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Afrikaanse Inligting
Usually interesting information comes in as isolated little titbits. It is striking then, when out of the blue different atlassers report on the same phenomenon.
Apparently,
on certain cool, clear nights, the leaves of the Wagon Tree - Protea
nitida reflect as bright silver to motorists on Ou Kaapseweg near Silvermine.
This is reportedly due to condensation of moisture on the leaves resulting in lots of
silvery reflective droplets of water covering the leaves.
This phenomenon is probably not confined to proteas. It has also been observed on Drimia (Hyacinthaceae) leaves in the dry Karoo. The question, of course, is whether it occurs on other proteas as well? John Rourke notes that Frosted Sugarbush - Protea pruinosa leaves are a very effective moisture trapping device – drawing water from evening mists. Might the large leaves of Pr convexa be moisture-trapping devices? It is too dry on the Witteberg for mist, but what about dew and frost? And why does Laurel-leaf Sugarbush - Protea laurifolia have some populations with grey- or green-leaved plants (which sometimes co-occur - as at Dasklip Pass)? Might the silver leaf trap more moisture than the green leaf?
Is anyone willing to spend a cold night (a clear, windless, cloudless evening, with rapidly dropping temperatures will be ideal) on the tops of these mountains and check these possibilities?
Tony Rebelo
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