Boomplantweek en die Internasionale Jaar van Woude - Dendro.co.za

DENDRON » No/Nr: 43 » November 2011
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tree stories
boomstories
TREE SURVEY IN SEKHUKHUNELAND
its waste gasses into an otherwise clear blue sky. A
distance short of Mecklenburg (an old missionary
site) we turned off into the Tšate valley, an extensive
flat at the foot of the commanding Leolo Mountains.
A string of villages bound the gravel road on either
side with children and goats equally trying to outrun
the car as we drive along peacefully. Although the
valley has basically been denuded of most trees,
we stopped to photograph some fine specimens of
Bead-bean trees (Maerua angolensis) and Wormbark
false-thorn (Albizia anthelmintica). The Hedge
Euphorbia (Euphorbia tirucalli) is abundant in the
villages and is being extensively planted to form
impenetrable enclosures for the paddocks that host
goats and cattle at night.
We stopped at the Information Centre to learn more
about the history and facets of Tšate, and were greeted
by an assembly of friendly attendants eager to assist
with interesting morsels of information in exchange
for a cold drink. Nearby, there is a warrior-monument
on an elevated rock commemorating that fateful day
in 1879 when the Pedi were defeated at the hands of
British, Boer and Swazi soldiers.
The camping place is on the outskirts, but yet within
the bounds, of the village. It’s laid out on a single
stand and was rather crowded with an exceptionally
large number of visitors and vehicles. We made our
obeisance trying to remember the names of all the new
friends we met. We found a most interesting group of
people assembled there on that Friday afternoon: From
the Dendrological Society there were some real hardwood
heavyweights such as Erwin Grobbelaar, Nico
Hager, Naas Grové, and Hans Vahrmeijer. Obviously,
there were also some medium- and light-woods, but
I shall not mention any names for fear of retribution.
However, the latter two groups did certainly contribute
extensively to an entertaining and cheerful evening
around a blazing campfire, smothered only by the
cacophonous and disharmonic thump… thump….
thump… emerging from the oversized loudspeakers
of the near-by Shebeen, which continued until the
early hours of the next day.
The next day was Saturday, and in order to get the
maximum coverage we decided to split up into
various groups and compare notes later. Our friends
from the Euphorbia Society went their way, whilst the
tree people explored the mountain side to the south.
There is a mountain track here, negotiable with your
favourite 4X4. Gawie Oberholzer with only a diff
lock on his bakkie had to give up about half-way up
the slippery slope, but it was good practice for him
anyway! We slowly meandered up the slope, most of
us walking whilst the drivers brought up the vehicles
during identification-breaks.
The vegetation type we surveyed on this slope and on
the plateau above is classified as Mountain Bushveld
(one of five vegetation types in the SCPE) and we
found an abundance of tree species though the density
of these was low to medium. Lower down the slope the
Mauve Chinese-hats (previously Holmskioldia, now
Karomia speciosa) were abundant and in bloom, which
few of us had seen before in their natural environment.
Patches of the Yellow Bauhinia (Bauhinia tomentosa)
were readily identifiable by their characteristic
leaf structure and yellow petals. In our group Naas
Grové did most of the identification work, Johan
Cronje maintained the check list, Gert Middelberg
operated the GPS (for the coordinates and altitude of
our sightings), whilst I did quality control. The latter
is quite an easy job, if you know how. You don’t have
to know too much about trees: All you have to do is
to carry a tree manual, and whenever Naas says, for
example: “This is a Groenstam bitter-bessie boontjiepeulboom”(i.e
tongue in the cheek for marula), all you
have to ask is: “Why are you saying that?” You’ll be
surprised as to how much you can learn from this!
We encountered a number of firewood-collecting
gangs making their way up the slope and greeting us
politely. From a distance, and higher up the incline,
you could soon hear the axes chopping and logs
being manhandled in their efforts to provide energy
for their evening meals. Unfortunately the mountain
side is already virtually stripped of all combustible
material and it is sorry to observe the last remnants,
which should rather be allowed to decay naturally in
order to support new life and growth, being carried to
the village in the valley below in large bundles.
The Mountain Seringa (Kirkia wilmsii) are very
common trees on this west-facing slope. Some are
just barely shrub-like, whilst others grow into tall
trees. Towards the saddle of the mountain we spot an
endemic, the Sekhukhune Bushman’s Tea (Lydenburgia
cassinoidesi) and the Bushveld Saffron (Elaeodendron
transvaalensis), both of the latter being members of
the family Celastraceae. There is also a Red-stemmed
Corkwood (Commiphora harveyi) growing happily on
a rock outcrop. As we reach the saddle we take a short
break to view the expanse of the Tšate valley below,
stretching out towards the north-west. We botanise
around the saddle and admire some large specimens
of the Bushveld Kubu-berry (Mystroxylon aethiopicum
subsp. schlechteri) which seem to thrive in this location.
Remarkable also is the abundance of the Monkey’s Tail
(Xerophyta retinervis). The habitat here seems ideal
for these plants, as they grow to a height of more than
two meters, and branch into several stout stems.
From here we drive by car up to a flat and fertile
plateau which is close to the summit of the mountain,
and at an elevation of over 1200 m as against the valley
floor where the elevation is around 850 m. There are
some interesting ruins here, now overgrown densely
by an assortment of vegetation. It is said that this was
one of the hideouts of Sekhukhune for those occasions
that he deemed disappearance to be the better part of
valour. On the way towards the plateau we have our
first sightings of the endemic Sekhukhune Euphorbia
(Euphorbia sekukuniensis), which occurs only in a very
small area around Sekhukhuneland. On the plateau
there are some fine specimens of the Hairy Rock Fig
(Ficus glumosa), tall trees with an umbrella-like canopy.
TREE SURVEY IN SEKHUKHUNELAND
SEKHUKHUNI-NABOOM, Euphorbia sekukuniensis » Foto: Naas Grové
tree stories
boomstories
While scouting around for trees in the area we kept
an eye open for any possible sightings of avifauna
that should be quite abundant around here. However
it is deplorable to report that we had very few bird
sightings. On the plateau I did observe a Blackcrowned
Tchagra dashing from bush to bush;
overhead some Abdim’s Storks were circling for a
while, and at the campsite there was Yellow-billed
Kite hunting for prey. Similarly, we had only a single
sighting of a mammal, a Rock Dassie which fled
hurriedly as we approached. It appears that the Pedi
have different words to describe the various targets of
a hunt: Hunting for birds is performed by young boys
and is called “go tibiša” whilst hunting for game is the
privilege of grown men and is termed “go tsoma”. It
is evident that both groups are doing a thorough job.
Later in the afternoon we drove by car along the gravel
road leading south, and up a steep pass leading to
the west. The road is fine, and we travelled slowly,
botanising the roadside as we went. Atop we made a
break to once more enjoy the vista of the Tšate valley
and the hazy silhouette of a range of hills to the north.
On returning to the campsite we crossed the Motse
River via a low-water bridge. The river was flowing
strongly and cascading downwards over the bridge,
thus creating a waterfall. The temptation was too strong
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DENDRON » No/Nr: 43 » November 2011