Nervilia kotschyi discovered in southern KZN
Text by Tracy Taylor, Anne Skelton, Photos by Gail Bowers-Winters
The annual biodiversity meeting for Rossmin mine near Port Shepstone, KZN, was due for late October and thanks to the Covid lockdown we had missed our usual autumn and winter visits. On Thursday 15 October 2020 Pondoland CREW members assembled under the customary mango tree where we park and set off, happy to be on site after such a long break. Half of the group had not visited the site before so there was much excitement and lots to see – both botanically and scenically. The day had started out as a gentle late spring day but the weather in the Umzimkulu valley can be unpredictable. As the day progressed it became hotter and hotter, the return steps up the steep slope, slower and slower. While most of us were enjoying the shade of the mango tree and a last quench of thirst after our walk, Tracy wandered away up the road looking for Bulbine capitata but above an old Erythrina on a little damp north-facing seep, she chanced upon something she had not seen before.
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| Nervilea kotschyi var. purpurta |
Photographs were taken and sent on to Dr. Benny Bytebier, Curator of the Bews Herbarium for identification. What could it be? Benny confirmed it was a species of orchid, a Nervilia but the question remained which one? Possibilities were N. bicarinata, N. kotschyi, or even N. renschiana, which hasn’t been seen since 1915!
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| Pondoland CREW members on site on the day of the first sighting of Nervilea kotschyi |
So that meant another trip SOON to get more detailed photographs, measurements and DNA material. Diaries were managed and on Tuesday 20 October we all gathered under the mango tree again, this time joined by Benny Bytebier, Kate and Graham Grieve and Lloyd Mhlongo. We headed straight up to the spot and began scouting for flowers. We found nine plants in various stages of flowering. Benny quietly settled down to do his measurements and sampling while we spread out to seek out more treasures.
While Benny was busy, our botanising took us across onto a steep damp south facing slope overlooking the Umzimkulu River, where a host of Kniphofia coddiana were making a fine show. Lloyd’s “Hey look, they are here too” brought us all into focus again. At this spot we counted 11 plants in flower.
This orchid was not going to make it easy for us though, as the leaves are an important diagnostic characteristic and only arrive about a month after the flowers. So we all waited in anticipation for the return visit to complete the identification.
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| Leaf measurements |
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| Leaf measurements |
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| An empty seed capsule on Nervilea kotschyi |
The day came for the previously postponed biodiversity meeting and Sarah Allen, the Environmental Control Officer (ECO), took the alien clearing staff to the Erythrina site beforehand to make them aware that special plants were there. Because of time constraints we opted to show them the second site after the meeting. This gave us the opportunity to include Derreck Ruiters from EKZNW stewardship programme in our mini field trip. The first photographs of the leaves narrowed the identity to N. kotschyi but the leaves were small and still developing.
Another visit was arranged a week later. Benny had provided us with pointers on what to look out for when we did the “leaf visit”. Careful attention was paid to the shape, angle, notch and number of veins on the leaves, as well as whether it was pleated or flat. Accurate measurements were important. We marked out the area with rocks to give ourselves parameters and then started counting…..10…30….50… a whopping 99 in a 3m x 5m patch.
Out came the tape measure/ ruler and the ten biggest leaves were measured and veins counted.
Feeling quite chuffed with the high numbers, we moved over to the second site and repeated the process. This time we marked out an area of 3m x 4m traversed by four definite cattle paths – this conservation area is unfenced and is often subject to illegal grazing. Unfortunately many of the leaves are very close to if not on the actual cattle paths. Once again the count of number of leaves blew our minds at 195.
One plant had been noted on the day of the meeting the previous week with two maturing fruits but sadly it was not found on the return visit.
All the data were collated and sent off to Benny for analysis. And his conclusion based on our field data is Nervilia kotschyi var. purpurata previously recorded only in Pretoria, Barberton and near Sun City. This means that we have found a completely new location for this species and a new species for KwaZulu-Natal.
About the authors: These authors are members of the Pondoland CREW group and participate in regular Thursday outings. Anne Skelton is a retired agronomy related research botanist, now brushing up on plant taxonomy. Tracy Taylor is an amateur botanist and an Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Honorary Officer. Gail Bowers-Winters has a strong conservation background and has learned to love and respect nature and finds herself trying to capture it artistically in oils and pencil as well as with her camera.
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