Lachenalia sargeantii

Cameron McMaster cameron@haznet.co.za
Sat, 21 Oct 2006 23:39:57 PDT
Hello
On 25 October 2004 we found a population of Lachenalia sargeantii on a section of the mountain that had been burned the previous summer.  This was about 10km to the  east of Napier we we live .  This was the first sighting of this magnificent Lachenalia since it was discovered near Bredasdorp in the Southern Cape in 1971.  Follow up visits to the site the following year yielded no sign of it, proving that it will only flower after fire.  There were extensive fires in the mountain above Naier this year and so we went out this week to find new populations and sure enough were lucky enough to find a small localised population in a rocky outcrop.  There were many plants but only a few in flower - those in flower being the most exposed after the fire.  Where there had been substantial regrowth of vegetation around the lachenalia plants, they did not flower.  So it seems the requirements to flower are not only fire, but also freedom from any competition from surrounding taller vegetation.  Some of the flowering plants can be seen on the wiki. http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
We are expecting Graham Duncan to visit us tomorrow to view this rare and exciting flowering.
Cameron McMaster
African Bulbs
PO Box 26, Napier 7270
Tel/Fax: 028 423 3651
E-mail: africanbulbs@haznet.co.za
Website: http://www.africanbulbs.com/


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