In August last yeara group of botanists * set offto explore Namaqualand ­that treasure trove ofinteresting plants especiallysucculents and bulbs ­which probably ranks as theworld's most diverse desert.There were three aims tothe expedition:to visit areas that are notbotanically well known,to involve young and inter­ested botanists in the studyof the flora and to meet andshare knowledge withpeople from the region.

NAMAQUALANDJOURNEY OFDISCOVERYThe 1999 Institute for Plant Conservationand National Geographic Expedition.

by Philip Desmet, Institute for Plant Conservation,University of Cape Town

T he ability to recognize plant species in theCape Floristic Kingdom, of which Namaqua­land is a part, is not easy. Successful conser­

vation of the region's flora relies very much on theability of people to correctly identify plants whennecessary. There is a need to nurture youngbotanists who are committed to learning the region'sflora. This expedition provided an opportunity forthe participants* to interact and gain valuable fieldexperience.

Meeting the landowners and residents of theregion was a key component of the expedition.These people are the present custodians of our floraand helping people understand how important theirnatural heritage is, is the first step towards conser­vation of this country's biodiversity. Articles in thepopular press generated a lot of interest with thebroader public and helped draw attention to theregion's unique flora. This increased interest canhave longer-term benefits for conservation such as

Above. Cheiridopsis peculiaris camouflaged amongst rocks nearSteinkopf. Left. Meyerophytum globosum is endemic to theRiethuis quartz patches. Photos: Philip Desmel.

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A very unusual geophyte, Eriospermum titanopsoides glisteningin the sunlight under a shrub in the northern Knersvlakte.Photo: Philip Desmet.

through the expansion of the nature-based tourismindustry. This is currently seen as one of the majormechanisms for promoting conservation-friendlyland-use practices here, and one of the few realeconomic prospects for the region.

The expedition visited areas throughoutNamaqualand from the Knersvlakte in the south tothe Richtersveld in the north; from the coast in thewest as far inland as Aggeneys in Bushmanland.The weather certainly challenged our powers ofendurance. From berg winds with temperatures inexcess of 35°C on the Knersvlakte, we were plungedtwo days later into sub-zero temperatures with a':rthick blanket of snow at Leliefontein (see coverphoto). Two days later with the approach of anotherfront, the berg winds once againsent the temperatures soaring.Certainly last spring was the mostvariable and testing I have everexperienced in Namaqualand, butthis did not dampen the enthusiasmof the participants.

The testing weather conditionscould not detract from what wediscovered along the way.Highlights of the expedition werethe discovery of new or littleknown plants. Amongst the halfdozen such finds, the most excitingwas the discovery of Conophytum'mirabile', a tiny fuzzy vygie, near Springbok. SteveHammer, our succulent guru from the SpaeroidInstitute in California, had been shown a picture ofthis strange Conophytum many years back by aBritish collector, and he immediately recognizedsomething new. The British collector, however, neverdescribed the plant and subsequently the photo­graphed plant disappeared into obscurity. Many yearswere spent searching Namaqualand for this plant tono avail. Lots of detective work later and Steve's

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The new Cheiridopsis species found near Conophytum 'mirabile'in the Springbok area. The plants are almost completely in theshade of deep cracks. Pholo: Philip Desmet.

hunch eventually proved correct as we discoveredthis beauty nestled in cracks on sun-baked rocks.What a find!

To our surprise we also stumbled across a newspecies of Cheiridopsis (another vygie) at this samelocality. Quite a remarkable plant. The neat clumpslie nestled under small rock overhangs, neverexposed to the sun. The brilliant yellow flowers needto be in direct sunlight to attract pollinators. Conse­quently the pedicel elongates anywhere up to 15 cmlong depending on the plant's location under theoverhang relative to where the flowers should be tocatch the sun. The result is a hillside peppered withyellow flowers all neatly facing the sun, but withouta single plant visible.

An exciting newdiscovery, Conophytum'mirabile', a tiny fuzzyvygie, near Springbok.Photo: Philip Desmet.

Another interesting find was the re-discovery of'Moraea ovata' in the heuweltjie veld of the northernKnersvlakte. This strange geophyte was first collectedby Francis Masson in the 1790s and described as'Moraea ovata'. The only other known collectioncomes from Annelise Ie Roux of Cape Nature Conser­vation who collected the plant in 1995 from a farmnear Skilpad. When John Manning and PeterGoldblatt, who could not be with us, heard we wereheading in that direction we were given explicit

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Above. Diplosoma luckhoffii, the strawberries of the Knersvlakte!Below. Vygies paint this northern Knersvlakte landscape.Photo: Philip Desmet.

instructions to keep our eyes peeled for this myste­rious plant that had for many years eluded theircollection. Although the series of overlapping boat­shaped leaves is very distinct, both existing collec­tions lacked flowering material. Naturally this lead tothe uncertainty surrounding the plant's identity.When totally by accident we stumbled, quite literally,across the plant in the Knersvlakte 200 km south-eastof where it was last collected, the source of theirconfusion was revealed - 'Mamea avata' is actuallya dwarf species of Ferraria!

Recently, Peter and John were on the blower to meagain, this time with a totally new discovery.Evidently we picked up a new species of Ramulea('R. maculata') on a mountain in the northernKnersvlakte. This very large, white-floweredgeophyte is distinguished by its speckled cataphyls

and is a close relative of the magenta-floweredR. neglecta from the Kamiesberg. This was not theonly new geophyte we found. We also picked up asmall white-flowered Hespemntha near Aggeneys.I suspect that as we work through the 360 specimenswe collected on the expedition we will be makingmany more exciting discoveries.

We were also privileged to visit some very specialplaces. Two that have etched themselves in my mindare Fyftien-Myl-se-Berg near Port Nolloth and theGamsberg just east of Aggeneys in northernBushmanland. Fyftien-Myl-se-Berg is a Vatican­equivalent for mesembryanthemologists and succulent­ophiles. Very few places in the Succulent Karoo areso jam-packed with interesting plants. Thefascinating diversity of plants is due partly to thediversity of unique habitats at this site created by thecombination of the cool Atlantic sea-breeze, frequentfog that shrouds the mountain and quartzite rock.Amongst our many interesting finds was a newpopulation of Mitrophyllum roseum, a plant thoughtto be close to extinction! The South African NationalPark currently owns the northern section of thismountain. Consequently the veld has been rested formany years and is in an excellent condition makingplant watching a very rewarding experience - nosheep or goats to get to the plants before you. I amsure many will agree with me that this site certainlywarrants being elevated to full National Park status atsome stage in the future.

The Gamsberg is another very special place. Like aship on the open ocean, it 'sails' across the flat sandyplains of northern Bushmanland drawing the inquis­itive traveller in for a closer look. The brilliant whitequartzite is like none other I have seen elsewhere in

Namaqualand. At times one get the impression thatthe mountain is just pure quartz crystals. Its starklocation and brilliant white rocks give an air ofmystery or purity that is truly captivating. Fromforests of kokerbooms to button-like dwarf succulentshidden between quartz pebbles, the mountain isendowed with many interesting and some very rareplants, and like a true island, forms an outpost ofwinter rainfall Succulent Karoo vegetation deepwithin the summer rainfall ama Karoo. Thisinselberg is owned by Anglo American and like thenorthern part of Fyftien-Myl-se-Berg has alsoremained 'livestock-free' for a number of years. Oneis able to approach within meters of the klipspringerthat inhabit the slopes and volcano-like crater in themiddle of the inselberg, testimony to the absence ofhuman intrusion.

Nowhere have I mentioned the plants that peoplegenerally think of when you mention Namaqualandto them - the annual flower displays. The droughtconditions last year played havoc with the spring­flowering annuals. Only at Skilpad, now part of theNamaqua National Park, and in the sandveld alongthe coast did we experience the postcard carpets offlowers. In fact we were quite surprised at how goodit was in these places. We were, however, privilegedto witness the most spectacular displays of vygieflowers we have ever seen. Steve, one of theexpedition's more experienced participants, hasvisited amaqualand every year, sometimes twice,for the last twenty-five years! He said he had neverseen such brilliant displays. Probably the best displaywas in the camel thorn 'forest' west of Komaggaswhere the ground between the shrubs andp-ees wastuned an iridescent red by the expansive ccirpet~qf

';r

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Lachenalia zebrina in the sandveld near Riethuis. Photo: Philip Desmel.Below. All eyes down. The expeditioners admire conophytums ontop' of the Gamsberg. Pholo: Nick Helme.

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Members of the Paulshoek community, huddled in the shelter of the kookskerm, prepare the eveningmeal around the braai. Photo: Nick Helme.

*Thanks to the sponsors of the expeditionThe group of fifteen botanists, from three countries(SA, U.S.A. and Germany) representing differentorganizations (the Institute for Plant Conservation,University of Cape Town, the Bolus Herbarium in CapeTown, the University of Cologne in Germany, theSpaeroid Institute in the USA, MacGregor Museum inKimberly and Cape Nature Conservation) were giventhe opportunity to travel together and learn from oneanother thanks to the Institute for Plant Conservation(IPC), the National Geographic Society and MazdaWildlife. In 1998, National Geographic gave the lPC atthe University of Cape Town a research grant for'exploration research' in the Succulent Karoo and thiswas used to fund the plant collecting expedition toNamaqualand, undoubtedly one of South Africa'sbotanical crown jewels. Unfortunately the invitedparticipants from the National Botanical Institute,Northern Cape Nature Conservation and South AfricanNational Parks were unable to join the expedition.

vegetarian they remark ­'Oh well in that case wewill have to bring out thepork then.'

Culinary experiencesaside, the braais were afantastic opportunity tochat to people andhopefully give them someinsight as to why city folkare so hung up on theirplants. These experiencesmake the trip sound like aholiday. It was actuallyquite hard work, but thenit is nice to find onarriving at work in themorning that the 'office'floor has been carpetedwith flowers.

The expedition was agreat success. All the

participants thoroughly enjoyed the experience andlearnt much about this wonderful corner of our land.Amazingly, we suffered not a single technical hitch.With over 10 000 kilometers travelled by thecombined vehicles we did not have a single puncture!However, the expedition would not have been thesuccess it was were it not for the generous support ofthe sponsors* and the warm welcome and hospitalityof the farmers and the local communities of Paulshoek,Soebatsfontein and Lekkersing where we stayed.Given the achievements of the expedition and positivefeedback from the participants, we look forward toorganizing another expedition in the near future. ®

Livingstone daisies (Dorotheanthus bellidiformis).Truly a remarkable sight.

The unsurpassed botanizing was accompaniedback at camp by some of the finest hospitalityNamaqualand has to offer. We did not stay in hotelsor formal accommodation but opted to camp infarmers' back gardens, using their sheds as officespace to process the days collections, or camp incommunity camp sites such as at Paulshoek andLekkersing. At Soebatsfontein we were givenpermission from the South African National Parks tocamp under the date palms at a bubbling fresh-~ater

spring called Kookfontein. This farm, purchased with.funds from the Leslie Hill Succulent ':r

Karoo Trust, was recently included in , Culinary experiences aside,the newly proclaimed Namaqua h b' fi' .National Park. Only at our final port t e rams were a antastic opportunity toof call in Aggeneys were we afforded ; chat to people and hopefully give themhot showers as guests of the Black some insight as to why city folk are soMountain Mine and allowed to stay hung up on their plants.,in a mine guest house for theduration of our visit.

At each campsite I had arranged, in advance, withthe respective farmer or community to organize abraai for the expedition. These turned out to be anexperience worthy of their own article. Six braaiswith six groups of people straddling the entirecultural spectrum that Namaqualand has to offer,diamond smugglers excluded. Incredibly, at eachbraai we were served the same fine Namaqualander­fare - boerewors, 'tjops' and 'roosterbrood'.Namaqualand is really about sheep and goats and wetasted some of the best the territory has to offer,prepared and served each time in the same quintes­sential manner over the fire no matter what the socialor cultural background. Greenery in the desert is rare,and for the vegetarians meals at these braaisconsisted of extra 'roosterbrood' (bread rolls baked onthe grid over the open fire) with double helpings ofsousboontjie or beetroot salad. There is a standingjoke in Namaqualand that when confronted by a

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