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Afrikaanse Inligting
Channel-leaf Featherbush Aulax cancellata on the Cape Peninsula now burned out
Ann Steele reports that the population of the
Channel-leaf
Featherbush - Aulax cancellata in the Silvermine
Nature Reserve was burned out in the latest January fires. Only some 14 female
plants had produced cones at this stage, and it remains to be seen how well the
species recovers after the fire.
What is of interest is that this is the first time in years that the entire area has burned. Will the Channel-leaf Featherbush be able to spread its distribution beyond the fire belts? We will keep you informed of progress.
Channel-leaf Featherbush Aulax cancellata again! Rediscovered on the front of Table Mountain?
Ann Steele reports that a population of very young plants of the Channel-leaf Featherbush has been discovered by Jack Knight between the Saddle and the Zig-Zag above Cape Town. At this stage only one of the plants has flowered, so that Jack was uncertain of its identity.
Peter Ross and Anne Steele will be visiting the site late in March to confirm the identity, fill in a SRS, look for more plants, determine when the population might be able to sustain the collecting of a herbarium specimen, and explore the needs for a Botanical Society Search and Rescue Programme. There is a very small possibility that the population might well be a planted Aulax pallasia, and we can discount the chances of pine trees or hakeas which might well fool less experienced atlassers.
The only other collection of the Channel-leaf Featherbush from the Cape Peninsula (other than those from Steenberg-Muizenberg) is Burchell's 527 collected in January 1811 from "Table Mountain" - not exactly a precise locality. No collection has been made anywhere on Table Mountain since then. Is this the remnants of Burchell's colony? Is this another example, like Protea grandiceps, of the general decimation of our proteas on Table Mountain? Perhaps it is time to apply pressure for the ecologically sound management of Table Mountain in order to adequately preserve our floral heritage.
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