Editorial
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The apparently harsh and unforgiving alpine grassland habitat captured at sunrise from the Tenahead Lodge near Naude's Nek Pass is home to surprising numbers of species adapted to these high-altitude conditions. Included amongst these is the tiny Massonia wittebergensis (Alpine hedgehog lily) that has found a niche in the coarse gravel soils resulting from the decomposition of basalt rock. |
Indigenous plants are the foundation of traditional medicine in Africa. When harvested at a community scale, this is typically done sustainably and with an eye to being able to harvest again in the future. When urban migration occurs in search of better opportunities, this concentrates demand for traditional medicines, and creates the opportunity for commercial-scale harvesting with little regard to sustainability. Teams are employed and they strip areas of all usable resources to supply the markets in urban centers, illegally raiding undisturbed areas despite efforts by landowners and communities.
Attempts to supply some threatened plants via nursery-type projects have often failed due to claims that cultivated plants are not as "potent" as those from wild harvesting but it does seem that some entrepreneurs are starting to find limited local success.
Unfortunately, a much more dangerous threat has emerged over recent years where demand for rare and endangered succulents has grown to epidemic proportions and the rewards for illegal harvesting activities approach those for rhino and elephant poaching. We need all with an interest and love for our indigenous plants to be aware and to report suspicious activities. Our under-resourced conservation authorities have little capacity to tackle these threats on their own.
At a local scale in southern KwaZulu-Natal we have become aware of unusual flowering times of some endemic plants. During the 2024-2025 flowering season we have seen this with some Plectranthus, Indigofera and Helichrysum species, although there are probably other genera exhibiting deviations from their normal flowering times that we have not noticed due to our limited time spent in the field. Is this a sign of global warming or simply stress due to variations in rainfall and temperature? Have any of our readers noticed similar phenomena?
In this edition we have articles on Portulaca, Streptocarpus, Aloe lettyae, the Cyphia of Mpumalanga and the newly described Ozoroa bhangazica. We also have an article on the plants of the Oribi Flats area in southern KZN - at the northern end of the Pondoland Centre of Endemism. There is an article on recent CREW work on range-restricted species around the country.
And, finally, here is an article on the South African segment of the Botanical Art Worldwide project and the exhibition of works from local artists in Johannesburg during May 2025.
I hope readers enjoy the articles in this edition and I wish everyone a wonderful botanical year in 2026.
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