Excitement about rare plants
The teams in the Garden Route National Park are excited about the discovery of two threatened plant species in Goudveld and Millwood near Knysna.
They were discovered by SANParks scientist Johan Baard, who consulted Wilderness resident Di Turner of the local Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (Crew) group. She visited Goudveld and confirmed that the plants belong to species whose existence is threatened.
Discorea burchelli is indicated as threatened by Sanbi (South African National Biodiversity Institute) and as vulnerable by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). IUCN has described this species as endemic to the Eastern and Western Cape provinces of South Africa, occurring from George to the Kareedouw pass. According to IUCN, the species is threatened by degradation from development and competition from an increase of invasive alien species.
Gladiolus sempervirens is a Sanbi threatened species. According to the Red
List of South African plants, this is a
“rare species that occurs only in favoured habitats in the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountains”.
Baard says both plants are located in areas of the park that used to be plantations and are “exit areas” - that is, where commercial forestry is exiting or in negotiations with SANParks to exit to rehabilitate the areas for inclusion into the Garden Route National Park.
Baard found the Discorea burchelli and referred Crew to its GPS location. Crew had been looking for a specimen of the plant for a long time and members were elated that one was eventually tracked down.
The Gladiolus sempervirens was found close to where there had been an ecological burn.
Baard says the plants were found because they are now getting light and not growing in the shade under tall trees.
According to Baard, of the
2 200 plant species recorded in the Garden Route National Park,
240 are invasive alien species and 1 960 are indigenous.
Goudveld is a popular hide-away situated 22km from Knysna.
Back in 1876, James Hooper discovered gold along the Karatara River. In 1887, more discoveries were made in the nearby Millwood area. Millwood in those days had hotels, a church, a shop, a surgery, a bank, school and a post office. Nestled in the lower slopes of the Outeniqua mountains, the area has a magnificent variety of fynbos, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammal species.