Collecting trip from Lesotho to Cederberg

During September 2002 an all-girl team from PRE—Marinda Koekemoer, Priscilla Burgoyne, and Hester Steyn—undertook a countrywide trip to do specialised and general plant collecting. The trip focused on under-collected grids as well as members of the Asteraceae and Mesembryanthemaceae.

We travelled the country from east to west, experienced winter and summer within a few hours, collected plants in five of the seven biomes, climbed mountains and drove on impassable and muddy roads, slept under the stars and watched the sunset at the Stadsaal caves (Cederberg), changed our itinerary several times due to cold fronts and accompanying rains, were attacked by hundreds of gad-flies, and enjoyed ice cream at Komaggas. All in all, we covered 5,735 km and brought back over 900 specimens!

Highlands Meander
(Pretoria–Tweeling–Golden Gate Highlands National Park–Lesotho–Matatiele–Maclear–Elliot)

Our first stop was at an under-collected grid near Tweeling in the Free State. Although we were a bit early in the season to find the majority of plants in flower, we still managed to add a few new distribution records to PRE. The eastern Free State was still in winter colours but the sandstone mountains are a magnificent sight—whatever the season! Entering Lesotho at Caledonspoort border post, we made our way through the northeastern part of Lesotho to Sani Top via Oxbow and Mokhotlong.

This was a very scenic drive that took us past numerous streams and waterfalls, small villages with pink clouds of peach blossom and blanket-clad children rushing to the roadside, yelling “SWEETS, SWEETS!” Near Sani Pass, snow was evidence of the cold winter and we needed glühwein, hot chocolate, and a (priceless) hot shower at Sani Top that night to combat the freezing weather and gale-force winds. The following day we drove down the magnificent Sani Pass and spent the day collecting mainly daisies and Crassulas while a dark bank of clouds moved in from the northwest.

While heading for another under-collected grid between Underberg and Matatiele, we had a flat tyre (the only one on the trip) and had to spend the night in Matatiele in order to get it fixed. In the meantime, the lurking cold front caught up with us and it was now raining cats and dogs! Due to the rain and construction work, the road between Matatiele and Maclear was extremely muddy and slippery and we all heaved a sigh of relief as we reached the luxury of a tarred road near Maclear and made quick progress towards Grahamstown.

Botanising in the Border
(Queenstown–Fort Beaufort–Grahamstown–Ecca Pass–Port Elizabeth)

It was still raining when we reached Grahamstown and we had to retrace our steps the following day to do some collecting in the Ecca Pass. This deviation from our original plans was worthwhile—almost everything was in flower and we spent the whole morning collecting in a relatively small area. We found lots of interesting plants (especially mesembs) and saw Strelitzia reginae in full flower.

The rest of the windy afternoon was spent trying to get the specimens pressed before they (or the flimsies) were blown away. What a frustrating task! The beautiful coastal fynbos at Skoenmakerskop was a treasury of flowering plants and introduced us to the Fynbos part of this trip.

Baviaanskloof and Soggy Little Karoo
(Elandsberge–Baviaanskloofberge–Willowmore–Oudtshoorn–
Ladismith–Montagu–Worcester)

We filled up with diesel, bought some chocolates, and made a few last phone calls before heading for the mountains.

Initially, the vegetation was clogged with aliens but higher up in the Elands River Valley we found ourselves in pristine fynbos where Erica, Podalyria, and succulents abound. The narrow, rocky road, beautiful scenery, and excellent botanising opportunities caused us to take two full days to get from the Elandsberg turn-off to Willowmore (a mere 260 km). A zoological highlight from this stage of the trip was the brown-headed kingfisher, which caught a grasshopper in midair—right before our eyes!

The next day it was raining again and we had to cover the presses on the roof rack in plastic bags to keep them dry. Soon we were adapting our itinerary again to get to sunnier surroundings, as a soggy Little Karoo is any collector’s nightmare!

Delightful Cederberg
(Ceres–Sanddrif–Bloukop–Cederberg Wilderness Area–Sanddrif)

On a lovely, sunny spring morning we reached the vicinity of Bloukop to search for a specific Acmadenia species. After a few hours of struggling through the restios and eventually ascending a steep slope, we (especially Priscilla) returned to the vehicle with numerous specimens but no Acmadenia! As this species is only recorded from mountain summits, we gratefully accepted the lift Western Cape Nature Conservation offered us to Sneeukop hut the following day. We eventually found a plant that fitted the description and headed back to Sanddrif, enjoying the wonderful view from the shale band that is locally known as “Die Trap” (The Step) and the magnificent rock formations! It was a perfect day and we agreed that this was as good as it gets.

Getting Lost in the “Tension Zone”
(Matjies River Nature Reserve)

The “Tension Zone” (transition between the Cederberg and Tanqua Karoo) is botanically special because of a marked decrease in rainfall and unique geology. Previous collecting trips by Barry Low and his team resulted in the discovery of five new species and several new records for the area. From 13–15 September, the Cederberg Conservation Group organised a plant-collecting weekend at the Zuurfontein Farm (part of Matjies River Nature Reserve) and we were privileged to be part of this team.

The group met at 6 pm at the office of the Matjies River Nature Reserve for the one-hour drive to Zuurfontein Farm. What was thought to be a relatively quick drive took us approximately three hours owing to the condition of the road/track (we had a trailer filled with plant presses, remember) and the navigational skills of some party members! However, the motivated PRE staff had lots of fun and even botanised using the lights of the SABONET vehicle. At the point where everyone realised that we were totally lost, Marinda found a new distribution record for Amphiglossa rudolphii! We detached the trailer, turned around and a few kilometres later Priscilla dashed from the bakkie to collect a mesem with bright red flowers. No doubt the rest of the party had serious reservations about our sanity.

We eventually reached camp at half past nine and pitched our tents on a more or less stoneless patch of ground, again using the lights of the vehicle. After unpacking and pressing the day’s specimens, we settled down for a welldeserved rest at around midnight!

The next day was spent collecting specimens in the arid fynbos and again we pressed until long after dark. The 4x4 club of Cape Town must be commended for their great patience in putting up with the numerous stops and continual botanising of the group collecting along the Doring River.

Too Late for the Flowers
(Clanwilliam–Botterkloof Pass–Nieuwoudtville–Loeriesfontein–Vanrhynsdorp–Garies–Springbok–
Komaggas–Gamoep–Aggeneys–Klein Pella)

From early August, tourists had been flocking to Namaqualand and surroundings for the spring flower display, but we were into more serious botanical stuff, so we were just in time to see Sparaxis tricolor and Geissorhiza splendida in full bloom around Nieuwoudtville and the end of the season’s Wahlenbergias.

We collected in several under-collected grids and searched for a threatened mesemb on the shale slopes around Loeriesfontein and still found a lot of beautiful flowering specimens to collect or admire.

As we were experiencing hot, dry weather in the Sandveld while searching for Amphiglossa celans (and any mesembs, of course) we were targeted by hundreds of gad-flies and it was rather difficult to take photos or collect specimens while having to protect ourselves from these pests.

We left the Springbok surroundings rather reluctantly to head home through Bushmanland and spent our last night on the road at Klein Pella, where we pressed specimens until late for the last time on this amazing trip.

New Records for PRE
The following species of succulent plants were collected and are new records for PRE.

Crassula pageae: Although widespread (found from the Richtersveld to Stilbaai), it is represented by only five specimens at PRE. We collected a Crassula pageae specimen from near Bloukop in the Cederberg, thus increasing PRE’s holdings of this taxon.

Scopelogena bruynsii: Collected from Matjiesrivier, Cederberg.

No specimens were previously housed at PRE for any of the following species:
Ruschia marianae: Matjiesrivier, new record for grid.
Cephalophyllum alstonii: Matjiesrivier, new record for grid.
Ottosonderia monticola: Southwest of Loeriesfontein, new record for PRE.
Peersia vanheerdei: Southwest of Loeriesfontein, a new grid for PRE.
Phyllobolus prasinus: Northwest of Kotzesrus, new record for PRE.
Cheiridopsis gamoepensis: South of Gamoep, new record for PRE.

The trip was particularly rewarding as new distribution records could be added to four species of Amphiglossa (Asteraceae–Gnaphalieae):
Amphiglossa callunoides was found in the Baviaanskloof river course—it was previously only known from Uitenhage on a farm called Hoeree. Its presence in the Baviaanskloof extends its northern distribution boundary considerably.
A. rudolphii was found in very large numbers on the Matjies River Conservancy and this locality links the northern (Botterkloof) and southern (Worcester) localities perfectly.
A. grisea was also found at Matjies River and its distribution was extended southwards by several degrees from the original locality in the Pakhuis Pass.
A. thuja was found somewhat farther north, near Gamoep. This find confirms the presence of the species in South Africa. Other localities for this species are in Namibia around Lüderitz.

The new records we found stresses the importance to venture into unexplored areas and to make thorough representative collections in these areas.

—by Marinda Koekemoer,
Priscilla Burgoyne,
and Hester Steyn

SABONET News 7.3: 246

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