Cape Town - While undertaking a two-day hike along the Boosmansbos Wilderness trail to Grootberg in early December last year, a local botanist discovered a new pink petalled flower in the Langeberg Mountains.
University of Cape Town PhD Botany candidate and Stellenbosch University alumnus Brian du Preez discovered the Cherry Satin flower species, now scientifically known as Geissorhiza seracina, while hiking with his friend and mentor, Professor Peter Linder.
Du Preez said the species formed part of the Iridaceae family, high up in the Langeberg Mountains of the Western Cape, and was one of his most exciting finds over the past 10 years, as new Iridaceae species were rarely found.
“I took photos, but did not collect a specimen. It was only when I got back home and sent the photos to botanist John Manning from the South African National Biodiversity Institute’s (SANBI) Compton Herbarium at Kirstenbosch, an expert on the Iris family, that we realised it is likely a new species,” he said.
Manning said documenting and describing biodiversity was the first step in understanding. He said new species were regularly discovered in South Africa, especially in the Cape Floristic Region of the country.
“In most cases, the new species that are discovered are indeed rare or from remote locations, or from poorly studied groups of organisms, but in other cases the populations may be well known but their status as something different is only now being appreciated,” he said.
Du Preez said this species emerged after the Boosmansbos fire of 2020 that was widely called a disaster and destructive to fynbos by the media, however fire was an essential element of fynbos ecology.
“This species and many other geophytes and small shrubs lay dormant for years waiting for a fire to come through the area that they can have a chance to grow and flower again.
“We need to change the narrative that fires are always destructive. Yes, some areas do burn too regularly, but excluding fires from fire-driven ecosystems does equal damage to our biodiversity,” he said.
With another leading expert on the Iris family, Professor Peter Goldblatt, senior curator at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St Louis in the US, they recently published a description of the species in the South African Journal of Botany.
kristin.engel@inl.co.za
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