PANCRATIUM TENUIFOLIUM IN THE SOUTH WESTERN CORNER OF SOUTH AFRICA’S LIMPOPO PROVINCE.
                                                        

A Pancratium tenuifolium flower photographed in the early afternoon a few hours before the petals withered and closed. This flower is likely to have opened at dusk or in the early evening the previous day.

Details of the intricate petal structure of a Pancratium tenuifolium flower late in the flowering cycle, a few hours before the petals closed and the bloom withered and pointed downwards.

Pancratium tenuifolium flowers normally open explosively. Occasionally the outer petals are somewhat fused and the opening process takes a few minutes.

Pancratium tenuifolium photographed in mixed Burkea africana and Terminalia sericea woodland near the Boshoffsberge on 6 October 2007. The flower had just opened and is back lit by the last rays of the setting sun.

SUMMARY.
Pancratium tenuifolium is widely scattered in its distribution within South Africa’s Limpopo Province. The plants are partial to deciduous woodland with sandy soils. They flower within about a week after the first good soaking rains of summer. These may fall at any time between early October and late November and many years may pass in succession with no flowering as the region is subject to prolonged droughts.

When conditions are suitable, mass flowering occurs. The flowers open explosively in the late afternoon or at just before dark. The newsletter focuses on the plants in habitat with a full account of the exceptional early October 2007 flowering season.

NEWSLETTER.
Pancratium tenuifolium occurs in summer rainfall parts of South Africa and is found mostly in the Kalahari of the Northern Cape and also in deciduous woodland in Limpopo Province. The plants require good soaking rains in the first half of summer in order to flower well. Should minimal rains fall a few plants produce leaves and nearly all of them fail to flower.

The beautiful spirally twisted foliage is present throughout the summer after the first good rains until late March when rainfall decreases and the autumn approaches.

PANCRATIUMS IN THE SANDY PLAINS NEAR THE BOSHOFFSBERGE.
The Boshoffsberge are situated in the south western corner of Limpopo Province. These mountains are south of the western end of the Waterberg, a well known landmark in the Thabazimbi district of Limpopo Province. The plains near the Boshoffsberge comprise mixed Burkea africana and Terminalia sericea woodland. These trees are deciduous regaining their seasonal foliage in October, and losing it again with the cooler autumn temperatures in April and early May.

The Pancratiums occur mostly in clumps of some 6 – 70 individuals. Clumps containing 15 – 20 bulbs are regularly encountered in optimum parts of the habitat where the sand is deep. In seasons when the rains are good and start to fall in the first half of October, the pancratiums are exposed to sunlight all day. A small amount of shade is provided by the lattice work of branches above. Later on in the season the bulbs grow mainly in dappled shade except in the rare cases where they are out in the open away from trees.

THE OCTOBER 2007 FLOWERING SEASON.
Heavy rains fell around the Boshoffsberge in late September and early October 2007. The pancratiums responded immediately sending up leaves and flower buds within a few days after the rain.

A preliminary visit was paid to the locality on 5 October. Many of the plants had flowered on 4 October and by the late afternoon the following day the flowers were beginning to close or were already drooping downwards. This drooping habit is characteristic of flowers that have opened the day before.

Many plants in the populations had well developed buds and seemed likely to flower the following day 6 October. Arrangements were hastily made with the photographer Connall Oosterbroek to return the next day, during the early afternoon. Further rain had fallen and the weather was cloudy with intermittent sunny spells.

The fascinating process of the opening of the flowers was set to unfold between 15H00 and 18H00. At about 15H00 most of the buds swelled noticeably and elongated further. They were extensively photographed during this process. Round about 17H00 the first flowers opened. One second there was a fully developed bud ready to open and the next a delicate intricate parachute-like fully opened flower. Most of the flowers had opened by about 17H45, the last ones just a few minutes before sunset.

In a few cases the petals were fused together and it took a few minutes for the flower to open completely. The distinctive white flowers were extremely conspicuous amongst the brown leaves and dry grass. A good watch was kept for pollinators during the whole of the visit for the photography and also the day before, but none were seen.

During episodes of mass flowering, pollination and seed production is excellent, but negligible numbers of flowers are pollinated during dry years when there is poor flowering.

SEED PRODUCTION AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF SEEDS.
The ovary swells quickly after successful pollination of a pancratium flower, and turns a bright green. The seeds develop within about 6 weeks and are liberated when the capsule holding them withers and disintegrates. Many seeds germinate around the parent plants hence the frequent occurrence of dense clumps of closely packed bulbs. Seeds are dispersed by heavy runoff after thunderstorms. They are also spread about by the hooves of grazing livestock as they walk through the habitat.

In years when the pancratiums flower early, much seed obtains the chance to germinate in the mid and later summer months. In practice good seed sets are likely to occur only about once a decade.

CHANGES TO LAND USE PATTERNS.
During the last 20 years a good deal of farms in Limpopo Province have converted from cattle ranching and crop production to game farming. This practice has greatly benefited the pancratiums. The grass cover is kept short by grazing antelope and the sandy soil is regularly turned over by their hooves as they pass through the habitat. The short grass and aerated soil creates ideal flowering and growing conditions for the bulbs.

CULTIVATION.
P. tenuifolium should be grown in large deep pots in a loose well drained medium. The bulbs should be well watered periodically in the spring, summer and early autumn months, but kept dry from the time the leaves die back until the middle of the following spring.

In areas of summer rainfall they grow best when watered naturally by the rain. Care needs to be taken to ensure that the growing medium never becomes compacted since the bulbs rarely, if ever, flower under these conditions.

The pancratiums are best propagated from seeds thinly and evenly scattered across the surface of the growing medium and covered with a very thin layer of soil. Seeds germinate best when exposed to rainfall. Care needs to be taken to ensure that seeds and seedling plants do no dry out during hot summer weather.

SEEDS FOR SOWING AND YOUNG PLANTS.
Penrock Seeds usually has stocks of P. tenuifolium seeds and various size bulbs are available from time to time through Penrock Specialist Flora.

Photographs by Connall Oosterbroek.

Pancratium tenuifolium flowers photographed in the fading light of the late afternoon sun. This photograph was taken a few minutes after the flowers opened.