North-Central Namibia collecting trip

April 2002 saw the WIND staff in the North-Central communal areas of Namibia. These areas are historically undercollected, and we target at least one every year. Esmerialda and Silke disagree on one thing about this trip—Silke says they were lost at one stage, and Essie says they were not lost, they just didn’t know where the road was. They say if you have a GPS you are never lost, you know exactly where you are, the only thing is that you don’t know where that place is and how to get back to where you should be. Still, once they found themselves, they had a very successful trip. They knew they had reached the Okavango Region and it was time to turn around when Helvi Haufiku, our technical assistant from the North-Central area, didn’t understand what the local inhabitants were saying anymore.

For several staff members this was their first visit to the north, and a valuable opportunity to see, alive and unsquashed, the plants they routinely have to identify and discuss. Our most recent fieldwork was a short trip to the Aus-Rosh Pinah area. We had several items on our agenda, including collecting in new squares, Red Data assessment of certain taxa, seed collection for the National Plant Genetic Resources Centre, and photography for the new field guide we are putting together for the southwest of Namibia. We were very pleased to see Babiana falcata for the first time, and to smell its exquisite perfume.

Dr Erica Maass of the Biology Department at the University of Namibia accompanied us. Erica is a parasite enthusiast and hoped to find some new localities for Hydnora triceps. It was very exciting for us when she found a specimen in (subterranean) flower, and we realised that we were amongst the few people in the world to see this unusual plant alive. None of us managed to spot any, and we are convinced Erica’s success has to do with her habit of wandering around while plaintively calling “where are you?”

Other interesting collections on this trip include Schwantesia loeschiana and both species of Hartmanthus, as well as a number of live euphorbias for the National Botanic Garden.

—by Coleen Mannheimer

SABONET News 7.2: 149

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