SUMMARY.
Dwarf bulbs in the summer rainfall region are often adapted to extreme environmental conditions. They grow in niches such as shallow soil over sheets of exposed rock or in situations that are very wet and then very dry. Some of them experience extremes of heat and cold and one of them, an undescribed Massonia from the Lesotho north eastern Cape border area may be under sheets of ice in the winter.
The conditions under which these plants grow are discussed in this newsletter and details are provided as to how they should be cared for in cultivation.
The interior of South Africa consists of an elevated plateau that experiences mostly summer rainfall. The mountainous areas usually receive heavy and prolonged rain at various times in the summer. In the winter there is severe frost on the plains and the elevated parts of the Drakensberg are quite frequently covered in snow and ice. Some dwarf bulbs have adapted well to these extreme conditions, all in interesting ways.
Massonia is a genus best represented in the winter rainfall western Cape and a few species are found in the summer rainfall area. Two interesting ones are Massonia jasminiflora and an apparently undescribed species from high up on the north eastern Cape Drakensberg at an altitude of 2800-3000 metres.
The Drakensberg species has some very unusual adaptations to its extreme environment. The dwarf plants have two prostrate rounded greyish green leaves covered in pustules with stiff mauvish bristles. This renders the bulbs cryptic in the wet dolerite grit where they grow. The leaves appear with the main summer rains in November and December. Flowering takes place in late December and the plants are already in seed by late January. Most of the bulbs enter dormancy in February when the leaves wither. Seeds are distributed by heavy runoff after thundershowers or during periods of prolonged rain. Most seeds do not germinate until the following early summer rains saturate the habitat. The seedlings then have a few months to establish themselves as young bulbs capable of enduring the bitterly cold winter weather.
A rare Massonia species that occurs in dolerite grit adjacent to sheets of exposed rock, on the summit of the Drakensberg in the north eastern Cape. These plants grow at an altitude of 2800-3000 metres experiencing cool moist summers and bitterly cold winters with snow and ice sheets over the habitat.
This species, the smallest and one of the most ornamental of all the Massonias, was photographed in late January 2003 about a month after flowering.
Most bulbs grow at the edges of shallow depressions where the majority of seeds lodge after they have been dispersed.
In the winter the habitat is often covered with snow and ice sheets for days on end.
This Massonia still has to be formally described and may be related to Massonia pygmaea.
Massonia jasminiflora has a wide distribution in the summer rainfall interior of South Africa. A beautiful form with ruby and mauvish brown pustules on the leaves is found on the summit of the mountains north of Queenstown and in the foothills of the Toorberg near Tarkastad. This area of the eastern Cape experiences summer rainfall often in the form of thundershowers, from November to March.
The pustulate leaved form of Massonia jasminiflora occurs in dolerite grit on the mountains of the north eastern Cape particularly around Queenstown and Tarkastat. The plants grow in late summer, February to April, and flower in early May shortly before the first severe frosts of the winter begin.
These ornamental Massonias have flowers with a strong fragrance resembling green apples.
The commoner plain lime green leaved form is fairly widespread in parts of the Free State and even as far north as Wolmaransstad in the North West Province. The plants found near Wolmaransstad have particularly attractive prostrate rounded leaves and large white flowers with a pale lavender bloom.
These Massonias start their growth cycle in February and flower in autumn from mid-April until mid-May. The first frosts occur in May usually towards the end of the month and at this stage the flowering is over and the plants start to form seed. The seed is, however, only ready for liberation into the environ-ment in August at the end of the dry winter.
The pustulate leaved form of Massonia jasminiflora is usually cryptic amongst the dolerite grit where it grows.
The dried inflorescens detach from the parent plants in August, which is often a windy month in habitat. They are blown around distributing the seeds far and wide over the area surrounding the adult bulbs. It is not however until very wet periods during February that conditions are suitable for the seeds to germinate.
The Genus Ornithogalum contains some unusual species amongst which the unifoliate ones are probably the most extraordinary. In recent years a new unifoliate species has been found on dolomite outcrops in the Zeerust district of the North West Province. This is a summer rainfall area but species grows and flowers in the autumn and winter months. This is one adaptation the plant has in order to survive the excessively hot ground temperatures in summer.
An extraordinary new Ornithogalum species that awaits formal description has recently been found in shallow soil pockets on sheets of exposed dolomite in a very small area in the Zeerust district of the North West Province. These plants grow in the late summer and early autumn, February to May. They develop flower buds at about the time of the southern winter equinox in June and flower in August and September at the end of the winter.
This species has one prostrate blade-shaped leaf covered in pustules and short thick bristles. The bristles attract dust and the leaves are often cryptic in their stony habitat. The bulbs flower just before entering dormancy and their seeds are distributed in October, at the beginning of the rainy season. Most seeds are distributed by water runoff after thunderstorms during the height of the summer. Those that reach suitable niches for germination sprout in late February and March when ground temperatures cool down. This is also often the wettest time of the year in habitat.
The leaves of the adult bulbs and seedlings get covered in frost at times in the winter months but this has no adverse effect on the plants.
The Roggeveld escarpment near Sutherland fringing the Western Karoo, is home to another dwarf cryptic undescribed Ornithogalum. This is strictly speaking a winter rainfall region but some plants have adapted to respond immediately to late summer rainstorms in February and March. The Ornithogalum occurs in exposed cold places in dark shaley soil. The single leaf is a deep greenish black. It is flattened and succulent and about the width of a fountain pen. It is particularly cryptic if covered in dust and soil particles.
The new Ornithogalum from the Roggeveld Escarpment near Sutherland has a single striking greenish black leaf, resembling that of Ornithogalum unifoliatum. The leaves are cryptic in nature where they blend well with their dark shaley surroundings.
Leaves are fully developed 2-3 weeks after rainfall. They remain the same size throughout the bitterly cold winter and die back in spring, in October. The bulbs flower as the leaves start to wither and seeds are later released into the environment in the early summer.
The Leolo Mountains in Sekhukhuneland in Limpopo Province are home to a number of rare plants, some endemic to this range with several also un-described.
A small bulb related to Tulbaghia and as yet undescribed is found in seepage areas on the summit of the mountain. The exact taxonomic placement of the plant awaits further research and it may be placed in a monotypic genus. The species is commonest in seepage areas at the edges of vast norite domes which are a feature of the mountain summit.
A small bulbous plant related to Tulbaghia, possibly to be described as a monotypic genus, has very successfully colonised seepage areas adjacent to sheets of exposed rock. It occurs only high up on the summit of the Leolo Mountains in Sekhukhuneland in Limpopo Province. Here it has been photo-graphed growing close to Zantedeschia jucunda, another beautiful Leolo Mountains endemic.
The habitat is periodically saturated for weeks on end in summer and dries out completely in winter. The bulbs have adapted perfectly to these conditions where very little else is able to survive. The only limiting factor is the plants own numbers. It is probable that these bulbs have strong insecticidal properties since they appear to have no known insect predators. The plants smell very strongly of garlic and impregnate the soil in which they grow with the same odour.
The small cup-shaped white flowers have a pinkish bloom and the plants flower throughout the summer with peaks in December and February. Flowering sometimes continues until May if there is sufficient moisture.
The unusual dark green normally prostrate foliage often has a spiralled twist.
Seeds often germinate immediately. Many are, however, washed into unsuitable areas for germination after heavy rainfall.
Resnova megaphylla is one of South Africa’s most attractive bulbs. Its leaves are richly and variably marked with purplish black liver brown and underlying slate markings. Some leaves have large deep olive green blotches and underlying paler markings of the same colour. These plants grow in leaf litter and humus- rich soil under thorn scrub, on rocky hillsides. The niche occupied by the bulbs is colonised by little else and the bulbs often grow gregariously.
Resnova megaphylla has some of the most beautifully marked leaves of all the world’s bulbs.
The plants are confined to humus-rich soil pockets under thorn scrub where they grow in dappled shade. They have colonised this niche very successfully.
The leaves are at their most attractive when newly emerged in the spring months when their markings are fresh and bright.
The Resnova is adapted to flower in the early spring usually before the rains begin. Seeds are produced in November and germinate in humus around the bases of the adult bulbs. The main seeding period coincides with the first good rains of the summer.
CULTIVATION.
All the bulbs discussed in this newsletter make good subjects for container planting. All the species should be grown in direct sunlight apart from the Resnova which requires dappled light or else a position where sunlight is received for a few hours in the morning.
The Resnovas thrive best in a mixture consisting of 1/3 sandy soil, 1/3 river sand and 1/3 sieved well-rotted humus. The Massonias like a mixture consisting of 1/3 sandy soil, 1/3 river sand and 1/3 humus mixed with sandy loam. The new Genus needs a mixture which retains moisture for days on end and is also kept very damp during the growing season. Soils with a high clay content, that are water retentive and slow draining, are ideal for cultivating these plants.
The two Ornithogalum grow best in a mixture of _ loam and _ river sand to which a small amount of finely sieved well-rotted humus has been added.
The Massonia from the Drakensberg should be watered in the early summer with watering gradually reduced after flowering. Water should be withheld when the leaves start to die back in the late summer. Massonia jasminiflora should be watered from late summer until early winter after the bulbs have flowered. The two new Ornithogalum species are best watered from autumn until the leaves start to die back in late winter and spring. Watering should be reduced as the plants start to set seed after flowering and the bulbs need to be kept dry in summer.
The plain leaved form of Massonia jasminiflora has striking white flowers with a strong green apple fragrance. The plants flower in May shortly before the winter frosts begin.