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Afrikaanse Inligting
Pa spathulatus resprouts and reseeds
On my recent trip to the northern slopes of Garcia's Pass, Dave Osborne and I noticed that the young Langeberg Sceptre - Paranomus spathulatus plants (height class 2), were all single stemmed, without question. However, the older plants (height class 3), were showing signs of resprouting. The stems of the older plants tend to merge into one solid trunk right at the very base of the plant. It was not easy to determine whether this was an example of resprouting or reseeding.
Could it just be that Pa spathulatus survives fire by resprouting and reseeding?
Nigel Forshaw, Oakridge
All plants that resprout also produce seed. However, I am not aware of any plant species that first invests in seed production and then reverts to bole production. In theory, this is a bad strategy as committing resources to seed means that there will be insufficient resources available to make a bole. Paranomus seeds are long-lived, and therefore well-packed with resources. However, it is just possible on the arid north slopes, where fires may be less frequent than normal, that such a strategy may work if larger plants were able to sequester additional resources. However, I cannot envisage such a scenario. More likely, there are variable morphs – some reseeding and some resprouting, and depending on recent fire history, one or other survives better. Even this though, is unknown in proteas (although it might occur in Erica), and poses a gene flow conundrum incompatible with theory.
Tony Rebelo
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