Find the botanist in you
Nature lovers celebrate their appreciation and value of plants, writes Kuli Roberts
It was a welcome reprieve from the gloom and doom of the past few weeks to join nature lovers around the world in celebrating Black Botanists Week. From farmers, PHD students, to professors and florists, it was an interesting week as attention was given to plants. I decided to talk to my former schoolmate Nokwanda Makunga, a plant molecular biologist, to find out more about Black Botanists Week.
What is Black Botanists Week? Is it about the botanical gardens?
The brainchild of Dr Tanisha Williams, Black Botanists Week is a celebration of black people who love plants. This love for plants manifests in many ways, ranging from tropical field ecologists to plant geneticists, to horticulturalist and botanical illustrators.
We embrace the multiple ways that black people engage with and appreciate the global diversity of plant life and Black Botanists Week 2021 was marked last week, from July 26-31, using various social media and webinar platforms. Everyone was welcome as the organisers define a botanist as anyone that has a love for plants and works with plants, including those with informal training in any plant-related field.
As black people, do you think we have a special relationship with plants?
There has always been a heavy reliance on nature because it provides food, shelter, medicine, dyes and clothing, to name a few. As a medicinal plant specialist, I have come to realise the interconnectedness of many of South Africa’s people with nature. It’s a place in which many spiritual rituals take place in terms of African spirituality and a pharmacy for many who depend on indigenous plant biodiversity for their primary health needs.
What’s a typical day in the life of a botanist?
No day is ever typical as it depends on what I’m doing. Sometimes I’m in the classroom teaching aspects of botany at an undergraduate level. At times, I am in the laboratory interacting with my postgraduate students. At other times, I may be writing a scientific paper or purely communicating science to various scientific and public audiences. There are also days when I’m hunting for plants and this field work takes me to different parts of the Cape.
Is your garden a project or just a garden?
I prefer it to reflect what I see in nature. I’m not so much inspired by a heavily manicured garden. So, I tend to go for easy-to-grow plants that are water-wise. I’m enjoying succulents for inside and outside of the house. I’ve recently set up a flower wall inside my bedroom because I have been spending more time at home, like everyone else who could work from home during lockdown.
Besides science books, what else do you read?
I’m currently reading The Emerald Planet by David Beerling. It’s about plants and the role they have played in changes the environment.
Everybody is raving about amapiano, who is your favourite amapiano star?
There has always been a heavy reliance on nature because it provides food and shelter
I’m quite fickle when it comes to music, but DBN Gogo’s Thokoza Café is on my playlist. I especially love the plant imagery that is on the cover and the African symbolism that is featured there too, on a set of beautiful graphics.