That afternoon we were joined by an officer from
the parks department, who was to guide us through our second habitat
site, Starvation Creek, high in the Kaapsche Hoop mountains. The
coach made a laboured ascent through pine plantations to the stony
valley where E. laevifolius and lower down the valley, E. humilis
grew. Again this is a drought-affected area and no rain has fallen
for some years. The weather for our visit had now improved though
we were told that despite the warm sun we now enjoyed, temperatures
at night would fall below freezing.
Growing condition here are much harsher than at
the Modjadji location and this was reflected by the slower growth
and much narrower leaflets of the two Encephalartos growing here.
It was certainly worth the scramble over the rocks
down to reach the laevifolius plants, which again stood out in the
parched landscape with their lush appearance. E humilis proved harder
to find, its much smaller stature meaning it was well hidden in
the long grass, but once you had located one, others proved easier
to find. No coning was evident, but this is a fire climax habitat
and cone production is almost certainly stimulated by the passing
of periodic bush fires.
The final location before the actual conference
back in Pretoria was at Middelburg, again up in the hills, in a
similar, dry, rocky environment also affected by cold winter nights.
Two species grow here E. lanatus, which is fairly well represented
in collections and the much larger and rarer E. middelburgensis
Formerly considered a population of E. eugene maraisii, this species
was only described and separated in 1988 and is a lovely blue/grey-leafed
cycad. Only a couple of specimens grow at this site but they are
nonetheless impressive, multi-trunked individuals, some of whose
stems snake over the large boulders that lie about the site.
Cycads in South Africa
