Cycads rare and free
THERE’S an oddity about Natal cycads, according to Westville resident Logan Govender, who has them in his garden.
They are rare and expensive but, probably because legislation requires people to have licences to own them, they are not in great demand.
He has three mature specimens in their full glory, bearing cones, in his top garden that his wife gave him as a gift 22 years ago. Then there’s his forest of little shoots in his bottom garden where he has scattered their seeds that drop to the ground in abundance, not actually expecting them to germinate.
“Just to keep the garden tidy I have to get rid of them, but they are not a problem.”
It nonetheless puts him in a dilemma. “They are very dear to me and
I don’t know what to do with them,” he told the Independent on Saturday.
However, Govender has come up with an idea: to offer the “fairly expensive” seeds, free of charge, to anyone interested, along with information about the legislation and who among the powers that be to get in touch with to obtain the necessary permits.
“I’ll acquaint any takers with the legalities, what is required,” he said.
Known to science as encephalartos natalensis, they attract butterflies and birds – purple-crested turaco and mousebirds among them – to his garden.
Govender said that Natal cycads, which date back to the dinosaur era, are threatened in the wild because of human encroachment on their habitat and the leopard magpie moth, which feasts on the leaves of young shoots.
Anyone interested in contacting Govender can email him on lg@contrav.co.za