthiola ciliata

flourished asdid

Trachyandra ciliata.

Leucadendron salignum

and

Pelargonium cucullatum

re-sprouted.

Asparagus capensis

and

Asparagus rubicundus

showed no illeffects, but we did lose one plant of ing in June, August and September. The effects on our bulbous plants was minimal in most species on theCommon, with magnificent displaysof

Sparaxis bulbifera

and species of Asphodelaceae, Hemerocallidaceae,Colchicaceae and Iridaceae doing wellin both years. Our seepage area inspring 2006 was, however, already dryand there was therefore no

Holothrix villosa, Disa bracteata

Triglochin bulbosa

present. A pleasant, yet still worrying appearance, however wasthat of only one plant of

Pterygodium catholicum

. Once present in signifi-cant numbers, it had been absent forseveral years. Its oil-seeking bee pol-linator is apparently also decreasing innumbers. Is it approaching extinction? There was a significant differencein the emergence of dicotyledonsdepending on seed for their annualappearances. Those flowering late inthe year were reduced in numbers oreven absent. In the dry seepage area,

Aspalathus retroflexa

subsp.

bicolor

.Another fortunately re-appeared in2007. The damp-loving

Geissorhiza aspera

lost their sheltering shrubsand did not re-appear. The number of

Wahlenbergia capensis

, which flowersin October and November, was muchreduced the following year.After the fire, the invasive

Eragrostis curvula

, which had been smotheringthe area, started to re-sprout. Three of us set about removing it, taking care tore-plant any bulbs found tangled in itsroots. This proved to be a very success-ful venture in clearing the area, and thefew remaining grass plants and seed-lings are removed on an ongoing basis.

Effects of early or late winter rains

In 2005 the winter rains contin-ued well into spring with most fall-ing in June and August, and somein September. In 2006, they peak-ed earlier with the highest figure inMay and much less than 2005 fall-