SABONET Progress Report Using Interpretive Labels Mateku ... · 4 SABONET News Vol. 8 No. 1 March 2003 letters to the editors [email protected] 1) Manuscripts should preferably

1SABONET News Vol. 8 No. 1 March 2003

Newsletter of the Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Volume 8 No. 1 ISSN 1027-4286 March 2003

SABONET Progress Report

Using Interpretive Labels

Mateku Expedition

Zimbabwe Threatened PlantsProgramme

2 SABONET News Vol. 8 No. 1 March 2003

c o n t e n t s

ON OUR COVER: A true giant herb.

Flowering specimens of the giant

Lobelias in Chimanimani.

(Photo: Anthony Mapaura)

Cover Stories7 Using Interpretive Labels

8 Mateku Expedition

20 Zimbabwe Threatened PlantsProgramme

26 SABONET Progress Report

Features5 Profile: Nonofo E’man

Mosesane

5 Farewell Nyasha!

6 Profile: Puleng Matebesi

7 Using Interpretive Labels toHelp Save ThreatenedPlants—a Case Study

8 SABONET ExpeditionReveals Mateku PlantDiversity

15 The Millennium Seed Bank inSouthern Africa

17 Sedges of SouthernMozambique

18 IUCN Policy on theManagement of Ex SituPopulations

20 Threatened PlantsProgramme for Zimbabwe

22 African Botanic GardensNetwork Launched

25 Annual Logframe Planningand Budget AllocationMeeting

26 Progress Report: End-UserWorkshops, ThreatenedPlants Programmes, andInternships

31 Obituary: Lloyd GideonNkoloma (1944–2003)

30 A Tribute to SABONETContract Staff

34 Luanda Herbarium

Book Reviews42 A Checklist of Lesotho

Grasses Published

43 Regions of Floristic Ende-mism in Southern Africa

44 Trees and Shrubs ofMpumalanga and KrugerNational Park

45 Pteridophytes of UpperKatanga (DRC)

Regulars3 Editorial

4 Letters to the editors

35 From the Web

36 The Paper Chase

46 Regional news update

51 E-mail addresses

ForumBotanicum58 SAAB Gold Medal: Prof.

Chris Bornman

59 The 2001 Compton Prize

59 SAAB Silver Medal forBotany: Prof. Brian Huntley

60 Dr Otto Leistner SilverMedallist (2003)

62 Richard Hall Accepts Certifi-cate of Merit

36 Paper Chase

44 Book Review

8 Mateku Expedition 20 Threatened Plants—Zimbabwe


Newsletter of the Southern African Botanical Diversity Network

EditorsStefan Siebert

Marthina Mössmer

Design and LayoutAntoinette BurkhardtVanilla Design Studio

(27) 82 909-0109

Reproduction and PrintingBusiness Print Centre

(27) 12 349-2295

[email protected]

Websitewww.sabonet.org

Submission of ManuscriptsMarthina Mössmer

[email protected] Instructions to Authors on page 168.

SABONET News is the official newsletterof the Southern African Botanical

Diversity Network (SABONET).

SABONETNational Botanical Institute

Private Bag X101Pretoria 0001

SOUTH AFRICATel.: (27) 12 804-3200

Fax: (27) 12 804-5979/3211

SABONET News is published in March, July andNovember and is distributed free of charge.

Printed on acid-free Dukuza PlusMatte coated paper, whichcontains a minimum of 60%bagasse—the residue remainingafter sugar has been extractedfrom sugar cane.

This newsletter was made possible through supportprovided by the GEF/UNDP (SABONET is a GEFProject implemented by the UNDP) and theRegional Centre for Southern Africa, Gaborone,Botswana, US Agency for International Develop-ment (Plot no. 14818 Lebatlane Road, GaboroneWest, Extension 6 Gaborone), under the terms ofthe Grant No. 690-0283-A-00-5950. The opinionsexpressed in the newsletter are those of theauthors and do not necessarily reflect the views ofthe US Agency for International Development, theGEF/UNDP, the SABONET Steering Committee orthe National Working Groups.

l e t t er f rom the ed i t or sEDITORS: STEFAN SIEBERT & MARTHINA MÖSSMER

Welcome to the first of our new leaner editions of SABONET News—we are sure that you will still find it an interesting read and a sourceof information on southern African botany.

In response to the 2001 Mid-Term Review recommendations, the SABONETSteering Committee listed end-user workshops, threatened plants programmes,and internships as priority activities to gather information for a new project,achieve conservation impact on the ground, and give greater support to theproduction of tangible outputs. In this issue, we discuss progress made withthese three initiatives (page 26).

Another of our cover stories reports on a SABONET-sponsored field trip toPondoland, South Africa—a group of thirteen plant enthusiasts surveyed thearea and they share their interest and experiences with us on page 8.

In addition, this issue includes all our regular items—Profiles, Southern AfricanHerbaria, The Paper Chase, and Regional News. We have three book reviews inthis issue, starting on page 43. The South African Association of Botany’s ForumBotanicum section (page 58) is packed with articles on the recipients of variousprestigious SAAB awards.

As we wrote in the previous issue’s Letter from the editors, SABONET will befocussing on producing publications this year. A checklist of Lesotho grasses hasjust been published (page 42) and checklists of the trees of Botswana and thegrasses of Namibia are in press. We remind all participants that the closing datefor the submission of manuscripts for the SABONET Report Series is 30 June2003—late submissions will be placed on a waiting list and may not be pub-lished!

On the subject of books, we are delighted to report that the SABONET publica-tion Southern African Plant Red Data Lists received Second Prize in the BooksCategory of the Annual Award of Quality Printing of the Printing Industries Fed-eration of South Africa (Northern Chamber), during the International PretoriaShow. Congratulations to everyone involved in producing this award-winningbook!

We were all saddened to hear of the death of Lloyd Nkoloma, Curator of theNational Botanic Gardens of Malawi. This issue includes an article written byLloyd shortly before his sudden death (News from Malawi, page 46), as well asan article by John Roff on Lloyd’s SABONET internship at Natal National Bo-tanical Garden, during which they developed interpretative labels for the bo-tanic garden in Zomba (page 7). We extend our condolences to Lloyd’s familyand colleagues.

Finally, some news from the Regional Office: Nyasha Rukazhanga-Noko, ourSABONET Administrative Officer, has resigned to take up a position as a SeniorHuman Resource Personnel Officer at the National Botanical Institute of SouthAfrica. Read more about Nyasha on page 5.

—Stefan Siebert & Marthina Mössmer


l e t t er s to the ed i t or s [email protected]

1) Manuscripts should preferably be inEnglish.

2) If possible, text should be sent in electronicformat via e-mail or on a stiffy disk andshould be in Microsoft Word, WordPerfect,or Rich Text Format. Otherwise, hard copycan be sent or faxed to the SABONEThead office.

3) Tables and charts should be in one of thefollowing formats: Microsoft Excel, QuattroPro, Lotus 1-2-3, or Harvard Graphics.Data must be supplied with charts.

4) If possible, include colour slides, black-and-white photographs, or line drawings toillustrate articles. If you want to submitscanned images with your article, scanthem at 300 dpi and save as TIF or JPEGfiles.

5) Caption all tables, figures, and photographsclearly on a separate sheet. Includephotographer credits.

6) Each author should provide name,affiliation, postal address, telephone and faxnumbers, and an e-mail address (ifapplicable).

7) Look at the most recent issue of SABONETNews for stylistic conventions.

8) SABONET News holds the right to edit anyreceived copy.

9) Manuscripts should be sent to MarthinaMössmer. Via e-mail: [email protected] copy: SABONET, National BotanicalInstitute, Private Bag X101, Pretoria 0001,SOUTH AFRICA. Fax: (27) 12 804-5979/3211.

10) Submissions for the next issue shouldreach the editors before 30 June 2003.Late submissions will not be included.

instructions to authors

PRAISE FOR RED DATA LISTS BOOK

Thank you very much for send-ing me the book Southern Afri-

can Plant Red Data Lists. I am verypleased to receive this report. Ob-viously a great deal of expertise,effort, and coordination of re-sources went into this excellentcompilation. With best wishes toSABONET for continued success intheir endeavours.

—Peter H. RavenDirector

Missouri Botanical GardenSt. Louis

United States of America

I was very pleased to receive yourpublication Southern African

Plant Red Data Lists. I would like toexpress my satisfaction with thisproduct.

—Mary SancySenior Programme Officer

United Nations Institute for Trainingand Research

GenevaSwitzerland

Congratulations on your excel-lent publication Southern Afri-

can Plant Red Data Lists, which Iwas very pleased to receive. I foundthis publication extremely motivat-ing. An excellent example for re-gional plant conservation activities,and one that IUCN is pleased tosupport. Thanks for your commit-ment and devotion.

—Achim SteinerDirector General

The World Conservation Union(IUCN)Gland

Switzerland

Congratulations with the publi-cation of Southern African

Plant Red Data Lists. The book is amilestone and a much needed “text-book” for conservationists. The ver-sions in Portuguese will make thisinformation accessible to manypeople in Mozambique and Angola.

—Salomao BandeiraDepartment of Biological SciencesUniversidade Eduardo Mondlane

MaputoMozambique


Profile

Nonofo E’man Mosesane

Nonofo was born on 10 September1964 in a Botswana village called

Molepolole situated 50 km west of thecapital, Gaborone. He completed hissecondary education at Kgari SecheleSenior School in 1986. This was fol-lowed by one-year compulsory na-tional service at Rakops Primary Hos-pital and at a Junior Secondary School.He undertook a pre-entry sciencecourse (PESC) with the University ofBotswana in 1988 and qualified forentry to a BSc degree with same insti-tution, which he attained in 1992 ma-joring in Biology and EnvironmentalScience.

He was employed as assistant curatorin June 1992 in the Department of Na-tional Museum, Monuments & Art

Gallery. In 1993 he was offered a one-year diploma course on conservationmanagement with the University Col-lege of London (UCL). He was as-signed the responsibility of the conser-vation of cultural objects in the Ethnol-ogy/Ethnography Division of the Na-tional Museum. He has published ar-ticles in the institution’s magazine, TheZebra’s Voice.

He was nominated as a visiting assist-ant lecturer for PREMA Courses andthis has taken him to the University ofGhana and United Kingdom in 1995.He was also assigned to assess the con-dition of Botswana’s “Pula Exhibition”that was floating in Europe and this hedid in Sweden. He served in the na-tional Standing Committee on Preser-vation and Conservation (SCOPAC).

When he moved back to the NaturalHistory Division he took on botanywith emphasis on plant conservation.He is currently the Curator of the Na-tional Botanical Garden in Gaborone.He has served in a number of refer-ence committees on community-basednatural resources management(CBNRM). He is a member of the na-tional focal point on the Convention onBiological Diversity (CBD).

The 1998 the Environmental EducationAssociation of Southern Africa(EEASA) Conference saw him presentthe topic, “Botanical gardens, tools forenvironmental education—Botswanastudy case”.

His involvement with SABONETstarted in 1997. He was the understudy

to the head of Natural History, Mr UlfNermark, who served as the NationalCoordinator for SABONET-Botswana,in 1998. He attended the September1998 Botanic Gardens ConservationInternational (BGCI) Conference inCape Town, South Africa. He partici-pated in the needs assessment exerciseof the Botswana National BotanicalGarden. In 2000 the Botswana Govern-ment sponsored him for an MSc de-gree at the University of Stellenbosch.His project was on the biology, ecol-ogy, and economics of Sclerocaryabirrea (Anacardiaceae) in Botswana.

He was a team member during theecological economics assessment ofthe Kruger National Park water catch-ments in 2000. He presented a posterat Kakamas conference of Arid ZoneEcology Forum in September 2000. Heregularly attended seminars at theUniversity of the Western Cape andUniversity of Cape Town.

Nonofo is currently the National Co-ordinator for SABONET-Botswana.This has enabled him to interact witha number of botanists and plant spe-cialists in the region and abroad. Heattended the World Summit on Sus-tainable Development (WSSD) in Jo-hannesburg, South Africa, thanks toSABONET for sponsorship. SABO-NET also sponsored him to attend thefirst African Botanical Garden Net-work conference held in Durban,South Africa in November 2002.

He is married to Boipuso and has athree-year-old daughter, Rorisang.

Nyasha Rukazhanga-Noko hasbeen with the SABONET Project

for just over four years, having startedas the SABONET Administrative Of-ficer at the National Herbarium, Pre-toria, on 1 October 1998. We receivednotice of her resignation with greatexcitement, not because we are gladto see her leave, but because we arepleased to see a well-pruned tree bearso many fruit. From 1 April 2003,Nyasha will fill the position of SeniorPersonnel Officer at the National Bo-tanical Institute in Pretoria, South Af-rica. She will be responsible for Hu-man Resource matters, a career direc-tion she has been dreaming of foryears. We are sure that she will rise tothis new endeavour with all the inspi-

ration and commitment shehas shown as a member ofSABONET.

As a SABONET contractworker, Nyasha was veryenthusiastic about her work.Over the past four years sheimpressed us with her par-ticularly effective work ca-pacity, and her ability to successfullymanage the communication and ad-ministration between the RegionalOffice and the participating institutionsin ten southern African countries. Notonly has the SABONET Project recog-nised the quality of her work and man-agement, but also the NBI could nothave done without her efficient serv-

ices during the past twoyears as secretary to theDirectorate: Gardensand Horticultural Serv-ices.

As the SABONET Ad-ministration Officer,Nyasha organised vari-ous SABONET Steering

Committee meetings where she tookminutes in such a manner that eventhe Steering Committee could under-stand what they had decided! Duringher time with us, she booked theflights and accommodation of prob-ably more than 1,000 people to attend

Farewell Nyasha!

(continued overleaf)


Puleng Matebesi was born on 4 Au-gust 1974 in Quthing District,

Lesotho. She obtained a CambridgeOverseas School Certificate in 1993. In1994, Puleng started attending LesothoAgricultural College, now known asFaculty of Agriculture of the NationalUniversity of Lesotho. She obtained adiploma in Agricultural Education andcompleted a First Class BSc (Agric)degree in 2000, which resulted in thepublication, Ng’ambi J.W. and Mate-besi, P.A. (2001) Kidding, Mortality andOfftake rates of Angora goats in theMountains and Lowlands of Molimo-Nthuse area in Lesotho, UNISWA Re-search Journal of Agriculture, Scienceand Technology (5) 68–72. Upon com-pletion of her studies, Puleng receivedthe South African High CommissionAward for the best graduating student

Profile

Puleng Matebesi

in the Faculty of Agriculture, and theEbenebe Award for the best fourthyear graduating student.

In July 2000, Puleng joined theSABONET Project and was appointedHerbarium Research Officer. She isresponsible for the overall supervisionof herbarium activities in Lesotho’sthree herbaria: National University ofLesotho Herbarium (ROML), Agricul-tural Research Herbarium (MASE),and Sehlabathebe National Park Her-barium (SNPH). Puleng attended theSABONET Database Managementand Herbarium Manager’s courses,both held in Pretoria. These coursesequipped her with herbarium curationand herbarium data capturing skills.She is also in charge of project admin-istration activities such as writing re-ports, organizing field trips and pro-curing project equipment. Puleng’s in-volvement in the SABONET projecthas shifted her career interests fromAgriculture to Botany, mainly speciesconservation.

Puleng actively participated in severalplant rescue missions around theLesotho Highlands Water Project area.About 2,500 herbarium specimens,seeds, and live plant specimens werecollected before inundation of theMohale dam. She also took part in theSenqu River Valley plant collection ex-pedition where about 2,300 live andherbarium specimens were collected.

On 13 April 2002, Puleng marriedMatabane Ranthimo, and has a daugh-ter, Lineo who is nine months old.Puleng enjoys gardening, watchingsoccer, reading, and listening to clas-sical music.

courses, workshops, meetings, andinternship in southern Africa. Infact, these were only a few of herresponsibilities, and her duties be-hind the scenes would be too nu-merous to mention here. So effi-cient was her networking abilityand service delivery to the partici-pating institutions, that no matterwhere we travelled in southern Af-rica, the first words from our hostswould be “How are you and howis Nyasha?”.

Recently Nyasha amazed us withher dedication to life and all its chal-lenges. As a grass widow (her hus-band’s company sends him to An-gola for long periods), she had totake care of her son by herself, al-though she worked full day from7:30–16:00. In addition, the period2001–2002 was most probably thebusiest in the history of the project,which resulted in Nyasha having totake large amounts of work home.This she could only attend to aftereight in the evening when her sonwent to sleep. During this time,Nyasha was also enrolled for thesecond year of a part-time B.Comm. degree, which she had tostudy for around midnight. Despiteall this, not once were any of herSABONET duties not completed!

Nyasha is always friendly and will-ing to assist with any problem. Shecontributed substantially to theteam spirit of the Secretariat andhas left her mark in the project.Thanks for your enthusiasm andhard work Nyasha!

We wish you the best of luck withyour future career and we will defi-nitely miss you a lot!

Nyasha Rukazhanga-Noko is thelast of the original SABONET Re-gional Office staff members to packher bags and move on. ChristopherWillis left the project in October2000 and Carina Haasbroek left inJune 2001 (see SABONET News6(3): 138–141 & 7(2): 105).

—Stefan Siebert & MarthinaMössmer


The future of many of Africa’s plants is threatenedby their fast disappearing natural habitats, and in

some cases is in danger of extinction. Simple natureinterpretation techniques can be used to heightenawareness of these problems, and promote action thatvisitors to botanical gardens can take to help save theseplants.

Lloyd Nkoloma, of Zomba Botanical Garden (ZBG) inMalawi, visited the Natal National Botanical Garden(NNBG) in Pietermaritzburg (South Africa) for a twoweek SABONET internship during 2002. His particu-lar interests were Interpretation and Threatened Plants.A successful interpretive technique now used in sev-eral National Botanical Gardens in South Africa is theuse of interpretive plant labels, or ‘interprelabels’.

After developing an initial interpretive plan for ZBG,Lloyd and I decided to use a modified interprelabel forinterpreting some of the threatened tree species grow-ing in the Zomba garden. Eight labels were developedinitially, and these are in the process of being tested inthe Zomba garden.

The process of developing the labels highlights thevalue of networking—Lloyd learned useful techniques,and John discovered an effective design for bilingualsigns.

—John RoffInterpretation CoordinatorNational Botanical Institute

[email protected]

This article is dedicated to Lloyd Nkoloma in honour of his workin plant conservation and interpretation in Malawi.

John Roff and Lloyd Nkoloma holding some of the labelsthey developed for the Zomba Botanical Garden.(Photo: National Botanical Institute)

Using Interpretive Labels toHelp Save Threatened Plants

The Development of “Interprelabels”

Plant labels in botanical gardens have traditionally beenlimited to the scientific name, family name, commonnames, and distribution. While this is valuable informa-tion, most visitors to gardens find it difficult to relate tothese frequently unfamiliar words, and thus can find theplants and their usually fascinating stories somewhatinaccessible. Since a major purpose of many of our gar-dens in Africa is an educational one, it seems necessaryto look for ways in which plants and their stories can bemade more graspable to visitors.

After discussions and idea-sharing with MarkRichardson of Alice Springs Desert Park in Australia,John Roff began experimenting with various plant la-bel designs that were more interpretive than the tradi-tional botanical garden labels. After extensive visitortrials and testing, and suggestions from numerous col-leagues, the format below emerged as being easiest toread and containing all the detail required by the vari-ous users of a garden. This format is on trial in severalgardens, and is being formally evaluated as part of aresearch project through the school of Environment andDevelopment at the University of Natal.

—a Case Study


with local communities. The area waschosen as a conservation park becauseof its unique biodiversity and relativelylow human population density.

To explore the rich flora of Pondoland,the Natal Herbarium, sponsored bySABONET, organised a field trip toMateku during November of last year.The group of thirteen plant enthusiastssurveyed the area between MatekuFalls and Msikaba River, and thataround Lambazi Bay and Goss Point.Participants included amateur bota-nists and area experts, Tony Abbott,Simon Woodley, and MatthewWilliams; University of Durban-Westville’s taxonomy trio, Dr. AshleyNicholas, Alibekit Alibekit and PravinPoorun; and University of Stellen-bosch’s plant systematics convert, Prof.Dirk Bellstedt. Horticulturalists in theteam were Teddy Govender from Dur-ban Parks and Gardens and SiyabulelaNonjinge from Natal National Botani-cal Gardens. Eastern Cape residentNeziswa Nombekele from the Univer-

sity of Transkei joined in and MeetaNathoo, Melusi Mazibuko, ZolekaDimon and myself from the Natal Her-barium completed the team. In thisarticle, some of the participants sharetheir interest and experiences in thePondoland hotspot.

On approaching the gravel roads toLambazi from Flagstaff, the inspiringlandscape charged up the group’s en-thusiasm for the week ahead. Manyunforgettable lessons were learnt inthat week: the area experts introducedus to Mateku, its plant diversity, geol-ogy, and importance. Unfortunately,rerouting of the N2 from Port Edwardto Umtata threatens the ecologicallysensitive wilderness area of Pondo-land, and there are major concernsabout protection of the area’s biodi-versity. As government’s decision onthe new road looms, controversial de-bate proceeds (see comment byGeoffrey Davies Where to the N2? inMail & Guardian, 24-30 January 2003).

Pondoland Centre: BotanicalUtopia

Along the Indian Ocean Coastline,the Pondoland Wild Coast is most

extraordinary. It is a land of rolling hills,towering cliffs, cascading waterfalls,rocky coves, and sandy beaches—na-ture’s gift in perpetuity. The Pondolandcoast is also characterised by a remark-able natural diversity that relates to theMsikaba Sandstone, a formation quitedifferent from the Natal GroupSandstones (see Regions of FloristicEndemism in southern Africa by A.E.van Wyk & G.F. Smith, 2001: 94–101). Itis home to about 1,800 vascular plantspecies of which close to 7% (120 spe-cies) are endemic to the region, andfurther boasts the highest concentra-tion of rare woody plants in southernAfrica. During 2003 it is envisaged thatthis centre of floristic endemism willbecome the Pondoland National Park.This glorious national resource will bemanaged by the South African Na-tional Parks (SAN Parks) in partnership

RevealsSABONET Expedition

Mateku Plant DiversityCytorchis arcuata on Syzygium cordatum trees in swamp forest. (Photo: Dirk Bellstedt)


India

n O

cean

If the road goes ahead this group willbear witness to the beauty that was.

Ashley’s training on Collecting speci-mens for systematic study or taxonomicrevision brought us back on track withcollecting methods, while Dirk’s les-sons on Collecting samples for DNAanalysis created greater awareness andappreciation for molecular systema-tists and their reliance on fieldworkers.Since fieldwork directs plant classifi-cation, Ashley threw in an exercise onMacrosystematic Classification andEvolution. If you were into the exer-cise, your search was harder as youhad to collect members of particularfamilies.

About 190 species representing 58families were collected for herbariumspecimens (see appended checklist),while 100 propagules were collectedfor cultivation. Each evening, aspresses filled up, there was compar-ing and identifying of the day’s collec-tions. Discussions and the occasionalargument on species or biodiversitythreats ended only with the announce-ment of dinner. On a personal level, thetrip was very rewarding. I collected 13species of Hypoxis, and the pride of thecollection was the white flowered H.membranacea. This coastal speciesforms small colonies on the shadymoist cliff face of the Tezana River. Ialso stumbled upon the often-over-looked Eastern Cape endemic H.flanaganii, similar in size to Rhodo-hypoxis and distinguished from otherHypoxis species by its single-floweredinflorescences. My curiosity-findturned out to be Bulbine favosa, an elu-sive grassland herb with thin wiryleaves and branching tubers.

The trip was made possible by funding fromSABONET, for which we are most grateful.The success of the trip was due to contribu-tions (academic and casual) by participants.Pat and Karen Goss are thanked for the useof Lambazi Lodge and Tony Abbott for hisassistance with planning the trip. Next time,Tony, the ladies will take up the gorgechallenge!

—Yashica SinghNational Botanical Institution

Natal HerbariumBotanic Gardens Road

Durban, [email protected]

The area covered during the trip. (Maps of southern Africa and Natal taken from Regions ofFloristic endemism in southern Africa, Van Wyk and Smith, 2001. See book review on p. 43.)

areas covered during the tripsecondary roadrivers

➤


Pondoland Endemics

Mateku Falls dramatically headsthe main Mateku Gorge leading

to the Msikaba River, a deep and re-mote place difficult to reach. We sur-veyed the river gorge below us andwere dismayed that the route pro-posed for the new national road wouldcross this sensitive area. A major landmodification such as a national roadwill inevitably cause considerabledamage to the environment and itsbiodiversity.

We decided to start our investigationsalong the Mateku Gorge and thegrasslands above. Simon, Matthew,Dirk, and I decided to plumb thedepths and were first turned back onthe side kloof we chose as access. Wemanaged, however, to penetrate thesecond choice, which led us down tothe river. Here we saw a magnificentspecimen of a new species of Ochnain full fruit, with the startling red caly-ces making a superb picture againstthe rugged walls of the gorge. Heretoo, we saw several Pondoland Centreendemics, Syzygium pondoense grow-ing in good numbers along the riverwith plenty of Gymnosporia bachmanniitucked into the rocks. It was good to seea small stand of Maytenus oleosa, a lesscommon endemic. The lovely Indigoferajucunda was plentiful but regrettably notin flower.

A tree not commonly encountered isSeemannaralia gerrardii, which hasdistinctive palmate leaves. I have onlyencountered it on Mount Sullivan at

Port St. Johns and near Eston inKwaZulu-Natal. Our short investiga-tion of the grasslands revealed twoendemic species, geoxylic suffruticesEriosemopsis subanisophylla andLeucadendron spissifolium subsp.oribinum. The inadequate rainy seasonto date was responsible for the ratherpoor flowering in the grasslands.

There were three other endemic spe-cies, which we hoped to see. One wasan unusual species of Ipomoea grow-ing in shallow beds of Selaginellacapensis on the sandstone rocks. Thesecond was a form of Agathosma ovatathat grows just to the north in an ex-tremely limited distribution alongstreams. The last was a form of Ericacaffra, which we call “cliff Erica” be-cause of its preferred habitat. Alas, thearea seemed to be just too dry this sea-son for the Ipomoea and the other tworefused to oblige us.

Nevertheless, it was an extremely valu-able trip providing us with an insightinto an area largely unexplored. Quitepossibly the gorges have not been vis-ited by botanists before. Both theMateku and Msikaba Rivers containmany of the expected endemic woodyplants of the Pondoland Centre. Ofparticular note was Ochna sp. nov., adelight with dozens of fruiting headsin bright red. The occurrence of manyspecimens of Syzygium pondoense,Gymnosporia bachmannii, andMaytenus oleosa and other endemicspecies underlined the importance ofthese gorges as a part of the PondolandCentre. Unfortunately, the effort and

time it took to get down to the riversrestricted further exploration. I believethat it is important that future explora-tion of the Mateku and Msikaba Riv-ers be undertaken by those young andfit enough! I have no doubt that thereare more interesting finds to come outof the grasslands and the gorges of thePondoland Centre.

—Tony AbbottP.O. Box 111, Port Edward, 4295

[email protected]

Orchids, Strepts, and Plects

My interest in participating in theSABONET expedition was col-

lecting terrestrial orchids, Streptocar-pus and Plectranthus. It was an idealopportunity to collect those speciesthat flower early in the season as I hadonly visited these areas after Januaryin past years. In addition, I wanted tosearch the kloofs between theLupatana River and the Msikaba Riverto establish which species of thesegroups occur there.

At Mateku Falls, we were greeted byStenoglottis macclouchlinii floweringon the rock outcrops above the falls.In the past, this species was viewed tobe a synonym of Stenoglottis woodii,but our recent molecular systematicwork supports its separate species sta-tus. Below Mateku Falls on thegrassveld south of the Msikaba Gorge,I was lucky to catch the last Disa caffraand Disa woodii in flower, and vastnumbers of Disa tripetaloides wereflowering along the streams. The

From left to right: Forest along Msikaba Gorge. (Photo: Meeta Nathoo); Gnidia triplinervis adds colour along Mkweni River.(Photo: Yashica Singh); Mateku Falls. (Photo: Yashica Singh).

From left to right: Dirk and Teddy attempt virtual travel in the dark. (Photo: Yashica Singh); Presses pile up on the lodgeverandah as the week progresses. (Photo: Ashley Nicholas); At work—Ashley, Meeta, and Melusi. (Photo: Ashley Nicholas).


swamp forest also contained manyepiphytic orchids and some beautifulCyrtorchis arcuata were observed onvery old Syzygium cordatum treesgrowing along the streams. The pro-posed road through this area wouldindeed jeopardize the sensitive or-chids.

Searches of the river gorges betweenthe Lupatana River and the Msikabarevealed that these gorges were verydifferent to each other with regard tomoisture levels and forest cover, andas a result contained a range of spe-cies of orchids. Again, we foundStenoglottis macclouchlinii and a sin-gle white flowering plant that wasclearly albinistic in the upper reachesof the Mbaxeni River Gorge. We alsofound Streptocarpus porphyrostachysand Streptocarpus modestus, bothPondoland endemics, on the kloofwalls and in rock cracks in the higherreaches of the kloofs. Plectranthusciliatus was found in the Mkweni RiverGorge, P. zuluensis and P. ciliatus in theTezana River Gorge and P. saccatussubsp. pondoensis and P. fruticosus inthe Mbaxeni River Gorge. The fact thateach of these gorges contained differ-ent species was particularly perplex-ing. This also indicates the sensitivenature of the area and gives furthersupport for its conservation. The estab-lishment of careful inventories of theseisolated habitats is very importantsince they appear to represent refugiain which herbaceous taxa may beevolving. I hope that our research intothe speciation in these genera usingmolecular techniques to unravel their

systematics and population geneticswill shed more light on the evolutionof these forest floor inhabitants in fu-ture.

—Dirk BellstedtDepartment of Biochemistry

University of StellenboschPrivate Bag X1, Matieland, 7602.

[email protected]

Scientific Data can Help SaveBiological Resources

To most South Africans, the nameWild Coast conjures up pictures of

expansive stretches of almost inacces-sible wilderness and sea; and so itshould. As a result, I was more thanpleased to be invited to participate inthe SABONET/NBI expedition to theLambazi-Mateku region of the EasternCape Province. The fact that this areaconstitutes a unique biota correlatedto its Msikaba Sandstone geologymakes the region of particular interestto biologists.

Wilderness areas such as the WildCoast are a botanist’s base-line labo-ratory, and although our jobs shouldbe structured to let us spend more timein these living laboratories it does notusually work that way. I believe thatthis will eventually have a negative ef-fect on that vast collection of importantknowledge that makes up the science ofbotany. I was thus extremely pleased thatthis trip rescued me from my humanmade laboratory and gave me the oppor-tunity to observe and collect plants attheir most fundamental level.

Having a base camp, organised meals,and a well laid out itinerary allowed usto maximise our time in the field. Sea-soned collectors know that the bestscientific collections are not made in arush, and this includes not rushing in-spection of the collection area and ob-servations on the specimens being col-lected. However, this trip was aboutmore than just the collection of speci-mens, it was also about learning. Inparticular, I appreciated lectures on thecollection of DNA material by Prof.Dirk Bellstedt. For a number of yearsnow I have advocated the idea that thecollection of DNA samples should bea routine part of specialist herbariumcollecting. Although professionalswere invited to give lectures on sub-jects in their fields, much of the learn-ing took place in a serendipitous man-ner, for instance crouching over astrange flowering herb in the field orduring a pre-dinner discussion hover-ing over a map. With twelve botanists(professional and amateur) and onebiochemist, the amount of expertise onthis trip was immense and each onebrought something unique to the ex-pedition. Discussions with the horticul-turalists proved especially fascinating.It is always good to see how plants areviewed from different perspectives. Itprovides new insights and preventsold botanists from becoming jaded.

If the organisers wanted to find a keyword to sum up this fieldtrip, I wouldsuggest they consider the word enrich-ing. Important collections that will helpus understand and manage thebiodiversity of this important region

From left to right: Gorge troupe chart a route for Msikaba Gorge. (Photo: Yashica Singh); Dirk explains the basis of DNA analysis.(Photo: Yashica Singh); Ashley demonstrates plant collecting techniques at a breakfast briefing. (Photo: Meeta Nathoo).

From left to right: Mateku Falls and surrounds. (Photo: Tony Abbott); Gymnosporia bachmannii. (Photo: Tony Abbott);Hypoxis membranacea perched on rocky cliff face. (Photo: Yashica Singh).


enriched science, while the partici-pants were enriched with a rewardinglife experience and the opportunity tolearn more about their world.

On returning to my office, one of myMaster’s students, involved with aproject on the Palmiet River, asked meto look through aerial photographs ofthe Durban area taken in 1961. Al-though not surprised, I still felt dismaywhen I saw how many once naturalareas in these photographs are nowdeveloped or degraded. In 40 years, thesize of the city must have increased byalmost 300% and population densityhas also increased. Impact on the natu-ral vegetation has been catastrophic.Given the increasing human popu-lations and growing demands for natu-ral resources we may not be able tostop the transformation of the biologi-cal environment but we can attemptto minimise the degradation of it. TheWild Coast contains some of the best-kept and pristine wilderness areas be-tween Durban and Port Elizabeth. Letus hope this area does not become an-other Durban. I hope that this field trip

to Mateku will help provide some ofthe scientific data needed to ensurethat these unique and ancient bio-spheric resources are maintained in awise and sustainable manner. This in-cludes ensuring the welfare of the peo-ple of the area.

Once again my thanks to SABONET and theNBI, especially the staff of their Durban unit.

—Ashley NicholasBotany

School of Life & EnvironmentalSciences

University of Durban—WestvillePrivate Bag X54001, Durban 4000

[email protected]

What, No Snakes?

It was the first time that I joined per-sons from different institutions with

the objective of collecting plants in thewild. Some tension popped up when Ithought about where we are going tocollect, whether I will be successful incollecting my target species, and howmany mambas will I meet—the last

being my main worry on field trips.Anyway, the week came and went, andall these thoughts were just unneces-sary pre-trip jitters.

The first day started out with my find-ing Cyrtanthus brachyscyphus on theforest margin. Later, the day turned outa little frustrating for me when I lostthe small group of gorge enthusiastsand the thought of confronting a snakeon this dry hot day was enough to forceme back to base, where I watchedgrassland devotees sample the raindeprived hillsides.

Our area fundis, Tony and Simon, wereof great help navigating paths andpointing out Pondoland endemics. Ihave been collecting from Port St.John’s and Lusikiki, but this trip tookme to Mkweni River for the first time.Seeing Nymphaea and Leucadendronpondoense in the wild was quite fasci-nating as we normally read about theseplants and the attempts to conservethem.

From left to right: Teddy and Simon discuss horticultural methods for cuttings. (Photo: Tony Abbott); Teddy living on theedge—collecting orchids above Mateku Falls. (Photo: Dirk Bellstedt); Msikaba River. (Photo: Meeta Nathoo).

From left to right: Ochna sp. nov. in Mateku River. (Photo: Tony Abbott); Msikaba Gorge—site for new N2 Bridge. (Photo: Tony Abbott);Goss Point—Mkweni River enters the sea. (Photo: Yashica Singh).


I was really impressed by the eager-ness on the faces of my team mates aswe all set out to collect our earthlytreasures. Our role as horticulturists(Teddy was my partner) was to collectseeds and cuttings for display and forthe living collections in our gardens.Each evening we filled perlite trays tokeep the cuttings alive until we re-turned to work and I am pleased toreport that those cuttings have rootedas I write this. I collected 28 species asseeds and cuttings and 11 living plants.Five herb sheets were prepared for in-corporation into the Bews Herbarium.

These trips always give participants achance to get to know the likes and dis-likes of others. My fear of snakes andZoleka’s fear of geckos (especially inconditions of rationed lighting) are buta few. The trip was wonderful, exceptfor the fact that a tick cost me two daysoff work. Thanks and well done to theorganisers!

—Siyabulela NonjingeNational Botanical Institute

From left to right: Dirk demonstrates drying of leaf samples in silica. (Photo: Yashica Singh); Eucomis autumnalis in grasslandat Goss Point. (Photo: Yashica Singh); Mkweni River draped with Watsonia. (Photo: Meeta Nathoo).

After a week, the group gathers in front of Lambazi Lodge. (Photo: Yashica Singh)

Natal National Botanic GardensP.O. Box 21667Mayor’s Walk

Pietermaritzburg, [email protected]

Botanists in the Field

The year and a bit that I spent as adatacapturer for the SABONET

project at NH has allowed me to expe-rience some very inspiring moments.One of these moments was theSABONET Pondoland Expedition tothe Eastern Cape–Mateku region. Iwatched as participants scurried offeach day in quest of their “soul plant”and I quietly envied them their passion.Gradually, this passion for plants be-came catchy and I started to feel thesatisfaction and joy of fieldwork, whilstgaining a careful understanding ofwhat a botanist’s life entailed. The lec-tures were stimulating and informativefor novice collectors like myself. Iden-tifying our collections while pressingturned out to be great fun. It gave mean opportunity to recall some plants

that I had encoded in the herbarium.Every so often, you would hear“Where’s Elsa?” in reference to ElsaPooley’s “Wildflower Guide”. I look for-ward to seeing the checklist of plantscollected by the group on the uniquesandstone formation.

—Meeta NathooNational Botanical Institution

Natal HerbariumBotanic Gardens Road

Durban, 4001

Meeta resigned from her post the end ofJanuary to take up an honours study inChemistry at University of Natal, Durban. Wewish her all the best!


Provisional Plant ChecklistWe drew up the following checklist of plants from herbarium collections made during the expedition. Taxa not yetidentified to species level are indicated as sp. The list was compared against the PRECIS list for Grid 3129BD andthose that constitute new records for the PRE are marked with an *.

ACANTHACEAEAsystasia variaIsoglossa sp.Mackaya bellaRuellia cordataThunbergia atriplicifoliaThunbergia natalensisALLIACEAEAgapanthus sp.AMARYLLIDACEAEClivia cf. gardeniiCyrtanthus brachyscyphusCyrtanthus breviflorusScadoxus katherinae*ANACARDIACEAELoxostylis alataRhus carnosulaAPOCYNACEAETabernaemontana ventricosaAPIACEAEAlepidea cf. gracilisCentella glabrataARACEAEZantedeschia aethiopicaASCLEPIADACEAEAsclepias albensCeropegia sp.Cynanchum obtusifolium*Pachycarpus asperifoliusRaphionacme galpiniiSchizoglossum atropurpureum subsp.

virensSecamone alpiniSisyranthus ancepsSisyranthus fanniniaeSisyranthus virgatusTenaris rubella*Xysmalobium involucratumASPARAGACEAEAsparagus cooperiiAsparagus sp.ASHODELACEAEBulbine sp. (Umtamvuna)Bulbine favosa*Trachyandra saltii var. saltiiASTERACEAEBerkheya umbellataCallilepis laureolaEuryops tysoniiGazania krebsiana subsp. krebsianaGerbera piloselloidesHelichrysum cephaloideumHelichrysum cf. herbaceumHelichrysum oreophilumOsteospermum imbricatum subsp.

serratumRelhania pungensSenecio sp.Tarchonanthus camphoratusVernonia capensisVernonia oligocephala

BEGIONIACEAEBegonia dregei*Tecomaria capensis*BRASSICACEAEHeliophila elongataHeliophila rigidiusculaCAMPANULACEAECratecapsa tarsoides*Wahlenbergia madagascariensisWahlenbergia sp.CARYOPHYLLACEAEDianthus basuticus*Dianthus zeyheri subsp. natalensisCELASTRACEAEMaytenus sp. (nov.?)COMMELINACEAECyanotis speciosaCONVOLVULACEAECuscuta cassytoides*Ipomoea crassipesIpomoea simplexIpomoea sp.CRASSULACEAECrassula expansaCYATHEACEAECyathea dregei*CYPERACEAECyperus albostriatusCyperus obtusiflorus var. obtusiflorusCyperus prolifer var. isocladusFuirena cf. hirsutaDIPSACACEAEScabiosa columbariaCephalaria pungensDROSERACEAEDrosera burkeanaDrosera madagascariensisERICACEAEErica cubicaEUPHORBIACEAEAntidesma venosumEuphorbia woodiiFABACEAEArgyrolobium pilosumAspalathus chortophilaChaemacrista comosaChaemacrista sp.Crotalaria globiferaIndigofera hilarisIndigofera velutinaPodalyria velutinaTephrosia grandifloraTephrosia macropoda var. diffusaZornia capensisFACOURTIACEAEPseudoscolopia polyanthaGerrardina foliosaGERANIACEAEGeranium flanaganiiPelargonium alchemilloidesPelargonium luridum

GESNERIACEAEStreptocarpus modestus*Streptocarpus porphyrostachys*HYACINTHACEAEAlbuca setosaDipcadi marlothiiDrimiopsis maculata*Eucomis bicolor*Ledebouria cooperiLedebouria revolutaLedebouria sp.Ornithogalum juncifoliumRhadamanthus cyanelloidesUrginea calcarataHYPERICACEAEHypericum lalandiiHYPOXIDACEAEHypoxis angustifoliaHypoxis argentea*Hypoxis cf. longifoliaHypoxis colchicifoliaHypoxis costata*Hypoxis filiformisHypoxis flanaganii*Hypoxis hemerocallideaHypoxis cf. interjectaHypoxis membranacea*Hypoxis multiceps*Hypoxis villosaIRIDACEAEAristea abyssinicaDierama atrumDierama igneumFreesia laxaGladiolus longicollisHesperantha modestaTritonia disticha subsp. distichaWatsonia pillansiiWatsonia densifloraJUNCACEAEJuncus lomatophyllusLAMIACEAEAeollanthus parvifoliusLeonotis ocymifoliaPlectranthus ciliatusPlectranthus sp.Plectranthus zuluensisSyncolostemon rotundifoliusSyncolostemon densiflorusLENTIBULARIACEAEGenlisea hispidulaUtricularia cf. arenariaUtricularia prehensilisLOBELIACEAEGrammatotheca sp.Lobelia chamaedryfoliaLobelia coronopifoliaLobelia maloensisLobelia sp.Lobelia pteropodaMonopsis scabra


Monopsis unidentata subsp.laevicaulis

LUZURIAGACEAEBehnia reticulataMALVACEAEHibiscus aethiopicus var. ovatusMELASTOMATACEAEDissotis princepsMESEMBRYANTHEMACEAEDelosperma lavisiaeLampranthus stipulaceus*MORACEAEFicus ingensMYRTACEAEEugenia simiiEugenia verdoorniaeSyzygium cordatumOCHNACEAEOchna natalitiaOchna serrulataOchna sp. nov.OLEACEAEOlea capensisORCHIDACEAEBonatea speciosaBulbospyllum scaberulum*Cyrtochis sp.Disa caffraDisa tripetaloideaDisa woodii

Polystachya ottowianaPolystachya pubescensRangaeris musicolaSatyrium sp.Stenoglottis fimbriataStenoglottis macloughliniiStenoglottis woodiiStenoglottis sp.PEDALIACEAECeratotheca triloba*POLYGALACEAEPolygala esteraePolygala myrtifoliaMuraltia lancifoliaPROTEACEAELeucadendron pondoense*Leucodendron spissifolium subsp.

natalense*Leucospermum sp.*Protea cf. roupelliaeProtea caffraRUBIACEAEBurchellia bubalinaKohautia amatymbicaOldenlandia herbaceaPavetta lanceolataPavetta natalensisPentanisia prunelloidesSpermacoce natalensisTarenna pavettoides subsp. pavettoides

Vangueria infaustaRUTACEAEZanthoxylum sp.SAPOTACEAEManilkara nicholsoniiSANTALACEAEThesium acutissimumThesium asteriasSCROPHULARIACEAEAlectra sessilifloraBuchnera duraSelago lepidioidesSelago peduncularisSopubia sp.Striga bilabiataZaluzianskya angustifoliaTHYMELAEACEAEPasserina montivagusPasserina sp.Gnidia kraussianaGnidia triplinervisVERBENACEAERotheca hirsuta forma hirsutaVIOLACEAEHybanthus enneaspermusVITACEAERhoicissus tomentosa

The Millennium Seed Bank Projectis working with botanical institutes

worldwide to build capacity for theconservation of wild plant species. Theproject, which is catalysed by the SeedConservation Department of the RoyalBotanic Gardens, Kew, has developedpartnership projects with Namibia,Malawi and South Africa, and a part-nership is under discussion with Bot-swana.

The Millennium Seed BankProject

The MSB Project was conceived anddeveloped in the early 1990s mostly in

to Conserve Southern Africa’sBotanical Wealth

Working Together

The Millennium Seed Bankin Southern Africa

response to the recognition by the in-ternational community of the urgentneed to conserve biodiversity. In De-cember 1996 the vision became a real-ity with the award of a £30 million grantfrom the Millennium Commission(which distributes some of the pro-ceeds of the UK national lottery). Inreturn the MSB project is obliged tocollect and conserve seeds from 10%of the world’s seed-bearing flora (de-fined as 24,000 species), principallyfrom the dry lands, by the year 2010.

In fact, the objectives of the MSBproject are much broader than simplycollecting and banking species. Targets

have been set for developing partner-ships in order to support and advancethe seed conservation effort, for train-ing scientists and carrying out collabo-rative research, and for disseminatingthe wealth of information generated bythe project. This International Pro-gramme builds on the successful com-pletion of earlier phases of the project,namely the conservation of almost allthe seed-bearing flora of the UK, andthe construction of the world-classseed banking and public education fa-cilities at the Wellcome Trust Millen-nium Building at Wakehurst Place in theUK. The International Programme wasformally launched in January 2001.

Ruellia brandbergensis, an endemicfrom the Brandberg, Namibia, collectedby the MSB. (Photo: Herta Kolberg)


The project was largely developed fol-lowing the entry into force of the Con-vention on Biological Diversity in 1993.It has therefore been carefully de-signed to implement the new require-ments of the treaty, in particular theright of states to govern access to theirbiological resources. The MillenniumSeed Bank takes seriously the need todevelop mutually agreed terms for ac-cess to biological resources and fairand equitable sharing of the benefitsof the use of such biological resources.“Use” meaning conservation and bo-tanical research rather than commer-cial gain. Every partnership project istherefore based on a legally bindingAccess and Benefit Sharing Agree-ment.

To date partnership projects have beendeveloped in fourteen countries: Aus-tralia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Egypt, Jor-dan, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar,Malawi, Mexico, Namibia, Saudi Ara-bia, South Africa, and the United Statesof America.

Activities in Southern Africa

South Africa

The MSB partner in South Africa is theNational Botanical Institute and Erichvan Wyk, the MSB Project Manager, isbased at NBI Pretoria. Working withErich are Livhuwwani Nkuna andDavid Dlamini. In addition, PhilipBotha who is based at Kirstenbosch isconcentrating on collecting species inthe Western Cape.

The project was formally launched inMay 2000, but the long-standing rela-tionship between RBG Kew and NBI

means the collecting programme isalready well established. Collecting isfocused on rare and threatened spe-cies endemic to South Africa, and alsospecies of known potential value tohumankind. As the project starts tomature, MSB and NBI are developingit into a more integrated national ex situstrategy, including the development ofpropagation protocols for criticallyendangered species and the distribu-tion of seeds and plants to botanic gar-dens. The aim is to develop a nationalnetwork of living plant collections ofrare and threatened species to comple-ment the seed collections. The naturalprogression will eventually be to re-introduce certain flagship species intothe wild.

Namibia

In Namibia we are working with theNational Plant Genetic Resources Cen-tre, part of the National Botanical Re-search Institute, based in Windhoek.This is a slightly smaller project, led bythe curator of NPGRC, Herta Kolberg.Nevertheless, significant progress hasbeen made since the project waslaunched in May 2001. Herta has usedall available information to prioritiserare and threatened species for seedcollection and to determine target ar-eas and times for field work. This re-sulted in successful collecting trips inMay and June 2002.

Malawi

This is a very new project partnership,which was only formally launched inJanuary 2003. However, it is an excit-ing new development involving fourMalawian institutes: Forestry Research

Institute of Malawi, National Plant Ge-netic Resources Centre, National Her-barium and Botanical Gardens, and theNational Research Council of Malawi.The project will be co-ordinated by aProject Manager based at the ForestryResearch Institute of Malawi in Zomba.

In common with the South Africanproject, the aim in Malawi is to developan integrated ex situ conservation pro-gramme for threatened and useful wildplants, with a focus on developingpropagation protocols which will allowfor the establishment of ex situ livingcollections to complement the seedcollections.

Benefits

The most obvious benefit of the MSB’swork in Southern Africa is the collec-tion and conservation of botanical di-versity. This is vital in a region so richin plant species, yet with so manyplants under threat. These partner-ships are projected to collect and con-serve seed from around 4,300 south-ern African plant species by 2010. Col-lections are held in each partner coun-try, with duplicate collections held atthe MSB in the UK for safekeeping (al-though all collections from South Af-rica are currently coming to the UKuntil suitable arrangements are madefor their storage in-country). Thesecollections will be available for manyyears for conservation activities suchas species and habitat recovery andrestoration, and botanical research.This is especially important given theexpected shifts in habitat zones withclimate change over the coming dec-ades.

All the projects involve significant ele-ments of technology transfer. A keylegacy of the project will be the stafftrained through the project. Varioustraining opportunities are offered bythe MSB, including formal academicstudy, attendance of Kew shortcourses, technical and research attach-ments at the Wellcome Trust Millen-nium Building, in-country workshopsand joint collecting trips. As well asbuilding seed collecting-, horticultural-and conservation skills, training willalso cover more generic needs such asecology and behaviour of rare andthreatened species, databasing andGeographical Information Systems.Collaborative research programmeswill also build skills and knowledge,particularly relating to the conserva-tion of rare and threatened species.

Seeds and vouchers ready for shipment. (Photo: MSB)


Institutional capacity building is alsobeing developed. At a minimum, part-ner institutes gain from the experienceof working within an internationalproject, not least in negotiating thecomplex access and benefit sharingarrangements of the projects. Provi-sion of appropriate methodologies andtechnology, as well as equipment andtraining in its use, forms an importantcomponent of each project.

Perhaps the most important outcomefor the region as a whole is the knowl-edge and data being generated by theprojects. All seed collections are ac-companied by field data and her-barium vouchers. Thus a valuable re-source in terms of plant locations, phe-nology, ecology and so on is being pro-duced. Just being in the field so regu-larly means exciting discoveries can bemade. Even in the relatively well-docu-mented flora of South Africa, Erich andhis staff and collaborators have man-

aged to discover miombo woodland inthe Soutpansberg where Brachystegiaspiciformis has remained undetecteduntil now. A lost population of the el-ephant’s foot yam Dioscorea elephan-tipes has been rediscovered, as has thelast remaining population of Cyllin-drophyllum hallii.

The projects in all three countries arepaying particular attention to gather-ing detailed population data. Togetherwith germination and propagationprotocols these provide a vital resourcefor those involved in conservation andmanagement, both in situ and ex situ,throughout the region.

Additionally, Kew is electronically pub-lishing a Seed Information Database.SID delivers taxon-based informationon seed characteristics such as weight,dispersal methods, storage behaviour,and germination protocols. Clearly thisinformation will be useful to a whole

range of users, in southern Africa andacross the world.

Summary

MSB project activities are helping in-stitutes in Southern Africa implementtheir national strategies, such asSABONET’s Threatened Plants Pro-gramme, regional plans such as theSABONET Action Plan for SouthernAfrican Botanic Gardens, and globalinitiatives such as the Global Strategyfor Plant Conservation. The knowl-edge, data, and skills being generatedshould benefit the whole region, par-ticularly if they are shared and devel-oped through initiatives such asSABONET.

—Clare TennerInternational Programme Officer

Millennium Seed Bank Project [email protected]

Sedges are essentially plants of wethabitats. They are components of

the vegetation associated with estua-rine, riverine, lacustrine, vlei, and tem-porary moist areas. Some haveadapted to drier conditions and arepresent in grassland competing withthe grasses or colonising bare, ex-posed hillocks where they hold soil andresist firing. Others, far less obvious,occupy shaded niches in the transitionzone from woodland to grassland, orsurvive, mainly as annuals, in the thin,temporary moist soil overlying rockoutcrops. There are also those that fa-vour open forest glades as under-growth plants, some of these persist-ing in plantations of exotic tree species.A few are notorious weeds that havebeen brought into many eastern coun-tries presumably with crop seeds suchas rice.

The SABONET Southern MozambiquePlant Collecting Expedition 2001 beganon 23 November. Most of the plantcollecting was done in coastal forestand grassland. This area has an abun-dance of water, numerous lakes andwetlands. It is in the wetlands that wecame across many types of sedge, eventhough some were growing in drysandy forests and grassland. Of the 250species of Juncus known, 21 occur insouthern Africa. Most species of thisgenus occur inland in moist, cool habi-

Sedges of Southern Mozambiquetats. It occurs in southern Africa incoastal marshy habitats from the CapePeninsula eastward into Mozambique.It also occurs in South America andAustralia. Although not rare in south-ern Africa, it is only in KwaZulu-Natalthat extensive local stands of Juncuskraussii occur. Four extensive stands ofthis rush are known: one at Kosi Bay,one at St Lucia, a smaller one at Mlalaziand one at Umgababa, and of these,all but the one at St Lucia have beendrastically reduced by over-utilization.

Because of their habitat preferences,the sedges need to be better known.They hold significance in land use andmanagement—they are indicatorplants of the wetland areas only nowbeginning to receive the attention theyso justly merit.

The economic importance of grasses(Poaceae) has long been realised, andin KwaZulu-Natal, where much of thecountry is in grassland, they have beenfar better studied than the sedges. Al-though the sedges are said to have noeconomic importance and thus havebeen ignored, some sedges with long,straight flowering stems (culms), un-interrupted by leaves, are used inweaving by those indigenous peoplesstill dependent on natural resources forthe necessities of life. A few are utilisedin papermaking, but on a minor scale.

Some coastal species of Cyperus, par-ticularly C. dives Delile [= C. immensusC.B.Clarke], are natural hosts to theindigenous moth, Eldana saccharinaWalker. The larvae of this insect that,under certain conditions, will adoptSaccharum cultivars (sugar cane) asalternative hosts, have posed somethreat to the sugar industry. Sedgesprovide food to many indigenous ani-mals, hippopotamus the most spec-tacular, the others being far more hum-ble and often unnoticed. The ecologi-cal importance of these plants in theirnatural environments is far more sig-nificant than their importance as a foodsource. Their ecological role has so fargone unproclaimed and under docu-mented. One of the sedges that I col-lected in the Maputo Elephant Park isJuncus kraussii, (incema), or MattingRush, of the Juncaceae family, whichis an economically important sedge inKwaZulu-Natal.

There are more people wantingincema than ever before and, becauserush gathering has been largely un-controlled, the rush populations havebeen greatly reduced. Intense compe-tition among local people and “outsid-ers” for the available rush resources ledto rioting near the St Lucia stand in1999. The rioting was so severe that thepolice and army had to be called in tocontrol matters. Women do harvesting


towards the end of the annual grow-ing season. Two-year-old growths areharvested in preference to one-year-old growths because their greaterlength allows the manufacture of widersleeping mats (amacansi).

The plant that I collected in MaputoElephant Park was in a wetland, about6 km from main gate of the Park, whereI also collected several other sedgespecies. The stand from which it wasgrowing did not appear to be utilisedby humans. I collected 27 sedge speci-mens in different parts of southernMozambique. Some species were col-lected at more than one locality, thus22 species are represented. These are:

Bolboschoenus glaucus (Lam) S.G.Sm.Bulbostylis contexta (Nees) M.BodardBulbostylis parvinux C.B.ClarkeCyperus albostriatus Schrad.Cyperus distans L.f.Cyperus margaritaceus VahlCyperus natalensis Hochst.Cyperus obtusiflorus Vahl var.

obtusiflorusCyperus rotundus L.Cyperus sphaerospermus Schrad.Fuirena pubescens (Poir) KunthFuirena umbellata Rottb.Juncus kraussii Hochst.Kyllinga sp.Mariscus albomarginatus C.B.ClarkeMariscus congestus (Vahl) C.B.ClarkeMariscus dubius (Rottb.) Kuekenth ex

G.E.C.FischerMariscus macrocarpus KunthMariscus pseudo-vestitus C.B.ClarkeMariscus sumatrensis (Retz.) J.RaynalMariscus vestitus (Hochst. in Krauss)

C.B.ClarkePycreus polystachyos (Rottb.)

P.Beauv. var. polystachyos

GORDON-GRAY, K. D. 1995. Cyperaceae inNatal, Strelitzia 2: 1–218

HENNESSY, E. F., & KOOPMAN, A. 2000.Of Rushes, Resources and Riots.

Palmnut Post, the magazine of the DurbanNatural Science Museum: 4–8.

—Alfred M. NgwenyaNatal Herbarium, Durban

[email protected]

IUCN affirms that a goal of conser-vation is the maintenance of existing

genetic diversity and viablepopulations of all taxa in the wild inorder to maintain biological interac-tions, ecological processes and func-tion. Conservation managers and de-cision-makers should adopt a realisticand integrated approach to conserva-tion implementation. The threats tobiodiversity in situ continue to expand,and taxa have to survive in increasinglyhuman-modified environments.Threats, which include habitat loss, cli-mate change, unsustainable use, andinvasive and pathogenic organisms,can be difficult to control. The realityof the current situation is that we shallbe unable to ensure the survival of anincreasing number of threatened taxawithout effectively using a diverserange of complementary conservationapproaches and techniques including,for some taxa, increasing the role andpractical use of ex situ techniques.

specific conservation plan may involvea range of ex situ objectives, includingshort, medium, and long-term main-tenance of ex situ stocks. This can uti-lise a variety of techniques includingreproduction or propagation, germ-plasm banking, applied research, re-inforcement of existing populationsand reintroduction into the wild orcontrolled environments. The objec-tives and overall purpose should beclearly stated and agreed upon amongorganisations participating in the pro-gramme, and other relevant stakehol-ders including landowners and usersof the taxon involved.

In order to maximise their full poten-tial in conservation, ex situ facilities andtheir co-operative networks shouldadopt the guidelines defined by theConvention on Biological Diversity(CBD), the International Agenda forBotanic Gardens in Conservation,Centre for Plant Conservation, and theWorld Zoo Conservation Strategy,along with other guidelines, strategies,and relevant legislative requirementsat national and regional levels. IUCNrecognizes the considerable set of re-sources committed worldwide to exsitu conservation by the world’s zoo-logical and botanical gardens, genebanks and other ex situ facilities. Theeffective utilisation of these resourcesrepresents an essential component ofconservation strategies at all levels.

Vision

Our vision is to maintain presentbiodiversity levels through all availableand effective means including, whereappropriate, ex situ propagation, trans-location, and other ex situ methodologies.

Goal

Those responsible for managing ex situplant and animal populations and fa-

ThreatenedPlants

Programmes

ThreatenedPlants

ProgrammesIUCN Policy on the Management of

Ex Situ Populations for Conservation

If the decision to bring a taxon un-der ex situ management is left untilextinction is imminent, it is fre-quently too late to effectively imple-ment, thus risking permanent loss ofthe taxon. Moreover, ex situ conser-vation should be considered as a toolto ensure the survival of the wildpopulation. Ex situ managementshould be considered only as an al-ternative to the imperative of in situmanagement in exceptional circum-stances, and effective integration be-tween in situ and ex situ approachesshould be sought wherever possible.

The decision to implement an ex situconservation programme as part ofa formalised conservation manage-ment or recovery plan and the spe-cific design of and prescription forsuch an ex situ programme will de-pend on the taxon’s circumstancesand conservation needs. A taxon-


cilities will use all resources and meansat their disposal to maximise the con-servation and utilitarian values of thesepopulations, including:• Increasing public and political

awareness and understanding ofimportant conservation issues andthe significance of extinction

• Co-ordinated genetic and demo-graphic population management ofthreatened taxa

• Reintroduction and support to wildpopulations

• Habitat restoration and manage-ment

• Long-term gene and biomaterialbanking

• Institutional strengthening and pro-fessional capacity building

• Appropriate benefit sharing• Fundraising to support all of the

above

Ex situ agencies and institutions mustfollow national and international obli-gations with regard to access and ben-efit sharing (as outlined in the CBD)and other legally binding instrumentssuch as CITES, to ensure full collabo-ration with all range states. Priorityshould be given to the ex situ manage-ment of threatened taxa (according tothe latest IUCN red list categories) andthreatened populations of economic orsocial/cultural importance. Ex situ pro-grammes are often best situated closeto or within the ecogeographic rangeof the target taxa and where possiblewithin the range country. Neverthe-less, a role for international and extraregional support for ex situ conserva-tion is also recognised. The option oflocating the ex situ programme outsidethe taxa’s natural range should be con-sidered if the taxa is endangered bynatural catastrophes, political and so-cial disruptions, or if further germ-plasm banking, propagation, research,isolation or reintroduction facilities arerequired and cannot be feasibly estab-lished.

Policy Guidelines

The basis for responsible ex situ popu-lation management in support of con-servation is founded on benefits forboth threatened taxa and associatedhabitats.

The primary objective of maintainingex situ populations is to help supportthe conservation of a threatened taxon,its genetic diversity, and its habitat. Exsitu programmes should give addedvalue to other complementary pro-grammes for conservation.

Although there will be taxa-specificexceptions due to unique life histories,the decision to initiate ex situ pro-grammes should be based on one ormore of the appropriate IUCN red listcriteria, including:• When the taxa or population is

prone to effects of human activitiesor stochastic events

• When the taxa or population is likelyto become Critically Endangered,Extinct in the Wild, or Extinct in avery short time

Additional criteria may need to be con-sidered in some cases where taxa orpopulations of cultural importance andsignificant economic or scientific im-portance are threatened. All CriticallyEndangered and Extinct in the Wildtaxa should be subject to ex situ man-agement to ensure full recovery of wildpopulations.

Ex situ conservation should be initiatedonly when an understanding of thetarget taxon’s biology and ex situ man-agement and storage needs are at alevel where there is a reasonable prob-ability of success; or where the devel-opment of such protocols could beachieved within the time frame of thetaxon’s required conservation man-agement, ideally before the taxa be-comes threatened in the wild. Ex situinstitutions are strongly urged to de-velop ex situ protocols prior to anyforthcoming ex situ management.Consideration must be given to insti-tutional viability before embarking ona long term ex situ project.

For those threatened taxa for whichhusbandry and/or cultivation proto-cols do not exist, surrogates of closelyrelated taxa can serve important func-tions, for example in research and thedevelopment of protocols, conserva-tion biology research, staff training,public education and fundraising.

While some ex situ populations mayhave been established prior to the rati-fication of the CBD, all ex situ and insitu populations should be managed inan integrated, multidisciplinary man-ner, and where possible, in accordancewith the principles and provisions ofthe CBD.

Extreme and desperate situations,where taxa /populations are at immi-nent risk of extinction, must be dealtwith on an emergency basis. This ac-tion must be implemented with the fullconsent and support of the range na-tion.

All ex situ populations must be man-aged to reduce risk of loss throughnatural catastrophe, disease or politi-cal upheaval. Safeguards include effec-tive quarantine procedures, disease andpathogen monitoring, and duplication ofstored germplasm samples in differentlocations and provision of emergencypower supplies to support collectionneeds, for example, climate control forlong term germplasm repositories.

All ex situ populations should be man-aged to reduce the risk of invasive es-cape from propagation, display andresearch facilities. Taxa should be as-sessed on their invasive potential andappropriate controls taken to avoidescape and subsequent naturalisation.

The management of ex situ populationsmust minimise any deleterious effectsof ex situ management, such as loss ofgenetic diversity, artificial selection,pathogen transfer, and hybridisation,in the interest of maintaining the ge-netic integrity and viability of suchmaterial. Particular attention should bepaid to initial sampling techniques,which should be designed to captureas much wild genetic variability aspracticable. Ex situ practitionersshould adhere to, and further develop,any taxon- or region-specific recordkeeping and genetic managementguidelines produced by ex situ man-agement agencies.

Those responsible for managing ex situpopulations and facilities should seekboth to increase public awareness,concern and support for biodiversityand to support the implementation ofconservation management, througheducation, fundraising and profes-sional capacity building programmes,and by supporting direct action in situ.

Where appropriate, data and the re-sults of research derived from ex situcollections and ex situ methodologiesshould be made freely available to on-going in-country management pro-grammes concerned with supportingconservation of in situ populations,their habitats, and the ecosystems andlandscapes in which they occur.

N.B. Ex situ collections include wholeplant or animal collections, zoologicalparks and botanic gardens, wildlife re-search facilities, and germplasm collec-tions of wild and domesticated taxa (zy-gotes, gametes and somatic tissue).

For further information: Mike [email protected]


At a regional workshop held at theNational Botanic Garden in Pre-

toria in March 2001 an Action Plan forSouthern African Botanical Gardenswas developed (Willis and Turner2001). The vision of this Action Planwas for each garden to have in place aThreatened Plants Programme (TPP)by 2004. The National Botanic Gardenof Zimbabwe embarked on its Threat-ened Plants Programme in 2002 with afocus on two of the most highly threat-ened plants in the country. These areLobelia stricklandae and Scadoxuspole-evansii, both occurring in theEastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.

Targeted Species

Lobelia stricklandae is our targetedflagship species. Since Scadoxus pole-evansii occurs within the same geo-

graphical region and is like-wisethreatened, it has been incorporated intothe programme. They both occur in theEastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. Lobeliahas a wider range as it is found in theNyanga/Penhalonga area as well as inChimanimani. Scadoxus, on the otherhand, is restricted to the Nyanga area.Both plants have horticultural potential.Lobelia stricklandae, is quite impressivein its vegetative (non-flowering) form andScadoxus pole-evansii has an appealingcrimson-coloured inflorescence.

Lobelia stricklandae’s main threat ishabitat degradation. Most of its natu-ral habitat has now been replaced byEucalyptus and Pine plantations and itssightings are very rare. Scadoxus pole-evansii, apart from its very localizeddistribution, is threatened by collectionfor ornamental purposes.

From left to right: A view from the bottom of the Mutarazi Falls—the site of one of our sought-for threatened plants. (Photo:Anthony Mapaura); Juvenile specimens of Lobelia stricklandae. (Photo: Anthony Mapaura); Early morning stretch. Soul andAndrew wake up on the edge of the Chimanimani rainforest. (Photo: Anthony Mapaura).

Threatened Plants Programmefor Zimbabwe

Field Trips

A six-day trip to the Eastern Highlandswas undertaken from 21–26 October2002 by a team comprising Soul Shava(Garden Curator), Andrew Mangwa-rara (TTP Manager), and AnthonyMapaura (Red Data List National Co-ordinator). The primary objective of thetrip was to assess the current distribu-tion status and habitat quality of thetwo species and to collect material forpropagation as well as herbariumspecimens where possible. The tripyielded both positive results and dis-appointments.

Our first port-of-call was Penhalonga,the site where the first specimen ofLobelia stricklandae was collected byMrs. Strickland. Most of this area hasnow been converted into exotic

From left to right: Nimble Andrew showing us the way up a mountain cliff. In the end, we had to use a rope to get there.(Photo: Anthony Mapaura); A side view of the Mutarazi Falls. (Photo: Anthony Mapaura); Andrew’s birthday present: amature, flowering Lobelia stricklandae specimen. (Photo: Anthony Mapaura).


From left to right: Lost! Forest tracks can at times be misleading. (Photo: Anthony Mapaura); A forest of giant floweringlobelias with wild banana (Ensete ventricosum) in the foreground. (Photo: Anthony Mapaura); Botanising at the top of theMutarazi Falls. (Photo: Andrew Mangwarara).

From left to right: The forest-crawling experience. Andrew leads the way to yet another gruelling climb. (Photo: Soul Shava);A true giant herb. Flowering specimens of the giant Lobelias in Chimanimani. (Photo: Anthony Mapaura); Andrew looking atthe Lobelia stricklandae find on his birthday. (Photo: Anthony Mapaura).

forestland dominated by Eucalyptusand Pine plantations. No Lobelias werefound at the cited localities.

The next day we went hiking up to theMtarazi falls, a site for Scadoxus pole-evansii. Despite 12 hours of gruellingwalking, belly crawling, and ropeswinging, we were out of luck. Wewere very satisfied that we made it tothe bottom of the falls where the viewwas quite spectacular and well worthour pains.

We next tried other sites of Scadoxuspole-evansii, including NyamhinguraRiver in the Tanganda Tea Estate, thetop of Mtarazi Falls, and PungweGorge, but came back without anyluck. The top of the Mtarazi Falls, how-ever, proved to be a botanical havenand we had a field day botanizing thearea. Forty-nine herbarium specimenswere collected.

On our last day, when we had lost allhope, we went to some Lobelia strick-landae sites in Chimanimani on private

land and Eureka! We struck gold. Ourfirst site had about 50 Lobelia plants.The second site was like a sown fieldwith more than a thousand plants, in-cluding juveniles in an open patchwithin the forest 10 m wide and 1 kmlong. According to the property own-ers the species had always occurredthere but had vanished for many years.It seemed to have come back after Cy-clone Eline of 1999 hit the area. We arestill speculating whether the suddenappearance was due to germinationtriggered by the cyclone or whetherthe cyclone blew in seed from Mozam-bique (unlikely considering the quan-tity and localized populations). Ourstrike coincided with Andrew’s birth-day (25th of October) and he had a realbirthday treat!

We collected seed and a few seedlingsfrom the site as well as herbariumspecimens.

On our return we were informed ofrecent Scadoxus sitings in Nyanga andthe fact that it was found in flower at

the end of January. We intend to makea follow-up trip to these new localitiesand others sites that were not visitedbecause of time constraints.

Propagation & HorticulturalActivities

Lobelia stricklandae seed (collectedfrom the garden specimens and fromthe wild) has been sown and has ger-minated well. Growth of seedlings is,however, very slow. We would wel-come any suggestions on propagatingthe species from seed. Seedlings col-lected from the wild population havebeen planted successfully in the gar-den and are being closely monitored.

WILLIS, C.K. & TURNER, S. (eds). (2001).Action plan for southern African botani-cal gardens. Southern African BotanicDiversity Network Report Series No. 12.

—Soul Shava, Anthony Mapaura &Andrew Mangwarara

[email protected]


From 24–29 November 2002, 67 del-egates representing 23 African

countries and various non-African del-egates attended the first-ever AfricanBotanic Gardens Congress in DurbanBotanic Gardens, South Africa, to es-tablish the new African Botanic Gar-dens Network (ABGN). Africa (definedas continental Africa and the sur-rounding islands) was divided into sixregions, namely North Africa, WestAfrica, Central Africa, Eastern Africa,Southern Africa, and the Indian OceanIslands. The theme of the congress was“Partnerships and Linkages”.

Non-African delegates included rep-resentatives from Botanic GardensConservation International, the Millen-nium Seed Bank Project, National Bo-tanic Garden of Belgium and the Eu-ropean Botanic Gardens Network,Fairchild Tropical Garden, AmericanAssociation of Botanic Gardens andArboreta (AABGA), and Lyon Botani-cal Garden, France. South Africa’sMinister of Environmental Affairs andTourism, Mr Mohammed Valli Moosaofficially launched the congress.

Pre-congress training workshops onPlant Collecting Techniques, Red DataLists and Botanical Gardens, and En-vironmental Education and Interpre-tation in Botanical Gardens were pre-sented to various delegates on Sunday.

The Main Objectives of theCongress

The main objectives of the congresswere:• To create a contemporary database

of African botanical gardens.• To undertake a comprehensive as-

sessment of the common needs ofAfrican botanical gardens.

• To identify ways to address theseneeds.

• To determine the structure of andsupport required for an AfricanBotanic Gardens Network and itsSecretariat.

• To review and adopt a draft consti-tution for the African Botanic Gar-dens Network.

• To adopt the universally applaudedInternational Agenda for Botanic Gar-dens in Conservation, BGCI 2000.

• To produce an Action Plan for theconservation of Africa’s threatenedendemic flora.

• To publish the proceedings of theCongress.

Topics

Presentations from various delegateswere made during the Congress. Pe-ter Wyse Jackson (Secretary General:BGCI) gave the opening lecture on “In-ternational Agenda: A key role for Af-rican Botanic Gardens in the Adoptionof the International Agenda”. Othertopics included the Southern AfricanBotanical Diversity Network, the Mil-lennium Seed Bank Project, and theGlobal Strategy for Plant Conservationand its relevance to African botanicalgardens. Mike Maunder (FairchildTropical Garden, Florida, USA) pre-sented a paper entitled “Towards anAfrican Action Plan: Conservation ofThreatened Plants and Habitats by Af-rican Botanic Gardens”. African Re-gional Coordinators presented talks onthe status of botanical gardens in theirregions as well as the needs expressedby those gardens that responded to theNeeds Assessment questionnaire thatwas initially used to produce the South-ern African Botanical Gardens NeedsAssessment (SABONET Report Series11, November 2000). Prof. DonalMcCracken presented a historical per-spective on Africa’s botanical gardensduring the Congress.

A mid-week field excursion was under-taken to the Silverglen Medicinal PlantNursery, Durban’s renowned Medici-nal Market, and the National Botani-cal Institute’s Natal National BotanicalGarden in Pietermaritzburg.

Outcomes

The outcomes of the Congress in-cluded a draft Strategic Frameworkand Action Plan for the African BotanicGardens Network. Activities, expectedoutcomes and targets of the ABGNwere aligned with the Global Strategyfor Plant Conservation and the Inter-national Agenda for Botanic Gardensin Conservation. Members have until30 June 2003 to comment on the pro-

posed Network management struc-ture, that includes membership detailsand associated fees.

Organisation

The Chair of the ABGN Steering Com-mittee is George Owusu-Afriyie ofGhana. The Coordinator in the newlyestablished Network Secretariat,which is currently based in the Dur-ban Botanic Gardens, South Africa, isChristopher Dalzell, Curator of theDurban Botanic Gardens and host forthe Congress. The African Botanic Gar-dens Network Bulletin (six issues pub-lished between October 2000 and No-vember 2002) will continue to be ed-ited by Mark Mattson at Durban Bo-tanic Gardens. Anyone interested inreceiving this Bulletin and who wouldlike to be added to the mailing list cancontact him. The Congress proceed-ings are expected to be published bythe SABONET Project in 2003.

As the ABGN endorses the Interna-tional Agenda for Botanic Gardens inConservation as the guiding documentfor plant conservation efforts in Afri-ca’s botanical gardens, each Africanbotanical garden was encouraged toregister (either formally or informally)with the International Agenda for Bo-tanic Gardens in Conservation.

The agreed ABGN Mission Statement,Vision, Guiding Principles, and Targetsare listed below.

Mission Statement

The African Botanic Gardens Networkpromotes and supports the work ofbotanical gardens and associated in-stitutions through education, conser-vation and sustainable use of plants fordevelopment, poverty alleviation, andhalting biodiversity loss.

Vision

African botanical gardens will be inte-gral and valued partners in the con-servation and sustainable use of Afri-ca’s unique environmental, botanical,and cultural heritage.

African Botanic GardensNetwork Launched


Guiding Principles

The African Botanic Gardens Network(ABGN) is committed to:• Promoting and implementing key

national and international instru-ments relating to the environmentand sustainable development, in-cluding National Biodiversity Strat-egies and Action Plans (NBSAPs),the Convention on Biological Diver-sity (in particular the Global Strat-egy for Plant Conservation), the In-ternational Agenda for Botanic Gar-dens in Conservation, Local Agenda21 and the Johannesburg Plan ofImplementation.

• The fundamental importance of anecosystem approach to the conser-vation of biodiversity and ecosys-tem services, and will undertake anintegrated approach to biodiversityconservation.

• Botanical gardens reaching theirfull potential through partnershipsand effective collaboration at local,national, regional and internationallevels.

• The need for monitoring and coor-dinating the activities of botanicalgardens, the effective use of re-sources, and delivering the identi-fied objectives of the network.

• The urgent need to undertake as-sessments of the conservation sta-tus and management needs for Af-rican plant diversity and will workto identify and strengthen the rolesof botanical gardens in this process.

• Its role as the representative bodyfor African botanical gardens. Fur-thermore, the ABGN will workclosely with BGCI and other keyorganisations active in education,conservation, and sustainable use ofplants, such as IUCN, WWF, IPGRIand other relevant UN and nationalor international agencies, particu-larly as regards the implementationof the Global Strategy for Plant Con-servation.

• The fundamental link between bo-tanical gardens and taxonomicbotany and their contribution to-wards resolving the taxonomic im-pediment.

• The development of relevant re-gional, sub-regional, and thematicnetworks and their contributionswithin the ABGN.

• Ensuring that its programmes andactivities are complementary tothose of relevant existing networksoperating at all levels.

• Encouraging all African botanicalgardens to strengthen their amen-ity, cultural, historical, and recrea-

tional roles.• Encouraging all African botanical

gardens to focus primarily on thecultivation, display, and study ofAfrican plant taxa.

Summary of Targets• [All] botanical gardens must have

adequate access to electronic infor-mation in support of education, con-servation, and sustainable use pro-grammes.

• Botanical gardens must contributeto the development of national listsof threatened plant species in [all]countries of Africa.

• An African programme [with mod-els and protocols] for education,plant conservation, and sustainableuse, based on research and practi-cal experience must be completed.

• All botanical gardens must promoteat least [one] local culture and itsplant-related knowledge, innova-tions and practices.

• Based on assessment of candidatetaxa, [40%] of threatened plant spe-cies must be located in accessibleex situ collections, preferably in thecountry of origin, and [2%] includedin recovery or restoration pro-grammes.

• At least [50%] of Africa’s botanicalgardens must participate in meas-ures to conserve nationally and lo-cally important areas of plant diver-sity.

• Africa’s botanical gardens mustcarry out invasive plant risk assess-ments within their collections [60%]and contribute to model controlprogrammes on a total of [20] inva-sive species.

• Botanical gardens must participatein the national implementation ofCITES in [each] country of Africa.

• [20] Botanical gardens must developand implement management mod-els and protocols for [40] economi-cally and culturally important planttaxa.

• At least [50%] of botanical gardensmust contribute to national pro-grammes that aim to halt the declineof plant resources and associatedindigenous and local knowledge,innovations, and practices that sup-port sustainable livelihoods, localfood security, and health care.

• Environmental education pro-grammes operating with trainedstaff must be established in [60%]of Africa’s botanical gardens.

• [20] Model environmental educa-tion programmes that illustrate thevalue of indigenous flora, naturalhabitats, and ecosystem services,

especially of nationally importantsites for plant diversity, local com-munity benefits, and sustainableuse, must be in place.

• At least [one] botanical garden mustbe established in each country ofAfrica, preferably in areas of impor-tant plant diversity and endemism.

• Training courses for [7] subjectsmust be completed by the network,involving [300] participants.

• ABGN and regional networks mustbe strengthened and supportedwith adequate resources to achievethe targets in this action plan.

• [One million] visitors must accessthe ABGN web site and associatedresources.

For further information, pleasecontact:Christopher DalzellDurban Botanic GardensP.O. Box 3740Durban 4000, South [email protected]

Delegates to the African Botanic GardensCongress are thanked for their constructiveinput and participation in the Congress.Contributions from Peter Wyse Jackson andMike Maunder were particularly appreciated.The following sponsors are gratefullyacknowledged for making it possible fordelegates from 23 African countries to berepresented at the Congress: SABONETProject, Missouri Botanical Garden, WinslowFoundation, Conservation International’sCritical Ecosystem Partnership Fund,Huntington Botanical Gardens, San DiegoZoo, North Carolina Zoo, Ganna WalskaLotusland and eThekwini Municipality inKwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Special thanksare extended to Durban Parks Department forhosting the Congress and to all the organizersand field excursion leaders and hosts.

—Christopher K. WillisNational Botanical Institute

Private Bag X101Pretoria 0001, South Africa

[email protected]

—George Owusu-AfriyieDepartment of Parks and Gardens

P.O. Box 23Aburi Botanic Gardens

Aburi, [email protected]

—Mark MattsonDurban Botanic Gardens

[email protected].


Representatives from southern Africa at the African Botanic Gardens Congress. (Photo: Durban Botanic Gardens)

Back: Mr Ian Oliver (Karoo Desert BG, South Africa), Mr Soul Shava (National BG, Zimbabwe), Ms Silke Bartsch (NationalBG, Namibia), Ms Karin Behr (Pretoria BG, South Africa), Mr Hilario Machava (Tunduru BG, Mozambique), Mr Erich vanWyk (Millennium Seed Bank, South Africa), Mr Domingos Manguengue (Mondlane University BG, Mozambique), DrDave McDonald (Botanical Society, South Africa), Mr Lloyd Nkoloma (Zomba BG, Malawi), Mr Gideon Dlamini (MalkernsResearch Station, Swaziland), Mr Nonofo Mosesane (National BG, Botswana), Mr Brian Tarr (Natal BG, South Africa), MrDouglas Gibbs (Munda Wanga Trust BG, Zambia), Mr John Mapanga (Vumba BG, Zimbabwe), Mr Onias Ndoro (EwanriggBG, Zimbabwe), Mr Rudi Britz (Lowveld BG, South Africa).

Centre: Mr Christopher Willis (NBI, South Africa), Ms Toni Shaide (Harold Porter BG, South Africa), Mr Ernest Gondwe(National University BG, Zambia), Ms Mr Diphetogo Menyatso (National BG, Botswana), Mr Alex Nkhonjera (Mzuzu BG,Malawi), Ms Sharon Turner (Witwatersrand BG, South Africa), Mr Philip le Roux (Kirstenbosch BG, South Africa).

Front: Susan Myburgh (University of Pretoria BG, South Africa), Mr Tau Mahlelebe (Katse Dam BG, Lesotho), Mr PeterGavhi (Free State BG, South Africa), A friend (West Africa), Mr Austin Chikumba (Zomba BG, Malawi).

Absent: Mr Christopher Dalzell (Congress Organiser and Curator of Durban BG), Dr Stefan Siebert (SABONET RegionalCoordinator), Ms Sonia Pereira (Jardim Botanico, Angola), Ms Yvette van Wijk (Garden Route BG, South Africa), MrSenzo Nyembe (Johannesburg BG, South Africa), Mr Solomon Nkoana (Johannesburg BG, South Africa).

Prof. Gideon Smith (National Coordinator, South Africa), Dr Stefan Siebert (SABONET Regional Coordinator),Prof. Brian Huntley (Chairperson, SABONET Steering Committee), Mr Titus Dlamini (National Coordinator, Swaziland),Mr Trevor Arnold (National Botanical Institute), Ms Lorna Davis (SABONET Financial Officer), Mr Christopher Willis(National Botanical Institute), Ms Nozipo Nobanda (National Coordinator, Zimbabwe), Dr Alan Rodgers (UNDP-GEF),Dr Gillian Maggs-Kölling (National Coordinator, Namibia) and Ms Nyasha Rukazhanga-Noko (SABONET AdministrativeOfficer).

African Botanic Gardens Network Launched

SABONET Meeting


The annual Logframe Planning andBudget Allocation Meeting

(Logframe Meeting) of the SABONETProject was held at Kievits Kroon Coun-try Estate in Pretoria, South Africa, on 18and 19 February 2003. Dr Alan Rodgersfrom the UNDP-GEF Regional Bureaufor Africa facilitated this important pri-ority setting exercise. Five members ofthe SABONET Steering Committee(SSC), two representatives from the Na-tional Botanical Institute and the threestaff members of the SABONET Re-gional Office attended the meeting. TheProject Exit Strategy that came out of therecommendations of the Mid-Term Re-view (Timberlake & Paton 2001) guidedthe meeting.

Exit Strategy

The Midterm Review of 2001 stressedthat, as part of the Exit Strategy, the needexists to provide quality outputs and toencourage strong links with stakehol-ders, as this would demonstrate the suc-cesses of the project and how capacitybuilding projects like SABONET couldbe accomplished. The Exit Strategy ofSABONET was therefore developed atthe 12th SSC meeting in 2002 to considerthe priority activities for the remainingperiod of the current project and to pro-vide guidelines for computerisation, pub-lications, staffing, showcasing, network-ing and capacity building (Siebert &Dlamini 2002). The key issues of aSABONET Exit Strategy was to put inplace priority activities to achievesustainability and to complete all theplanned SABONET outputs by the endof 2003. The Exit Strategy also addressedthe necessity of developing a conceptdocument for a future project in the lightof macro trends followed by the donorcommunity in the field of plant conser-vation.

Major outputs to achieve impact andsustainability at the end of the projectinclude national checklists, capacity tomanage projects, leadership at institu-tional level, functional plant databases,trained staff, links with stakeholders andestablished Threatened Plants Pro-grammes. To this can be added the callfrom 13th SSC meeting (in Decision 8 ofthe Fourth Tripartite Review) to developa concept document for a SABONET II(Siebert & Smith 2002). This proposalshould address the integration of scienceand conservation, by highlighting casepoints of the current project that dem-onstrates impact on the ground. During

the last quarter of 2003, much effort andresources would be put into the Termi-nal Review, the Terminal Report and clos-ing the project. It should once again bestressed to view the Exit Strategy as anend to the current UNDP-GEF fundingprocess, and not as the end of SABONET,which, it is hoped, could continue foreveras a regional network.

SABONET II

Funds have also for the first time beenallocated to facilitate the development ofthe concept document for a SABONETII. The Logframe Committee budgetedfor a regional workshop and an internalevaluation that would lay the foundationfor the development of a concept docu-ment that could carry weight as a sec-ond regional botanical project. It wasdecided that a follow-on project shouldconsider the Global Strategy for PlantConservation as an important possibil-ity to achieve conservation impact on theground during a SABONET II. TheLogframe Meeting committee consid-ered the strengths of such a project, whatwe can provide, where we can assist, andwhere we are to go from here. Mr NikhilSekhran from UNDP–South Africabriefly attended the meeting and gave ushis support. A regional workshop hasbeen scheduled for 6–7 May 2003 to de-termine all project options and links withimportant stakeholders.

2003 Budget

The Logframe Meeting committee re-ceived a mandate at the 13th SSC meet-ing to make budget decisions on behalfof the region, taking into account regionalexpectations to achieve priority goalsduring the remaining months of theproject. The committee looked at the year2002 in detail to ascertain the budgetedexpenditure against the actual expendi-ture. The committee was perplexed bythe low expenditure during 2002, as thiswas, after 2001, probably one of the mostactive years of the project. However,SABONET has a history of working spar-ingly with its funds, considering that theofficial closing date of the Project was 31March 2002 and the project still had ap-proximately US$0.9m available on 1January 2003. Under-expenditure of latecan be ascribed to a favourable Rand/USDollar exchange rate and a slow deliv-ery of outputs.

However, although the 2002 expenditurewas below budget, the logframe revision

and budget allocation for 2003 showedthat SABONET must still enter its finalstage and that funding will soon becomerestricted. With the Exit Strategy in mind,the committee of the Logframe Meetingset about allocating funds to priority ac-tivities as laid down in the logframe andbased on the expenditure of 2002. It tran-spired that a few activities budgeted forin 2002 will be carried into 2003, as thesestill have to be completed. In order tomeet all the 2002 objectives and addi-tional ones for 2003, funds were commit-ted to core activities. The committee puttogether a list of what they regarded ascore commitments:• Staff on contract• Running of the project (e.g. SSC meet-

ings, equipment maintenance)• One-year MSc students at universities• National and regional checklists• End-user Workshops,• Threatened Plants Programmes• Internal and Terminal Reviews

The option was taken to stretch thebudget and to extend the project life tothe end of 2003 to assure that processesare in place to meet the major projectoutputs and to implement and completethe Exit Strategy. It is also envisaged thata few months in 2004 will be used byProject Management (SABONET Re-gional Office and IT Section) to wrap upmanagement and financial reports andto consolidate databasing activities.

The mandate from the 13th SSC meetingallows project management to immedi-ately implement budget decisions takenat the Logframe Meeting, until the 14th

SSC meeting can officially endorse the2003 Logframe and Budget. The date andvenue for the next SABONET SteeringCommittee Meeting is 10–12 June 2003at the National Herbarium, Pretoria,South Africa. It will be combined withthe 5th Tripartite Review of the Project.This meeting will focus on the proceed-ings of the regional workshop held inMay and the development of a final con-cept document for a SABONET II.

SIEBERT, S.J. & DLAMINI, T. 2002. 12th

SABONET Steering Committee Meeting.SABONET News 7: 111–112.

SIEBERT, S.J. & SMITH G.F. 2002.SABONET meetings and activities.SABONET News 7: 171/175.

TIMBERLAKE, J. & PATON, A. 2001.SABONET Mid-term Review. SABONETNews 6: 5–13.

—Stefan Siebert & Lorna DavisSABONET Regional Office

Annual Logframe Planning and Budget Allocation Meeting


New initiatives were recom-mended for the SABONET

Project during its Mid-term Review ofFebruary 2001 and Botanical GardensWorkshop of March 2001. It was hopedthat these recommendations wouldfast track the delivery of tangible out-puts that would convince the end-us-ers of botanical information of thevalue that the herbaria and botanicalgardens in the region has for produc-ing information bases for conservationinitiatives. Recommendations from thereview and workshop were subse-quently implemented in 2001 and 2002.During the Logframe Planning andBudget Allocation meeting of 2003, theSABONET Steering Committee listedend-user workshops, threatenedplants programmes, and internships(in driving national checklists) as pri-ority outputs of the Project that willhave major impact. None of these ac-tivities were in place when lastSABONET evaluated itself (Siebert etal. 2001). This article aims to report onthese three initiatives, with the successof these programmes measured byself-driven participation by theSABONET countries.

End-user Workshops

“A series of national workshops for end-users of botanical information is seen

as the best way to address user needsin the future and forms an integral partof the Project’s Exit Strategy.”—Timberlake & Paton (2001), SABONETMidterm Review Recommendations.

A Statement to the WSSD from theThird Global Taxonomy (GTW) Work-shop stressed the need for taxonomicinstitutions to commit themselves toworking with governments and civilsociety to help provide a basis for sus-tainable development (BioNET-Inter-national 2002). The action plan emanat-ing from the GTW suggested that toenable us to achieve this goal, we haveto determine the needs of the users oftaxonomic information. The very activenetwork of southern African herbariatook on this task and was very pro-ac-tive, with the first SABONET work-shop to determine the needs of theusers of taxonomic information beingheld six months before the GTW, dur-ing February 2002 (Steenkamp &Smith 2002). This workshop formedthe basis for what would become themost active initiative of its kind in Af-rica.

Previous calculations have estimatedthat approximately 50 professionsmake use of taxonomic information(Morin et al. 1988). This providedSABONET with a good list of possible

people to invite to these workshops. Sofar we have managed to get together30 end-users of taxonomic informationduring four workshops. During thefirst workshop in South Africa, andgiven the time constraint to invite del-egates and implement the workshop,attendance was better than expected(of the 50 people invited, 34 attended).The subsequent publishing of the pro-ceedings of this workshop provided agood working document for otherSABONET countries to work with(Steenkamp & Smith 2002). End-userworkshop objectives and the eleveninformation and service requirementsposed by South African stakeholdershave been summarised by Steenkamp(2002). All electronic versions of invi-tation letters, worksheets, backgroundinformation, and so on were for-warded to the SABONET institutionsto assist the representatives responsi-ble for organising a workshop in coun-try.

Four workshops were conducted in2002. Six workshops are planned for2003 before 30 June. Two of the 2003workshops will take place duringMarch. Malawi has already indicatedthe need to host a second workshopin 2003 once they have analysed thedata obtained from the first workshop.The SABONET Regional Office hopesto synthesise the results of all the work-shops into a single report for the re-gion, which can be used in the imple-mentation of future projects.

SABONET is, through its end-userworkshops, contributing substantiallytowards a better understanding ofwhat products and services are re-quired by a broad range of users fromplant diversity and information ex-perts, beyond that which is necessaryfor the plant sciences. Information ob-tained from these workshops providean important base from which to ap-ply the recommendation of the Mid-term Review, by ensuring that wechange priorities to produce new kindsof outputs. This will enable the greatdiversity of resources in the plant sci-ences to remain relevant for the future.

Progress Report:End-User Workshops, Threatened Plants

Programmes, and Internships

WorkshopsDates of workshops held during 2002 and planned for 2003

Country Workshop Date Published

Angola *May 2003 -

Botswana 11-12 March 2003 -

Lesotho *May 2003 -

Malawi 27-28 June 2002 In preparation

Mozambique 6-7 March 2003 -

Namibia 24-25 September 2002 In preparation

South Africa 6-8 February 2002 Steenkamp & Smith 2002

Swaziland *May 2003 -

Zambia *May 2003 -

Zimbabwe 17-18 November 2002 In preparation

*Dates not yet confirmed.


SouthernAfrica’s

ThreatenedPlants

PropagationTechniques

As part of the various activities associated with the Southern Af-

rican Botanical Diversity Network(SABONET), funding has been madeavailable by the Regional SteeringCommittee to prepare and publish,by the end of December 2002, amanual on the propagation andcultivation of southern Africa’sthreatened plants. This publicationwill be particularly useful for horti-culturists working on threatenedplant collections in southern Africa’sbotanical gardens.

Many botanical gardens world-widegrow southern African plants as partof their collections, and we would liketo offer an opportunity for any stafffrom botanical gardens around theworld to contribute towards the pub-lication. If you or one of your staff areinvolved in cultivating threatenedsouthern African plants, we wouldencourage you to contributesome of these techniques. A list ofsouthern African threatened plantscan be found on the SABONET website: www.sabonet.org/reddatalist/database.html.

Should you be willing to share someof the techniques developed and ex-perience gained over the years in cul-tivating southern African threatenedplants, please contact Geoff Nicholsdirectly at the following address:

Digital Muthi8 Larch [email protected]

for

Threatened PlantsProgrammes

“SABONET must promote the conser-vation and sustainable use of the south-ern African flora through networkingbetween and capacity building withinbotanical gardens. Action plans shouldbe put in place for integrated indig-enous threatened plant pro-grammes.”—Willis & Turner (2001),SABONET Botanical Gardens ActionPlan.

The Global Strategy for Plant Conser-vation has prompted botanical gardensworldwide to reconsider the value,conservation role and significance ofliving collections (Bramwell et al. 2002).Southern Africa with its very dynamicbotanical garden network was no ex-ception and once again SABONET waspro-active in its dealings. DuringMarch 2001, 26 representatives of bo-tanical gardens from eight southernAfrican countries came together todraw up an Action Plan for SouthernAfrican Botanical Gardens (Willis &Turner 2001). This action plan formedthe basis for the activities of the South-ern African Botanical Garden Network(SABGN) within SABONET. The visionof the newly formed network was thateach garden would have an indigenousThreatened Plants Programme in placeby 2004. Two years down the line muchprogress has been made.

It is estimated that almost one tenth ofsouthern Africa’s flora is at some riskof extinction (Golding 2002). Thisprompted SABONET to implementThreatened Plants Programmes (TPPs)in its 22 participating botanical gar-dens to enable us, albeit in a small way,to contribute to the conservation ofthreatened plants. Gardens from Bot-swana (1), Lesotho (1), Malawi (3), Mo-zambique (3), Namibia (1), South Af-rica (9), Zambia (1), and Zimbabwe (3)are actively taking part in theSABONET Project’s TPPs. TwoSABONET countries do not have func-tional gardens, but Angola has beenactively involved in reviving theirs af-ter the war and Swaziland are devel-oping their first garden.

Gardens were requested to formulateproposals for the cultivation of flagshipspecies that are threatened in theircountries and to submit them to aSABONET committee that evaluatedthe proposed programmes. A flagshipspecies was defined as a threatenedplant with horticultural potential and/

or value to rural livelihoods. 17 propos-als have been reviewed and approved,and are being implemented (Carolus2002; Hurter 2002; Tarr 2002;Mahlelebe 2002). Each of these gar-dens was given US$3,000 as seedmoney to initiate their programmes.Five proposals still need to be reviewedand we are expecting the final versionsbefore the deadline of 30 June 2003.

The approved TPPs aim at mass culti-vation of threatened species for localmarkets and reintroduction into areaswhere they have gone extinct. Most ofthe species that form part of the pro-gramme are threatened by over-har-vesting of wild populations because ofthe international horticultural and in-digenous medicinal plant trade. Suchspecies are also further endangered bythe transformation of habitat by agri-cultural monocultures and urban ex-pansion. In some of the participatinggardens the programme is well estab-lished and looks like SABONET is sup-porting successful initiatives to delivertangible outputs.

The participating gardens are cultivat-ing 35 threatened plants indigenous tosouthern Africa. 23 were chosen fortheir horticultural potential and theremaining 12 for their importance tosustainable rural livelihoods. In theprogramme, the Apocynaceae is thebest-represented family, followed bythe Zamiaceae, Ericaceae and Faba-ceae. Encephalartos, Orbea and Ericaare the best-represented genera. Mostgardens opted for the cultivation ofspecies with horticultural potential,such as succulents (nine species) andplants with spectacular flowers (tenspecies). The plants that were chosenfor sustainable utilisation programmesare mostly used for medicine, food,timber, and handcrafts.

These programmes were strength-ened by a Plant Conservation Work-shop that was held back-to-back withthe African Botanic Gardens Congress(see article on page 22). The workshopculminated in Guidelines for ex situconservation collection managementand case studies from southern Afri-can botanical gardens, which shouldenable gardens across the region tolearn from one another. In addition tothis, SABONET has contracted an ex-pert to produce a Manual on the propa-gation and cultivation of southern Afri-ca’s threatened species (see request inbox).


Appropriate partnerships (at local, na-tional, and international levels) need tobe developed with the economic sec-tor, conservation agencies, and othergardens in 2003 to ensure the long-term sustainability of these pro-grammes. Monitoring and evaluation

of TTPs and their conservation rolemust become a regular function ineach botanical garden in southern Af-rica. By achieving this, SABONEThopes to establish a worthy pro-gramme for ex situ plant conservation.

Internships

“Internships for mentoring should beresourced and countries encouraged tomake the best use of the expertise in theregion. Internships must be needs-driven and focused toward the produc-

Threatened Plants ProgrammeTarget species of the Threatened Plants Programme for each participating southern African botanicalgarden

Country Botanical Garden Target Species Family

Botswana National Botanical Garden Orbea knobelii Apocynaceae

O. rogersii

O. tapscottii

Lesotho Katse Botanical Garden Thamnocalamus tessellatus Poaceae

Malawi Zomba Botanical Garden Dalbergia melanoxylon Fabaceae

Mzuzu Botanical Garden Pterocarpus angolensis Fabaceae

Lilongwe Botanical Garden Afzelia quanzensis Fabaceae

Mozambique INIA Botanical Garden Encephalartos lebomboensis ZamiaceaeE. ferox

Tunduru Botanical Garden Raphia australis Arecaceae

University Botanical Garden Warburgia salutaris Canellaceae

Namibia National Botanic Garden Hoodia currorri Apocynaceae

H. gordonii

H. parviflora

South Africa Free State National Botanical Garden Scilla natalensis Liliaceae

Harold Porter National Botanical Garden Satyrium carneum Orchidaceae

S. hallackii subsp. hallackii

Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden Moraea worcesterensis Iridaceae

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Erica fairii Ericaceae

E. ferrea

E. turgida

E. verticillata

Lowveld National Botanical Garden Dioscorea sp. nov. Dioscoreaceae

Acacia sp. nov. Fabaceae

Natal National Botanical Garden Gerbera aurantiaca Asteraceae

Pretoria National Botanical Garden Aloe reitzii var. reitzii Aloaceae

Witwatersrand National Botanical Garden Aloe albida Aloaceae

Durban Botanic Gardens, South Africa Stangeria eriopus Stangeriaceae

Zambia University Botanical Garden Cyphostemma nanellum Vitaceae

C. tenuissimum

Zimbabwe National Botanical Garden Lobelia stricklandia Lobeliaceae

Scadoxus pole-evansii Amaryllidaceae

Vumba Botanical Garden Encephalartos chimanimaniensis Zamiaceae

Ewanrigg Botanical Garden Encephalartos concinnus Zamiaceae

E. manikensis


tion of SABONET products which illus-trates the relevance of the capacitybuilt.”—Timberlake & Paton (2001),SABONET Mid-Term Review.

Centres promoting the documentationand conservation of botanical diversityshould promote and encourage part-nerships within a network, which caninclude project administration, grantprovisions, joint publications, andinternships (Rose 1999). Internshipsare probably the most effective way forherbaria and botanical gardens toshare equipment, laboratories, librar-ies, and most importantly, skills. Re-search, conservation, and manage-ment tutoring will best serve the long-term interests of herbaria and botani-cal gardens and personal exchange ofinformation and interaction withskilled staff provides the best under-standing of principles, practices, andapproaches. By sharing availableknowledge and technology we canspare others costly mistakes and theduplication of efforts.

To initiate this activity within the re-gion, the Regional Office set about de-veloping procedures to aid the partici-pating institutions in applying forfunds and implementing an internship.In this way botanists were given someexercise in organising and initiatingprojects themselves. All correspond-ence was between the intern and theparticular herbarium or botanical gar-den. Once all arrangements and agree-ments were in place, the participatinginstitutions would request funds from

the Regional Office via the QuarterlyReports. At first this process was a bitchaotic, but with time it proved a veryuseful approach.

Initially the participating institutionswere wary of making use of intern-ships. After a few successful “forced”internships, however, there was sud-denly a wave of applications. Between1 March 2001 and 28 February 2003,SABONET has assisted 63 botanistsfrom the region to undertakeinternships to other herbaria and bo-tanical gardens in southern Africa.Internships were linked to specificproject outputs, which meant that her-barium staff were only eligible forfunding if they were to work on prior-ity outputs such as National or PoaceaeChecklists. Botanical garden staff wereonly supported if their visit to anotherinstitution would benefit their Threat-ened Plants Programme. On comple-tion of an internship, a report is sub-mitted to the Regional Office. Articlesin popular newsletters are also encour-aged (Archer 2002; Parker 2002;Nkoloma 2002; Mannheimer 2002).

The objective and value of internshipsare defined in the first paragraph. Toenable an institution to benefit from theprogramme they could either (1) send their staff member to another

institution to work with experts in aspecific field, or

(2) invite an expert in a required fieldto visit their institution and workwith their staff.

Obviously the internship programme

was limited to citizens of the tenSABONET countries. Each participat-ing country was allocated US$ 5,000 forherbarium internships and US$2,500for garden internships.

From the table it can be seen that theherbaria have been much more activein this programme, because they havereceived more funding over a longerperiod. Herbaria tend to invite expertsand send their own staff to other insti-tutions in the same degree. Botanicalgardens prefer to send their staff towork with experts in other institutionsin other countries. The most plausibleexplanation for this is that horticultur-ists still need to familiarise themselveswith the other gardens in the network,whereas courses, workshops, andmeetings have afforded many taxono-mists the opportunity to visit otherherbaria in the region. South Africaand Botswana have the most activeherbarium internship programme andZimbabwe the most active programmefor gardens.

This year will probably become themost productive of the Project in termsof product delivery to achieve impact.Internships hold the key to a success-ful outcome. The Regional Office hasbeen given the green light to coordi-nate internships to enhance the qual-ity and delivery of publications during2003. Editors and authors of SABO-NET funded publications should lookupon internships as a tool to meet theirgoals. The preparation of the Check-list of Lesotho Grasses is probably the

InternshipsInternships undertaken by herbarium and botanical gardens staff from each participating country

Country Herbaria In-country Other country Gardens In-country Other country Total ReasonAngola 3 3 0 0 0 0 3 Red Data List, grass checklist

Botswana 7 3 4 3 1 2 10 Databasing, training, TPPs

Lesotho 2 1 1 0 0 0 2 Grass checklist

Malawi 5 1 4 3 0 3 8 TPPs, Poaceae research, curation

Mozambique 4 1 3 3 0 3 7 National checklist, TPPs

Namibia 3 2 1 1 1 0 4 Training, curation, checklists, TPPs

South Africa 15 9 6 1 1 0 16 Curation, training, research

Swaziland 3 2 1 0 0 0 3 Grass, tree and fern checklists

Zambia 2 0 2 2 0 2 4 TPPs, bryophytes, miombo keys

Zimbabwe 2 1 1 4 0 4 6 TPPs, training

46 23 23 17 3 14 63

In-country: A participating institution invites an expert from the region to visit one of their herbaria or botanical gardens.Other country: A participating institution sends a staff member from one of their herbaria or botanical gardens to another institution in the region.


best example of a high quality prod-uct that was produced over a shorttime by making use of internships(Kobisi & Phillipson 2002).

Final words

SABONET has put in place a regionalteam of botanical expertise with thetechnical capacity to monitor, evaluate,and document the exceptionally richbotanical heritage of southern Africa.In the remaining months of SABO-NET’s lifespan, participating institu-tions and individuals will be chal-lenged to produce tangible evidenceof the contribution that capacity build-ing has made towards regional devel-opment. In short, we hope to measureour success according to the numberand standard of trained plant diversityspecialists, quality and usefulness ofpublications produced, eminence andsize of a regional plant database, andthe production of a concept documentfor a new project. By successfully im-plementing and completing the threeprogrammes discussed above (End-user Workshops, Threatened PlantsProgrammes and Internships), we willtake a huge step towards achievingimpact and laying the foundation for aSABONET II.

These initiatives were made possible throughgenerous funding provided to the SABONETProject by the Global Environmental Facility(GEF) through the United Nations Develop-ment Programme (UNDP). A special thanks toJonathan Timberlake and Alan Paton forsharing their vision with project management.Our appreciation to Nyasha Rukazhanga-Noko and Lorna Davis for respectivelyapplying their administration and financialmanagement skills superbly to implementthese initiatives successfully. We also wish tothank all the SABONET National Coordina-tors for their participation to make the newinitiatives such a success.

ARCHER, C. 2002. News from South Africa:Report back from Cape Town internship.SABONET News 7: 68.

BIONET-INTERNATIONAL. 2002. ThirdGlobal Taxonomy Workshop agreespartnership approach for GlobalTaxonomy Initiative for CBD. BioNET-International News 11: 1–6.

BRAMWELL, D., RAVEN, P. & SYNGE, H.2002. Implementing the Global Strategyfor Plant Conservation. Plant Talk 30: 32–36.

CAROLUS, B. 2002. Threatened Plants

Programmes: Satyriums. SABONETNews 7: 132-133.

GOLDING, J.S. (ed.). 2002. SouthernAfrican Plant Red Data Lists. SouthernAfrican Botanical Diversity NetworkReport No. 14. SABONET, Pretoria.

HURTER, J. 2002. Threatened Plants Pro-gramme: Dioscorea. SABONET News 7:222–223.

KOBISI, K. & PHILLIPSON, P. 2002. Newsfrom Lesotho: Poaceae checklist report.SABONET News 7: 221.

MAHLELEBE, T. 2002. Threatened PlantsProgrammes: Berg Bamboo. SABONETNews 7: 132.

MANNHEIMER, C. 2002. News fromNamibia. SABONET News 7: 149–150.

MORIN, N.R., WHETSTONE, R.D.,WILKEN, D. & TOMLINSON, K.L. 1988.Floristics for the 21st Century. Alexandria,Virginia.

NKOLOMA, L. 2002. Curator from Malawivisits Natal National Botanical Garden.NBI News (December): 2.

PARKER, F. 2002. News from South Africa:SABONET internship at Natal Herba-rium. SABONET News 7: 246.

ROSE, C.L. 1999. Conservation and collec-tions care resources. In: D.A. Metsger &S.C. Byers (eds), Managing the modernherbarium: An interdisciplinaryapproach, pp. 36–58. Elton-Wolf Publi-shing, Canada.

SIEBERT, S.J., MÖSSMER, M., RUKA-ZHANGA-NOKO, N. & HAASBROEK,C. 2001. Has SABONET developed theregional botanical expertise it promised?SABONET News 6: 74–83.

STEENKAMP, Y. 2002. National workshopfor stakeholders and end-users oftaxonomic information and herbaria.SABONET News 7: 31.

STEENKAMP, Y. & SMITH, G.F. 2002.Addressing the needs of the users ofbotanical information. Southern AfricanBotanical Diversity Network Report No.15. SABONET, Pretoria.

TARR, B. 2002. Threatened Plants Pro-grammes: Hilton Daisy. SABONET News7: 131–132.

TIMBERLAKE, J. & PATON, A. 2001.SABONET Mid-term Review. SABONETNews 6: 5–13.

WILLIS, C.K. & TURNER, S. (eds). 2001.Action Plan for Southern AfricanBotanical Gardens. Southern AfricanBotanical Diversity Network Report No.12. SABONET, Pretoria.

—Stefan SiebertSABONET Regional Office

[email protected]

Many staff members in the her-baria of southern Africa have

been contracted under theSABONET project in April 1998,others joined us later, but the factremains that all impressed us withtheir particularly effective workingcapacity and enthusiasm. Withoutall the Research Officers, TechnicalAssistants, and Data Entry Clerksthe project would not have beenwhere it is today. As a UNDP-GEFfunded project, SABONET grate-fully recognizes the effort and thededication of all those who gave apart of their lives to pursue a com-mon goal in southern Africa, namelyto document the plant diversity ofthis floristically rich region.

Although many staff members inthe region have been or will be ab-sorbed by their institutions beforethe contract expiry dates of 31March 2003 and 30 June 2003, manywill not be so fortunate and will haveto seek job opportunities elsewhere.However, SABONET was a capac-ity building initiative and those thatwill have to leave take with themmany skills and a keen knowledgeof the plant diversity of the region.SABONET has conducted 25 train-ing courses and implemented 46internships for staff from herbariain the region, many of which werecontract employees. These coursesand internships provided staff withopportunities to become proficientin computers and databases, famil-iar with herbarium practices andmanagement, well-informed re-garding plant identifications, andequipped as plant diversity special-ists.

As individuals, all the SABONETcontract staff impressed us withtheir strong motivation to succeedin whatever activity they embarkedon, no matter how difficult the task.They all made a difference and willdefinitely leave their mark on thedevelopment of botanical sciencesin southern Africa. Thanks for yourdedication and hard work! We willmiss all those that are leaving. We

A Tribute toSABONET

Contract Staff


Lloyd Nkoloma who was Curator ofNational Botanic Gardens of Malawi

died in the late hours of Monday nightFebruary 17, 2003 of a sudden asthmaticattack.

Lloyd was born on March 15, 1944 inNamitambo area, Chiradzulu District inSouthern Malawi. He went to Dedza Sec-ondary School from 1959 to 1962 wherehe successfully completed his CambridgeOverseas Certificate. Later that year hejoined the Ministry of Agriculture wherehe worked as a Laboratory Technician(1962–1975). Lloyd obtained a certificatein Laboratory Techniques from the Ma-lawi Polytechnic, a constituent college ofthe University of Malawi, in 1970. Laterhe was a Field Research Officer respon-sible for Horticulture (1981–1984). In 1984,he obtained a Diploma in Horticulturefrom Egerton College in Kenya. Lloydlectured at the Natural Resources Collegein Lilongwe, Malawi (1984–1990) wherehe was also the head of Horticulture De-partment before he joined the NationalHerbarium and Botanic Gardens in 1990as Senior Assistant Curator.

Lloyd was one of the first people em-ployed by NHBG shortly after it wasformed as an independent institution. Hewill be remembered professionally for hiscontribution to the development ofZomba, Lilongwe, and Mzuzu BotanicGardens. His vast reservoir and wealthof professional experience drawn frommany years of service and training is anirreplaceable loss to the National Her-barium and Botanic Gardens of Malawi.

His wife, Margaret and four children,George, Andrew, Victoria, and Mayamikoand five grandchildren, Mphatso,Natasha, Sally, Merlissa, and Yankho willmiss him. Lloyd had the spirit of a father,grandfather, uncle, and friend to manyemployees at NHBG. Those who haveknown Lloyd will testify to his cheer andappreciation for friends and exchange ofknowledge. As a Christian, he was gen-erous, humorous and a dedicated col-league, friend, and companion.

Lloyd was buried in the Municipality ofZomba Cemetery on Wednesday Febru-ary 19, 2003. We feel with the family, rela-

wish you the best of luck for yourfuture and hope you will rise tomany adventurous challenges withall the inspiration and commitmentyou showed as a member of theSABONET team.

Thank you to:Ms Teresa Martins, Mr AndreDombo, Mr Cidalio Francisco, andMr Jose Calonga (Angola);Ms Ludo Matenge and Ms NeoLekomola (Botswana);Ms Lerato Kose, Ms PulengMatebesi, Mr Khotso Kobisi, andMr Malefetsane Tlali (Lesotho);Ms Elizabeth Mwafongo, MsGladys Msekandiana, Mr MaxwellMwamwaya, Ms Brigitte Kubwalo,and Mr Donald Mpalika (Malawi);Ms Samira Izidine, Ms Ana BelaAmude, Ms Iva Vaz, Ms RaquelMatsinhe, Mr Aurelio Benchel,and Mr Carlos Zita (Mozambique);Ms Coleen Mannheimer, MsPetronella Claasen, Ms BirgitRahn, and Ms Elizabeth Campbell(Namibia);Ms Fatima Parker, Ms HassinaAboobaker, Ms Tebogo Rampho,Ms Angela Baadjes, Ms MichelleEngelbrecht, Ms VeronicaWilliams, Ms Najuwa Davids, MsKinny Mmakola, and Mr AlpheusMothapo (South Africa);Mr Christopher Tshabalala and MrComfort Nhleko (Swaziland);Ms Maureen Kalusa and MrGeorge Shakatwa (Zambia);Mr Phelex Manyanga, Ms RachelRusere, Mr Christopher Chapano,Ms Memory Chandinyira, MsNancy Mugarisanwa, and MsMartha Mamuto (Zimbabwe).

Our appreciation to those who arestill with us and will complete theSABONET road of success with usduring 2003.

And remember the following: “Ifyou advance confidently in the di-rection of your dreams, and endeav-our to live the life which you haveimagined, you will meet with a suc-cess unexpected in common hours”– Henry David Thoreau

—Stefan Siebert & NyashaRukazhanga-Noko

SABONET Regional Office

tives, and friends for the loss of our dearcolleague and friend.

—Augustin Charles ChikuniNational Herbarium & Botanic Gardens

of MalawiPO Box 528,

Zomba, Malawi

Lloyd and I shared our birthdays inMarch, so were always very close. He wasa wonderful person for whom I had agreat deal of admiration and respect. It isa great loss for the botanical gardens inMalawi and the botanical garden commu-nity in the southern African region.

—Christopher WillisDirector: Gardens & Horticultural

ServicesNational Botanical Institute, Pretoria

South Africa

I am very sorry to hear of Lloyd’s pass-ing—he was a good friend and colleague.I pray that you at Zomba will know thepresence of the Lord at this time, and es-pecially that Lloyd’s family will experienceGod’s peace. Please extend my regardsand condolences to Lloyd’s family and tohis colleagues.

—John RoffDurban

I was very sad to receive the news of thepassing of our friend Lloyd. He will al-ways be remembered for his gentle waysand his spirit of co-operation as well ashis friendly outlook on life.

—Chris DalzellCurator; Durban Botanic Garden

South Africa

We are very shocked to hear about thepremature death of Mr Lloyd G.Nkoloma. What a great loss to his family,the NHBG, and Malawi. As we all know,Mr Nkoloma was among the first sons ofMalawi to contribute to the developmentof our National Botanic Gardens in Ma-lawi where his horticultural skills helpedto shape the landscape of our botanicgardens. Malawi will miss him greatlyand we join his family, NHBG, and friendsin mourning his death.

—James H. SeyaniCommonwealth Secretariat, London

ObituaryLloyd Gideon Nkoloma

(1944–2003)


Sou

ther

n A

fric

an H

erba

ria

The first herbarium created in An-gola was LUA, in Huambo Prov-

ince, in 1941. It was moved to Luandain 1995, because of worsening condi-tions and a lack of security. LUBA inLubango, created in 1958, also latermoved to Luanda, and is now knownas Luanda Herbarium (LUAI).

Many naturalists took part in botanicmissions in Angola. Among them wasMr. Mason who organised the firstcollecting expedition in 1969 in which36 samples from Luanda District andCongo were collected. John Kirkwoodorganised a second collection inCabinda. John Gossweiler made im-portant collections in every districtduring the 50 years of his life and cre-ated the first phytogeographic map ofAngola. Friedrich Welwitsch exploredthe littoral zone of Ambriz, Luanda,Cuanza-Norte, the littoral zone ofBenguala, Namibe, and Chela Escarp-ment. He gathered numerous sampleswith detailed phenologic, edaphic, eco-logical and ethnobotanical data.

The engineer Oscar Azancot deMenezes who worked in the ScientificInstitute of Scientific Research since1959 was also an important collector.Many of his specimens can be foundin herbaria of Europe and Africa. Du-plicates of almost every specimen col-lected during colonial times were sentto herbaria like Centro de Botanica ofIICT of Lisboa, Faculty of Science ofLisbon, and the Universities of Coim-bra and Porto.

Plant Collection

Currently, Angolan herbaria containabout 125,000 specimens, of whichLuanda Herbarium houses over 38,000

SouthernAfrican

Herbaria

Luanda Herbariumplant specimens. The specimens arearranged in alphabetical order accord-ing to Dalla Torre. The Poaceae andFabaceae are the best representedfamilies.

Activities

The Luanda Herbarium has the follow-ing core activities:• Field work activities to increase col-

lections• Encoding specimens using the

PRECIS Database• Publishing research papers, Floras

and monographs• Elaborating checklists• Surveys of threatened plants• Surveys of economic plants (medici-

nal, crafts, edible, timber, aromaticand wood fuel)

• Taxonomic studies on species de-posited at the Gene Bank Centre

Funding

SABONET Project (1996–2003): Mostactivities at Luanda Herbarium takeplace because of SABONET funds. Itincludes sponsorship of trainingcourses in Herbarium Management,Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA), Systematics, Threatened Plants,Computer Management (PRECIS da-tabase, Red Data List), and plant iden-tification. The herbarium is concentrat-ing on threatened plants and held afirst workshop on Red Data List plantson 28 and 29 May 2002.

SECOSUD Project (1999–2001): Theproject was developed in cooperationwith Italy and Malawi, focusing onUseful Plants. They helped us to ac-quire equipment and sponsored us ona Database training course in Pretoria.

BCLME (Large Marine BiodiversityProgramme): The herbarium is nowpart of the BCLME Programme, whichincludes Angola, Namibia, and SouthAfrica. The herbarium will assist withmangrove ecosystems studies. Theprogramme has not yet begun.

Staff and Research Interests

General Manager and SABONET Co-ordinator:Prof. Esperança Costa• Pollen morphology in Genisteae

(Argyrolobium and Adenocarpus)from Angola and Mozambique

• Many articles about Mangrove Veg-etation

• More than 10 specific articles abouttaxonomy in Leguminosae

• Working on checklist of AngolanPoaceae

Herbarium Curator:Ms Teresa Martins• Systematics of vascular plants• Poaceae diversity and taxonomy

Research Officers:Ms Georgina Neto• Fabaceae systematics• MSc in Portugal (on study leave)Ms Ana Teresa Silva• Useful Plants

Data Entry Clerks:Mr André DomboMr Cidálio Marcos

Technical Assistant:Mr Afonso Calonga

—Teresa Gonçalves MartinsLuanda Herbarium, Angola


Palmiet Reservemzone.mweb.co.za/residents/csread/palmiet/reserve

If you would like to learn moreabout the Palmiet Reserve and itsplants.

African ConservationFoundationwww.africanconservation.org

This is a forum for press releases,volunteers, and research reportson African conservation initiatives.

Guide to Bryophytes ofsub-Saharan Africahttp://www.oshea.demon.co.uk/tbr/gba.htm

Want to find out more about themoss diversity of southern Africa?Visit this website for detailedchecklists.

Searchable nomenclaturalmoss databasehttp://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/most.html

For the latest updates on the no-menclature of mosses, search theMissouri Botanical Garden’s mossdatabase.

Flora of Zimbabwe websitewww.zimbabweflora.co.zw

A web site devoted to the Zimba-bwe flora has been created. Thepurpose of the site is to provideinformation about Zimbabwe’splants and make it more widelyavailable than it is at present. Ini-tially, the main content of the siteis a checklist of Zimbabwean vas-cular plants but it hopes to add fur-ther content when it becomesavailable. I would be delighted toreceive any comments or thoughtsabout the site and especially sug-gestions on how it might be im-proved.

—Mark HydeHarare, Zimbabwe

[email protected]


ThePaper ChaseThe object of this column is to keep an eye open for literature which SABONET users may find useful. This will mostly

be new publications, but may well include older information in answer to questions such as “what’s the best key to …”.It is neither possible nor desirable that the flow of such information should be one-way, from Pretoria outwards, so pleasefeel free to submit notes and useful information to the address at the end of this column.

The citation of an item here does not imply any guarantee of its contents or even its existence; very often the compiler hasnot seen the documents referred to.

Mary Gunn Library: New Books❚ The state of South Africa’s species. Verdoorn, G.H. & Le Roux, J.(eds). 2001. Endangered Wildlife Trust, Johannesburg.Paperback, 231 pages, A4. Proceedings of an EndangeredWildlife Trust Conference.

These are the proceedings of a conference held inJohannesburg, from 4–7 September 2001. It addresses the needfor Red Data Lists in conservation planning. Seven symposialooked at different themes, namely the taxa within eachbiological grouping that should be listed as Threatened, possiblereasons for the threatened status of taxa, conservation measuresthat are required to prevent extinction and further decline oftaxa, institutions and organisations that should be involved inthe implementation of conservation strategies for threatenedspecies, and the current status of the Red Data List for eachbiological grouping.

❚ The biodiversity of South Africa 2002: Indicators, trends andhuman impacts. Le Roux, J. (comp). 2002. Struik, Cape Town.Paperback, 33 pages, A4 landscape. A product of theEndangered Wildlife Trust.

After Indonesia and Brazil, South Africa is the third mostbiologically diverse country in the world. South Africa thereforehas an important role to play in protecting the globalenvironment. This publication assesses the state of biodiversityin South Africa. Flagship species were chosen to indicate thehealth of each of the country’s ecoregions. The findings of thereport emphasises the need for collaboration betweenconservation departments, academic institutions, and NGOs tofurther study the rich biodiversity of South Africa.

❚ Essências florestais deAngola: Província deCabinda. Liberato, M.C., DeFreitas, M.C., Quilho, T., dosReis, J.B. & Machado, J.S.2002. Instituto deInvestigação CientíficaTropical, Lisbon. Paperback,112 pages, A5. ISBN 972–672–910–6.

It seems that this offering isone of a series similar toGomes e Sousa’s (1951 andsubsequent volumes)Dendrologia de Moçambiqueof many years ago. Thepresent volume deals with

systematics, wood characteristics, and economics of Dacryodespubescens (Burseraceae), Funtumia africana (Apocynaceae),Guibourtia arnoldiana (Leguminoseae), Markhamia tomentosa(Bignoniaceae) and Nesogordonia leplaei (Sterculiaceae) in aparticular forest in Cabinda. This study considers variousaspects such as taxonomic position, botanical description,habitat and ecology, geographic distribution, vernacular names,commercial names, use by local people, and the physical–mechanical properties, workability and applications of the wood.

❚ Euphorbias: A gardener’sguide. Turner, R. 1995.Batsford, London. Hardcover,192 pages, A5. ISBN 0–7134–7071–2.

A sentence in the dust-jacketblurb of this book iscompletely irresistible. “Fromenormis to minuta, monstrosato liliputiana, magnificum andgrandis to horrida andvulgaris; in shades of greenii,whitei, brownii and purpurea;cylindrica or triangularis,quadrangularis,quinqueradiata, sexangularis,septemsulca or evenoctoradiata; or simply difficultto pronounce—ambohipotsiensis,borszczowii, razafinjohanii,signatepequensis ortsukamotii—there is aeuphorbia for everyone.”

❚ World checklist andbibliography of Sapotaceae.Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. &Pennington, T.D. 2001. RoyalBotanic Gardens, Kew.Paperback, xi + 361 pages, A4.ISBN 1–900347–94–6.

This is the fifth volume in theseries of world familychecklists, and is part of alifetime project by RafaelGovaerts to produce a worldchecklist of plants, with bothaccepted names and


synonyms. Other groups so far covered in this series includeMagnoliaceae (Frodin & Govaerts 1996), Fagales (Frodin &Govaerts 1998), Conifers (Farjon 2001), and Euphorbiaceae(Govaerts et al. 2000). Companion volumes are four alphabeticalvolumes of a World checklist of seed plants (Govaerts, 1995 – x).The quality of work in these volumes makes them essentialreference works for all herbaria where research is takenseriously.

❚ Key to the genera of Australian mosses. Buck, W.R., Vitt, D.H. &Malcolm, W.M. 2002. ABRS, Canberra. Flora of Australiasupplementary series No. 14. Paperback, ring bound, vi + 120pages, A5. ISBN 0–642–56819–7.

The key is illustrated with numerous excellent colour photos,and the text seems to these non-bryologists to be workable. Theidea is excellent, the printing more than adequate, and the wholelot let down by the binding, which eats paper.

❚ Aquatic and wetland plants of northeastern North America.Crow, G.E. & Hellquist, C.B. 2000. University of Wisconsin Press,Madison. Volume 1: hardcover, iv + 480 pages, ISBN 0–299–16330–X. Volume 2: hardcover, iv + 400 pages, ISBN 0–299–16280–X.

The cover informs us that this is a revised and enlarged editionof N.C. Fassett’s A Manual of aquatic plants. Volume 1 coverspteridophytes, gymnosperms and dicotyledons, and volume 2 isdevoted entirely to monocotyledons. The keys to families arerepeated in each volume, as are some explanatory illustrations.This is an eminently sensible arrangement, as are theinnumerable line drawings, which appear to illustrate everygenus if not each species.

❚ Cacti, succulents and bromeliads. Innes, C. & Wall, B. 1995.Cassell and Royal Horticultural Society, London. Hardcover, 192pages. ISBN 0–304–32076–5.

At least for bromeliads, this is an excellent introduction to alarge and complex family. The bromeliad illustrations also act asa quick guide to where to look for an unknown in Rauh’s (1990)massive Bromeliad Lexicon.

❚ The color encyclopedia of Cape bulbs. Manning, J., Goldblatt, P.& Snijman, D. 2002. Timber Press, Portland OR. Hardcover, 486

pages, manycolour illustrationsISBN 0–88192–547–0.

Very pretty, verycomprehensive,but I tend torespond to fynbosbooks the sameway as I do to yetanother “Big 5”wildlife video withlots of lions—witha yawn and asnore. This isanother fynbosbook, and as suchit reminds me thatsouthern Africahas some 24 000plant taxa, two

thirds of which do not grow in the fynbos! Bulb lovers will,however, rhapsodise over it, and they are not wrong to do so.So, interestingly, does at least one Australian weed-watcher,who tells us that many of that country’s greatest problem plantsare to be found here.

❚ New Zealand plants and their story. Oates, M.R. (ed). 2001.Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture, Canterbury NZ.Paperback, A4, 103 pages. ISBN 0–959776–3–3.

The papers in this book form the record of the proceedings of aconference held between 1 and 3 October 1999 in Wellington,New Zealand. The overall theme is the change in horticulturalfashion in New Zealand from almost exclusively exotics to a mixof indigenous and exotic. No doubt a similar tale could be told insouthern Africa, though it is interesting that some New Zealandplants were highly esteemed here evidently decades before theywere considered quite respectable there. There are alsocontributions on pest animals and plants, and some landscape-planning case studies.

❚ World Economic Plants: astandard reference. Wiersema,J. & Leon, B. 1999. CRC Press,Boca Raton FL. Hardcover,xxxv +749 pages. ISBN 0–8493–2119–0.

Anything this sturdy volumelacks in beauty, it more thanmakes up in usefulness. Howmany hours have I not wastedtrying to determine the correctname of a specimen labelledwith a faulty one? Here are theanswers for some 10 000 of theworld’s most useful plants.Each entry also gives briefnotes on the uses and places oforigin.

❚ Bulbs. Bryan, J.E. 2002. Timber Press, Oregon. Hard cover, 524pages, A4. ISBN 0–88192–101–7.

❚ The Leguminosae of Madagascar. Du Puy, D.J., Labal, J-N.,Rabevohitra, R., Villiers, J-F.,Bosser, J. & Moat, J. (eds).2002. Royal Botanic Gardens,Kew. Hard cover, 737 pages,A4. ISBN 1–900347–91–1.

❚ Global strategy on invasivealien species. McNeely, J.A.,Mooney, H.A., Neville, L.E.,Schei, P.J. & Wage, J.K. (eds).2001. IUCN, Gland. Softcover, 50 pages, A4. ISBN 2–8317–0609–2.

❚ Living off biodiversity:exploring livelihoods andbiodiversity issues in naturalresource management.Koziell, I. & Saunders, J. 2001.International Institute forEnvironment and Development, London. Soft cover, 269 pages,A4. ISBN 1–899–825–673.


❚ Illustrated handbook of succulent plants: Asclepiadaceae.Albers, F. & Meve, U. (eds). 2002. Springer–Verlag, Berlin. Hardcover, 217 + XLVIII pages, A4. ISBN 3–540–41964–0.

❚ Scripta Botanica Belgica & Opera Botanica BelgicaProf. Elmar Robbrecht very kindly draws our attention to somemore-than-worthwhile publications from the National BotanicalGardens of Belgium. Although these mostly deal with areas justoutside the SABONET area (usually DRC and points north-west),they are well worth reading as object lessons in how to presentour own work. Here are some titles:Scripta Botanica Belgica21. Flore et végétation du Jebel Uweinat (6). J. Léonard.23. The vascular plants of the Dzanga–Sangha Reserve. D.J.Harris.Opera Botanica Belgica8. Oxyanthus (Rubiaceae) en Afrique centrale. B. Sonké.9. The African species of Ixora (Rubiaceae–Pavetteae). P. deBlock.10. La Végétation de la Réserve de Biosphère de Luki. A. Lubini.12. Inflorescences in Bruniaceae. R. Classen-Bockhoff.

Mary Gunn Library: Theses

❚ Gluckmann, E. 1951. Cytotaxonomic studies in the speciesThemeda triandra. Ph.D., University of the Witwatersrand,Johannesburg.

❚ Siebert, S.J. 2001. Vegetation on the ultramafic soils of theSekhukhuneland Centre of Endemism. Ph.D., University ofPretoria.

Mary Gunn Library: New Parts of Floras

Flora of Tropical East Africa

❚ Adiantaceae by B. Verdcourt,edited by H.J. Beentje & S.A.Ghazanfar (2002).

❚ Apocynaceae by E.A. Omino,edited by H.J. Beentje & S.A.Ghazanfar (2002).

❚ Asphodelaceae by C.Whitehouse, edited by H.J.Beentje & S.A.L. Smith (2002).

❚ Hydnoraceae by H.J. Beentje &Q. Luke, edited by H.J. Beentje &S.A. Ghazanfar (2002).

❚ Pteridaceae by B. Verdcourt,edited by H.J. Beentje & S.A.Ghazanfar (2002).

Flora Zambesiaca

❚ Gramineae, volume ten, part four, edited by G.V. Pope & E.S.Martins (2002).

Flora D’Afrique Centrale

❚ Xyridaceae by S. Lisowski, B. Brylska & J. Wiland-Szymanska(2001).

❚ Nephrolepidaceae by A. Lawalree (2000).

Floras received from outside Africa

❚ Flora do Cabo Verde: 35 families published in 2002. Cultivatedplants are included, but not always with specimen citations. Asignificant number of specimens that are cited here are to befound in LMA as well as the indicated herbaria.

❚ Flora of Australia: 17A. Grevillea.

❚ Flora de Colombia: 19. Chrysobalanaceae, 20. Dichapetalaceae,21. Cycadales, 22. Loasaceae.

❚ Flora Malesiana: 16. Caryophyllaceae, Cunoniaceae,Potamogetonaceae, Zosteraceae & Cymodoceaceae.

❚ Flore de Nouvelle Caledonie: 24. Pittosporacées.

❚ Flora Nova–Galiciana: 3. Ochnaceae to Loasaceae.

❚ Flora Neotropica: 84. Solanum, section Geminata.

❚ Horticultural Flora of Southeastern Australia

Recently Published Papers

African Wildlife 56(4) (2002)

❚ Rietvlei Nature Reserve, theunknown jewel of Gauteng. J. vanWyk. Pages 12–15.

❚ Spider-crabs (and mangroveconservation). W. Emmerson.Pages 21–22.

❚ George Herbarium moves to abeautiful new home. Anonymous.Page 47.

Animal Conservation 5 (2002)

❚ Declines in the numbers ofamateur and professionaltaxonomists: Implications forconservation. G.W. Hopkins & R.P.Freckleton. Pages 245–249.

Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 33 (2002)

❚ Troubleshooting molecular phylogenetic analyses. M.J.Sanderson & H.B. Shaffer. Pages 49–72.

❚ Plant ecological strategies: Some leading dimensions ofvariation between species. M. Westoby, D.S. Falster, A.T. Moles,P.A. Vesk & I.J. Wright. Pages 125–160.

❚ Phylogenies and community ecology. C.O. Webb, D.A. Ackerly,M.A. McPeek & M.J. Donoghue. Pages 475–506.

❚ Estimating divergence times from molecular data on phylo-genetic and population genetic timescales. B.S. Arbogast, S.V.Edwards, J. Wakeley, P. Beerli & J.B. Slowinski. Pages 707–740.


❚ The fate of clades in aworld of recurrentclimatic change:Milankovitchoscillations andevolution. R. Jansson &M. Dynesius. Pages 741–778.

Biodiversity andConservation 12(2,3)(2003)

❚ Evaluation of geneticrelationships inDalbergia species usingRAPD markers. G.R.Rout, D. Bhatacharya,R.M. Nanda et al. Pages197–206.

❚ Bioprospecting: Why is it so unrewarding? R.D. Firn. Pages207–216.

❚ The role of native tussock grass (Paspalum quadrifarium Lam.)in structuring plant communities in the flooding Pampagrasslands, Argentina. S.B. Perelman, S.E. Burkart & R.J.C.Lean. Pages 225–238.

❚ A nested-intensity design for surveying plant diversity. D.T.Barnett & T.J. Stohlgren. Pages 255–278.

❚ Characterisation and ranking of biodiversity hotspots: Centresof species richness and endemism. C. Hobohm. Pages 279–288.

❚ The role of Namibian inselbergs in contributing to local andregional plant species richness. A. Burke. Pages 469–486.

❚ A Red List account of Africa’s cycads and implications ofconsidering life-history and threats. J.S. Golding & P.J.H. Hurter.Pages 507–528.

❚ Patterns of bryophyte diversity and rarity at a regional scale. A.Vanderpoorten & P. Engels. Pages 545–554.

Biological Conservation 108(1) (2002)

❚ Assessing limitations on population growth in two criticallyendangered Acacia taxa. C.J. Yates & L.M. Broadhurst. Pages 13–26.

BioNET–International News 11,12 (2002)

❚ SABONET, a 3GTW participant and partner, brings you newsof taxonomic capacity building in southern Africa. S.J. Siebert.Pages 6–7.

❚ South African Plant Red Data Lists. J.S. Golding and S.J.Siebert. Pages 5–6.

BioScience 52(9,10) (2002)

❚ Biology, environment and conservation in South Africa. J.S.Weis, J. Edwards, E.D. Enger, G.A. Gall et al. Pages 781–789.

❚ Urbanization, biodiversity, and conservation. M.L. McKinney.Pages 883–890.

❚ Litigation and endangered species. K. Suckling & N.Greenwald. Page 868.

Conservation Biology16(5,6) (2002)

❚ Effects of habitatfragmentation on pollinatordiversity and plantreproductive success inrenosterveld shrublands ofSouth Africa. J. Donaldson,I. Nanni, C. Zachariades & J.Kemper. Pages 1267–1276.

❚ The error of judgement:Struggling for neutrality inscience and journalism. E.Fleishman. Pages 1451–1453.

❚ Four challenges ofsustainability. D.W. Orr.Pages 1457–1460.

❚ Improving the practice ofconservation: A conceptual framework and research agenda forconservation science. N. Salafsky, R. Margoluis, K.H. Redford &J.G. Robinson. Pages 1469–1479.

❚ Biogeographic crossroads as priority areas for biodiversityconservation. S. Spector. Pages 1480–1487.

❚ Biodiversity hotspots and zones of ecological transition. M.B.Araujo. Pages 1662–1663.

Ecoscience 9(3) (2002)

❚ Ecological and taxonomic differences between rare andcommon plants of southwestern Ontario. M.W. Cadotte & J.Lovett–Doust. Pages 397–406.

Ecology 83(10) (2002)

❚ The effect of aquatic plant species richness on wetlandecosystem processes. K.A.M. Engelhardt & M.E. Ritchie.Pages 2911–2924.

❚ Extinction thresholds and disrupted plant-pollinatorinteractions in fragmented plant populations. T. Lennartsson.Pages 3060–3072.

❚ Exotic plant species alter the microbial community structureand function in the soil. P.S. Kourtev, J.G. Ehrenfeld & M.Haggblom. Pages 3152–3166.

Environmental Conservation 29(3) (2002)

❚ Present state and future of the world’s mangrove forests. D.M.Alongi. Pages 331–349.

Environmental Management 30(5) (2002)

❚ Restoration, stewardship, environmental health and policy:Understanding stakeholders’ perceptions. J. Burger.Pages 631–640.


Journal of Ecology 90(5) (2002)

❚ Patterns of invasion within a grassland community. A. Kolb, P.Alpert, D. Enters & C. Holzapfel. Pages 871–881.

Journal of Tropical Ecology 18 (2002)

❚ The invisibility of tropical forests by exotic plants. P.V.A. Fine.Pages 687–705.

Local Environment 7(4) (2002)

❚ Local government and the WSSD. M. Ashley. Pages 459–464.

❚ Local Action 21: motto–mandate–movement in the post–Johannesburg decade. K. Otto-Zimmermann. Pages 465–470.

Medicinal Plant Conservation 8 (2002)

❚ Hawkers of health: Johannesburg’s street traders of traditionalmedicine, South Africa. V.L. Williams. Pages 18–21.

❚ A project of indigenous communities in Namibia to cultivateHarpagophytum procumbens. F.F. Kumba, J.Z.U. Kaurivi & H.Katjivena. Pages 24–27.

Nature 420(6911) (2002)

❚ Slow moving journals hinderconservation efforts. P. Kareiva,M. Marvier, S. West & J.Hornisher. Page 15.

New Scientist 176 (2371,2372) (2002)

❚ Accusations fly over “green”timber: How can we be sure thewood we buy is eco-friendly? F.Pearce. Page 6.

❚ Modified crop breeds toxichybrid. J. Randerson. Page 7.

❚ Red List fails rare species. J.Randerson. Page 7.

❚ Sweet genes help rice in drought: Like resurrection plants,crops could spring to life afterdroughts. A. Coghlan. Page 10.

❚ Going bananas: The world’sfavourite fruit could disappearforever in ten years’ time. F.Pearce. Pages 26–29.

❚ Biodiversity: Why variety is thespice of life on Earth. A. Fullick.Pages 1–4 of Inside Science 156.

Novon 12(3,4) (2002)

❚ Notes and new species ofMoraea (Iridaceae: Iridoideae)from the southern Africanwinter-rainfall zone. P. Goldblatt& J.C. Manning. Pages 352–359.

❚ Rediscovered after 200 years, Moraea ovata Thunberg is a rareFerraria (Iridaceae: Iridoideae) from Namaqualand, South Africa.P. Goldblatt & J.C. Manning. Pages 460–464.

❚ Isoetes toximontana (Isoetaceae), a new quillwort with greenmegaspores from the Northern Cape of South Africa. L.J.Musselman & J.P. Roux. Pages 504–507.

Oecologia 133(1) (2002)

❚ Nestedness analysis and conservation planning: Theimportance of place, environment, and life history acrosstaxonomic groups. E. Fleishman, C.J. Bertus, R.B. Blair, R.MacNally & D.D. Murphy. Pages 78–89.

Plant Ecology 165(2) (2003)

❚ Population ecology of an afro-tropical savanna herb,Lapeirousia rivularis, in Zambia. E.N. Chidumayo. Pages 275–285.

Plant Talk 30 (2002)

❚ Disaster averted at the EarthSummit in Johannesburg. R.Sandbrook. Pages 12–13.

❚ Implementing the GlobalStrategy for PlantConservation. D. Bramwell, P.Raven & H. Synge. Pages 32–37.

❚ Threatened plants ofsouthern Africa. J.S. Golding& S.J. Siebert. Pages 40–41.

Restoration Ecology 10(4)(2002)

❚ Exotic plant species asproblems and solutions inecological restoration: a synthesis. C. D’Antonio & L.A.Meyerson. Pages 703–713.

Science 297(5588,5589) (2002)

❚ Taxonomic bias and vulnerable species. B.A. Stein, L.L. Master& L.E. Morse. Page 1807.

❚ Taxonomic bias and vulnerable species: a response. J.A. Clark& R.M. May. Page 1807.

❚ Making a case for conservation. S.K. Pierce. Pages 1995–1996.

Science 298(5592,5595) (2002)

❚ Biodiversity update—progress in taxonomy. S. Blackmore.Page 365.

❚ Estimating the size of the world’s threatened flora. N.C.A.Pitman & P.M. Jorgensen. Page 989.

South African Journal of Botany 68(3) (2002)

❚ Priority ranking scheme for Red Data plants in Gauteng, SouthAfrica. M.F. Pfab. Pages 299–303.


❚ Passerina quadrifaria(Thymelaeaceae): a newspecies from the southernCape and Little Karoo inSouth Africa. C.L.Bredenkamp & A.E. vanWyk. Pages 304–307.

❚ Daubenya alba(Hyacinthaceae, tribeMassonieae), a new speciesfrom the Roggeveld,Northern Cape Province.A.M. van der Merwe & E.M.Marais. Pages 308–311.

❚ Classification of estuaries in the Ciskei and Transkei regionsbased on physical and botanical characteristics. B.M. Colloty,J.B. Adams & G.C. Bate. Pages 312–321.

❚ New records for marine benthic algae for the Mozambicancoast, collected at Inhaca Island. E. Coppejans, F. Leliaert & T.Schils. Pages 342–348.

❚ Forest tree and fern species as indicators of an unnatural fireevent in a southern Cape mountain forest. L.H. Watson & M.J.Cameron. Pages 357–361.

❚ Effects of pre-planting treatments on the initial establishmentsuccess of indigenous grass seedlings planted into a degradedAristida junciformis dominated grassland. R. Wisemand, C.D.Morris & J.E. Granger. Pages 362–369.

❚ Threatened plants of Gauteng, South Africa. M.F. Pfab.Pages 370–375.

South African Journal of Science 98(5,6) (2002)

❚ A decade of biodiversityconservation and use inSouth Africa: Trackingprogress from the RioEarth Summit to theJohannesburg WorldSummit on SustainableDevelopment. R. Wyn-berg. Pages 233–243.

Systematics andGeography of Plants72(1,2) (2002)

❚ Endemics of Mt.Mulanje: the endemicspermatophytes of Mt.Mulanje, Malawi. A.M.Strugnell. Pages 11–26.

❚ Contribution to thestudy of the genus

Pseuderanthemum (Acanthaceae) in tropical Africa. D. Champlu-vier. Pages 33–54.

❚ Relationships and generic circumscriptions in the Psychotriacomplex (Rubiaceae, Psychotrieae). L. Andersson. Pages 167–202.

❚ Flower galls in African Rubiaceae. J. Degreef. Pages 203–210.

❚ A new and unrecognised species of Justicia (Acanthaceae,Justiciineae) from Kwango and Katanga. D. Champluvier.Page 231.

❚ A new species of the genus Kniphofia from Upper Katanga.S. Lisowski & J. Wiland–Szymanska. Page 231.

❚ A new species of Clerodendrum (Lamiaceae) from West Africa.C.C.H. Jongkind. Page 231.

Systematic Botany 27(4)(2002)

❚ Circumscription of the genusCynanchum (Apocynaceae-Asclepiadoideae). S. Liede &A. Tauber. Pages 789–800.

Trends in Ecology andEvolution 17(11) (2002)

❚ 2002: The year of the“diversity–ecosystem function”debate. T. Cameron. Pages 495–496.

❚ Limits to the use ofthreatened species lists. H.P.Possingham, S.J. Andelman,M.A. Burgman, R.A. Medellin et al. Pages 503–507.

Veld & Flora 88(4) (2002)

❚ Just holding on: Some ofour spectacular geophytesmay only be saved fromextinction throughcultivation. G. Duncan.Pages 142–147.

❚ Cliff hangers: Plantsadapted to life on the edge.E. van Jaarsveld. Pages 154–158.

❚ Cushion islands of the sub-Antarctic: Interestinggrowth patterns on Marionand Prince Edward Islands.M. McGeoch, V. Smith, P. leRoux & C. Hanel.Pages 159–165.

❚ The mystery of the missing strandveld: Comparing ecosystemson two continents. A.V. Milewski. Pages 166–167.

Wetlands Ecology and Management 10(6) (2002)

❚ Bioactivities, bioactive compounds and chemical constituentsof mangrove plants. W.M. Bandaranayake. Pages 421–452.

❚ Early growth stages and natural regeneration of Avicenniagerminans (L.) Stearn in the Wouri estuarine mangroves


(Douala–Cameroon). N. Din, R.J. Priso, M.Kenne, D.E. Ngollo & F. Blasco. Pages461–472.

❚ And the best is left for last. The latestAETFAT proceedings are in Systematicsand Geography of Plants (formerlyBulletin du Jardin Botanique de Belgique).This issue has even more essentialreading than most AETFAT volumes, andso a full review is held over until the nextissue (The reviewers need time to wallowin this huge tome). In the meanwhile allherbaria and other institutions with aninterest in African botany are urged toget at least one copy.

FARJON, A. 2001. World Checklist andBibliography of Conifers, edn 2. RoyalBotanic Gardens, Kew.

FRODIN, D.G. & GOVAERTS, R. 1996.World Checklist and Bibliography ofMagnoliaceae. Royal Botanic Gardens,Kew.

FRODIN, D.G. & GOVAERTS, R. 1998.World Checklist and Bibliography ofFagales. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

GOMES e SOUSA, A.F. 1951. Dendrologiade Moçambique 1: Algumas madeirascomerciais. Junta de Exportação deMoçambique, [Lourenço Marques].

GOVAERTS, R. 1995–x. World checklist ofseed plants. MIM, Antwerp (vol. 1); Con-tinental Publishing, Antwerp (vol. 2–x).

GOVAERTS, R., FRODIN, D.G. &RADCLIFFE-SMITH, A. 2000. 1996.World Checklist and Bibliography ofEuphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae). RoyalBotanic Gardens, Kew.

RAUH, W. 1990. The Bromeliad Lexicon,edn 2. Batsford, London and Bok Books,Durban.

—Hugh Glen & Stefan [email protected]

[email protected]

Endemic Flora of theSoutpansberg

Please contact Norbert Hahn at thefollowing address if you wish to or-der a hard copy with CD or an elec-tronic copy only:

Institute of Conservation and NaturalHistory of the SoutpansbergHerbarium Soutpansbergensis (ZPB)PO Box 1734Louis Trichardt0920South [email protected]

The second SABONET Poaceaechecklist was published in Febru-

ary 2003 as No. 17 in the SABONETReport Series and was compiled andedited by Khotso Kobisi and LeratoKose, both staff members of the her-barium of the National University ofLesotho. This checklist follows on theA checklist of Zimbabwean grasses byChristopher Chapano, published inSeptember 2002 as SABONET ReportNo. 16. These were the first two grasschecklists of approximately five thatare planned for publication before 31December 2003. Other national grasschecklists to look out for in theSABONET Report Series are fromAngola, Botswana, and Namibia.

A checklist of Lesotho grasses beginswith a tribute to Paseka Mafa and in-formation about the herbarium of theNational University of Lesotho. This isfollowed by an introduction to the floraand ecological zones of Lesotho, andthe method followed to compile thechecklist. Also included are two mapsof Lesotho, which indicate the ecologi-cal and agricultural zones of the coun-try. Guidelines for using thechecklist precedes the check-list itself and is printed on theinside front cover for easy ref-erence. A checklist of Lesothograsses follows, based on theholdings of the National Uni-versity of Lesotho Herbarium(ROML), Agricultural Re-search Herbarium (MASE)and Selmar Schonland Her-barium (GRA). The checklistcomprises approximately 100genera, which accounts for250 indigenous and 50 natu-ralised alien species or infra-specific taxa.

The publication was sup-ported financially by the Glo-bal Environmental Facility(GEF)/United Nations Devel-opment Programme (UNDP)through the SABONET Pro-ject. Many thanks to the Na-tional University of Lesotho,

Published

A Checklistof

Lesotho Grasses

and the dynamic staff of the Roma Her-barium, for the support they gave tothe project and for accommodating theproduction of the checklist in their day-to-day activities.

Report details: Khotso Kobisi and Le-rato Kose. 2003. A checklist of Lesothograsses. Southern African BotanicalDiversity Network Report No. 17.SABONET, Roma. 22 pp. ISBN 1-919795-68-5.

The report is available free of chargefrom the SABONET Regional Office.

—Regional Coordinator, SABONETc/o National Botanical Institute

Private Bag X101Pretoria 0001South Africa.

Tel.: +27 12 804 3200Fax: +27 12 804 5979

[email protected].


book reviewRegions of Floristic Endemism in Southern Africa:

A Review with Emphasis on SucculentsA.E. van Wyk & G.F. Smith. 2001.Sponsors: Anglo American, Conser-vation International, First NationalBank, World Wide Fund for Nature(WWF), National Botanical Institute,and the University of Pretoria.Umdaus Press, PretoriaISBN 1-919766-23-5Hardcover, 310 x 240 mm.25 maps, 42 tables, 379 colourphotographsEnglish. 191 pp.Price: US$30

Contrary to what we would expectfrom a botanically rich region,

southern Africa is certainly one of thedrier regions in the world. The west-ern half of the subcontinent has ex-tremely dry areas, which are interna-tionally regarded as deserts. Becauseof regular droughts and prolonged pe-riods of below-average rainfall insouthern Africa, these harsh environ-mental conditions have given rise toan extremely rich succulent diversitywith approximately 2,400 species orinfraspecific taxa endemic to the re-gion. When considering the total suc-

culent diversity worldwide,southern Africa is host to46% of all succulent plants!This book provides statis-tics on the succulent diver-sity of the subcontinent’sbotanical ‘hotspots’.

Southern Africa’s ex-traordinary floristic di-versity is regarded asone of the botanicalwonders of the world.Here, south of theCunene, Okavango and

Zambezi Rivers, more than 10% of allvascular plants (over 30,000 species)

are found on about 2,5% of the world’sland surface area. Within this rich natu-ral heritage, however, lies a fast emerg-ing international market, containingmany economic activities that pose athreat to rare and endangered ecosys-tems of the region. The current globalconservation focus on identifying pri-ority areas for conservation hasbrought new urgency to the identifi-cation of centres of plant endemismand diversity in southern Africa. Thisbook has brought together, for the firsttime, all the relevant information onmost of the local centres of plant en-demism (areas embracing high con-centrations of native plants with veryrestricted distributions) in the region.

Although the existence of centres ofplant endemism and diversity has beenknown to field botanists for quite sometime, most of these areas remained lit-tle known outside the scientific com-munity. Fortunately for the layperson,this publication is packaged in a waythat makes it attractively accessible toanyone who is interested in plants andin conservation—if only because of thealmost 400 marvellous colour photo-graphs, focusing mainly on succulents.Thanks to this book, the general pub-lic can for the first time get a glimpseof why southern Africa deserves spe-cial treatment when it comes to cen-tres of endemism.

By now you might start wonderingwhy this belated review, as this bookwas published in 2001. This renewedlocal interest is ascribed to the abilityof this book to make science ‘friendly’and accessible. It has not gone unno-ticed internationally, either, with the2002 Noma Awards for Publishing inAfrica once again recognising a publi-cation of Umdaus Press as one of thetop three on the continent. AlthoughThe Arabic Novel: bibliography andcritical introduction, 1865–1995 byHamdi Sakkut was the 2002 NomaAward Winner, the Jury* singled outtwo other books from the 94 entries forSpecial Commendation; the book un-der review was one of these and they


book reviewTrees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga

and Kruger National ParkE. Schmidt, M. Lötter & W.McCleland. 2002.Illustrations: Sandie BurrowsPublished by Jacana, JohannesburgISBN 1-919777-30-XEnglish. 702 pagesPaperback, 165 x 235 mmPrice: R 250 (incl. VAT)Contains colour photographs, linedrawings, and maps.Available from Jacana at:www.jacana.co.zaFor more information contactAmanda ThoaneTel.: +27 11 648 1157Fax: +27 11 648 [email protected]

How very pleasant to see a newfashion in tree books. Like Codd’s

(1951) Trees and shrubs of the KrugerNational Park, but unlike Piet van Wyk’s(1972) tree book covering the samearea, the authors of this book have in-cluded almost every plant in their cho-sen area with some claim to woodi-ness, and have not excluded eithernaturalized exotics or plants that arenot big enough to have a National TreeList number. The result adds consid-erably to both the bulk and the useful-ness of the volume. As far as bulk goes,this book weighs in at 1.6 kg, which,considering its 702 pages of solidlyworthwhile text, is hardly surprising. Iwould hate to carry it into the field in a

daypack, but knowing that theprobability of finding any-thing woody and ostensiblynatural in Mpumalanga thatis not in the book isvanishingly small, I wouldmiss it sorely at after-hikediscussions back in camp(or in a motorcar in theKruger Park).

Because Mpumalangaand the northern KrugerNational Park are parts

said the following about Regions offloristic endemism in southern Africa:“This is an outstanding ecologicalwork. The scope and depth of the treat-ment combined with the stunning il-lustrations are completely new for thisdiscipline of plant geography coupledwith conservation. All aspects of pro-duction—paper, layout and excellentmapping—contribute to a visually verybeautiful book”.

The book is not only attractive, but itserves a wide audience of students,scientists, conservationists, botanists,and biogeographers. It is scientificallysound and contains a wealth of practi-cal information. All in all this publica-tion is a milestone that should be onthe bookshelf of anyone interested inthe plants of southern Africa.

This publication has been reviewed onmany occasions. Consult the referencelist for more views and general impres-sions of this magnificent publication.

Available from Umdaus Press at:www.succulents.net

For more information contact:Kotie RetiefTel.: +27 (11) 880 0273Fax: +27 (11) 788 [email protected]

Aloe (2002) 39(1): 23.Bothalia (2002) 32(2): 251.Cactus and Succulent Journal (2002) 74(4):

174-175.IOS Bulletin (November 2002) 10: 47.Plant Systematics and Evolution (2002)

233(3-4): 269-270.Succulenta (2002) 81(4): 168.Systematics and Geography of Plants (2002)

72: 245.Urban Green File (February 2002): 12.

—Stefan SiebertSABONET Regional Office

[email protected]

*The Noma Award Jury is chaired by WalterBgoya from Tanzania, one of Africa’s mostdistinguished and respected publishers, withwide knowledge of both African andinternational publishing.

Noma Award for Publishing in AfricaPO Box 128, Witney, Oxon OX8 5XUUnited KingdomTel.: +44 (0) 1993 775235Fax: +44 (0) 1993 [email protected]

(continued on page 46)


Pteridophytes of Upper Katanga (DRC)

J. Kornas, A. Medwecka-Kornas, F.Malaisse, M. Matyjaszkiewicz. 2000.Botanical Papers 35. The Institute ofBotany of the Jagiellonian University,Kraków, Poland.ISBN 83-909074-8-8 English181 pages, 202 dot maps.Soft cover, 170 x 240 mm.Available from the Institute of Botanyof the Jagiellonian University ul.Lubicz 46, 31-512 Kraków, Poland.Fax: +48 12 [email protected]: US$ 12 per copy, includingpostage and packaging.

Although data is available on thepteridophytes of many African

countries, this has not been the casefor the Democratic Republic of theCongo (DRC). This publication isaimed at filling this gap. It providesnew information about the occurrenceand distribution of ferns and fern al-lies in Upper Katanga (south-easternDRC). Belgian botanists AnneBodenghien and François Malaissecollected most of the essential mate-rial for the study. Jan Kornas, the au-thor of numerous publications on Af-rican pteridophytes, studied voucherspecimens sent to the herbarium inKraków, Poland (KRA). Unfortunately,Jan Kornas passed away in August1994. His co-authors continued theproject and the book presents his re-sults, taxonomic decisions, and com-ments.

The publication contains a short intro-duction and four chapters:

Chapter 1 describes the study area andthe main vegetation types. The list ofreferences contains 80 locations. Thereis also an index to generic names. De-tailed maps illustrating the local dis-tribution of particular taxa supplementthe text. Their stations are ordered andmapped using the grid method.

Chapter 2 is a description of methods,material, and scope of information(also included are comparison of fernfamilies, and classification of 25 gen-era by various authors).

book review

tanga turned out to be richer than ana-logical flora of the adjacent Zambia.

The publication of J. Kornas et al. formsa suitable basis for further studies, forexample, regional differentiation of theflora and relative importance of vari-ous phytogeographical elements. Thematerial presented is of special impor-tance with regard to the alarming de-struction of vegetation in tropical Af-rica and should be used for purposesof nature conservation.

—Zbigniew DzwonkoDepartment of Plant Ecology

Institute of BotanyJagiellonian University

Krakó[email protected]

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´

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Chapter 3 is a list of species and lowertaxa (main part of the paper). The listof species is arranged according totheir adherence to the pteridophytefamilies. For certain species (and inpart to lower taxa) the following infor-mation is given:• Most important synonyms• Critical remarks (if needed; they

consider genera and families)• Reference to adequate dot map• Frequency (according to the

adopted scale)• Description of geographical range

in Upper Katanga• Number of records and stations

Chapter 4 contains a list of particularstations, based on the herbarium labelsand literature, with indication of num-bers of adequate squares on the mapfor easy location. Under a separate ti-tle there is informationabout the habitat of taxaunder discussion and—forthe species also occurringin Zambia—reference toadequate pages in a mono-graph about ferns and fernallies in that country, by J.Kornas (1979). Characteris-tics of taxonomic composi-tion of the studied flora canbe found as well as its com-parison with data fromother areas.

The list of pteridophytes ofUpper Katanga numbers183 species. 26 species oflower units, subspecies, orvarieties were distinguished. Based onherbarium material collected by A.Bodenghien and F. Malaisse, one newspecies (Actinopteris kornasii) was de-scribed and according to the remarksof Jan Kornas, at least 6 other taxa de-serve distinction as new. The plantsrichest in species are Asplenium (27),Thelypteris (12), and Selaginella (11). 6species are considered endemic to theZambezi-Congo Watershed whencompared with analogical data fromother areas like Zambia, Angola,Rwanda, Burundi, and West Tanza-nia. An interesting fact is that thepteridophyte flora of Upper Ka-

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News fromMalawi

of a larger area of tropical and sub-tropical woodland, the value of thisbook extends far beyond its apparentarea of impact. Users as far afield asKenya and Angola (if not further) willfind many species in this book thesame as the ones with which they arefamiliar, and many more representedby different subspecies or varieties inthe different areas. One may hope andlegitimately expect that this bookshould be sold, used, and loved almostthroughout the southeastern half ofAfrica. This is not only because of itsapplicability, but also because of theprice, which compares favourably withall but the most heavily subsidizedoverseas publications.

The layout of individual treatments isalmost identical to the write-ups in ElsaPooley’s (1993) excellent and popularbook. This reflects well on the presentauthors in knowing a good modelwhen they see one, and on Mrs Pooleyin working out such a good model tocopy.

Sadly, some imperfections are too ob-vious to gloss over. Local gossip in-forms me that this book was delayed

because of problems with the colourreproduction, and it seems that thesewere not fully resolved before print-ing. Too many habit pictures have asbackground a disconcertingly cyan orgreen sky: examples include the pic-tures of mopane bushveld (p. 16),sandveld (p. 21), Acacia galpinii (p. 153),Acacia permixta (p. 159) and Trichiliaemetica (p. 257), among others. Manypictures show heavily oversaturatedcolours, making the muted shades ofthe real thing hard to identify. The habitpicture of Euclea divinorum (p. 523)shows evidence of uneven fading, ac-centuated by oversaturated colour.

Many of the keys are eccentric, but notnecessarily illogical in layout. “Di-chotomies” in which there are morethan two choices are clearly markedby bullets instead of numbers. It canbe shown mathematically that this isan excellent way of shortening the keyand hence reducing the number ofopportunities for error when using it.However, the proof depends criticallyon two assumptions if theory is to bemade into fact. Firstly, the user mustbe aware of all the options where thereare more than two. Secondly, all op-tions must be mutually exclusive. I didnot consciously see any violations of

the first (all “bullet-chotomies” seemedto begin and end on the same page, orat least the same opening), but in toomany cases it was possible, indeedeasy, to imagine a plant exhibiting allthe alternatives simultaneously. Oneconcludes that the writers too readilysacrificed rigorous accuracy for theimage (but not necessarily the fact) ofuser friendliness.

Nonetheless, it comes as no surpriseto discover that this book is not easilyobtained, and copies ordered by theNBI bookshop are sold on arrival. Thebook is a more than worthy successorto Codd’s venerable work, and will re-main popular far into the future.

CODD, L.E.W. 1951. Trees and shrubs of theKruger National Park. Botanical Surveyof South Africa Memoir 25.

POOLEY, E. 1993. Complete field guide tothe trees of Natal, Zululand and theTranskei. Natal Flora Publications Trust,Durban.

VAN WYK, P. 1972. Trees of the KrugerNational Park. Purnell, Cape Town.

—Hugh GlenNational Herbarium, Pretoria

[email protected]

(continued from page 44)

Zomba Botanical Garden,Malawi, visits Natal National

Botanical Garden,South Africa

The idea of twinning Natal NationalBotanical Garden of KwaZulu-Na-

tal in South Africa with Zomba Botani-cal Garden in Malawi first came upduring a discussion on networkingSouthern African Botanical Gardens atthe SABONET Botanical GardensWorkshop of March 2001. The advan-tages of twinning the gardens werenever obvious until I personally visitedNatal National Botanical Garden. It

Interpretive Plan, Zomba Botanical GardenThe message:• Indigenous plants are very important.• Indigenous plants are very useful: they are used for medicine, building,

and crafts.• Grasslands are full of colour.• Forests are threatened.• Zomba’s plant diversity supports many birds and butterflies (wildlife).• You can grow medicinal plants easily.• Replace the plants/trees you use.• You can grow indigenous plants.• You can help others grow indigenous plants.• You can help Zomba BG grow into the future.

was during this visit that I noted thesimilarities and concurred with thenetwork’s sentiments of twinning. Thefirst step was the SABONET Project’svery useful Botanical Garden Intern-ship Programme. This initiative sawme visiting Natal National BotanicalGarden in Pietermaritzburg from 10–

20 September 2002.

First Impressions andObjectives

The first thing that greeted me as I en-tered the main gate of the garden wastheir famous and meaningful slogan,


“The garden where you never stoplearning”! This positive impressionwas further enhanced by the enthusi-asm and cheerfulness of the staff mem-bers and their keen interest to teachand learn. All of this made me feel veryexcited and I looked forward to tendays of learning about Plant Propaga-tion, Environmental Interpretation,Garden Layout and Labour Deploy-ment.

Mr Brian Tarr, Curator of Natal Na-tional Botanical Garden, facilitated myvisit and stay. I worked closely with MrJohn Roff, the Interpretation Officer ofthe National Botanical Institute. Ilearned a lot from him in the area ofinterpretation and signage. He specifi-cally addressed the issues to suit thedifferent stakeholders and interestgroups who frequently visit ZombaBotanical Garden in Malawi.

I also benefited from the untiring ef-forts of Mrs Isabella Johnson and MrSiyabalela Nojinge (both horticultur-ists) who led me in practical demon-strations in plant propagation and gar-den layout. I also went on outside vis-its to other institutions in order to seeand learn what they were doing.

Environmental Interpretationin Botanical Gardens

John Roff defined interpretation sim-ply as a form of communication withthe visitors in the garden and thatwhatever is communicated must belinked with the garden’s mission. The

Interpretation Programme Activities:Present activities• Guided tours• Workshops/courses• Brochures• Slide shows• VideosNew developments• Ensure ongoing training of staff

to work with school groups(school environmental educa-tion)

• Ensure ongoing training of staffthat works with non-schoolgroups (interpretation)

• Revise brochure for internationaltourists

• Develop interpretive labels and/or signs

• Source new and suitable videosand slides

• Develop brochures for local visi-tors

• Design/redesign planting to max-imise their interpretive potential

main aim of interpretation in a botanicgarden is to get people excited aboutplants, and to make them realise howimportant they are and therefore to usethem sustainably.

In order to make visitors excited, mymentor emphasised that I must chooseone main idea that I want people tounderstand by the end of a tour. Thisidea is called a theme. To appreciatethe importance of a theme in interpre-tation and also to develop one forZomba Botanic Garden, I studied theInterpretive Plan for Natal NationalBotanical Garden. This is definitelysomething Mr Roff can consider writ-ing about for SABONET News. Aftercarefully studying the InterpretivePlan, I developed one for Zomba Bo-tanic Garden and designed Zomba in-terpretive labels for ten tree species incollaboration with John Roff (see arti-cle on page 7). I also took part in aguided walk with Cramond GardenClub members who had come to visitNatal National Botanical Garden on 10September 2002.

Nursery Work andManagement

I worked closely with Isabel Johnsonand Siyabulela Nonjinge in plantpropagation and nursery manage-ment. I noticed that much of their suc-cess in plant propagation is based onthe use of treated pine bark as a me-dia. It is available in different texturegrades. The coarse texture grade isused for rooting stem cuttings andpotting ornamental seedlings. Fine tex-tured pine bark and sand are used togerminate seed. Success is alsoachieved using a mist propagator.

Except for the mist propagator, theirnursery structures are not sophisti-cated. However, they are still able topropagate plants to satisfy their needs.This requires a lot of hard work and akeen interest to learn new ideas everyday. I took part in practical sessions onthe propagation of herbaceous stemcuttings and potting wildings.

I noted that the propagation of indig-enous plant species at the nursery isfor the enrichment of the botanic gar-den itself, introducing indigenousplant species to replace the exotics. Acommercial horticulturist from a sepa-rate nursery conducts plant sales. Inthis way the nursery staff at Natal Bo-tanic Garden can concentrate on plantconservation horticulture.

Garden Layout

I was taken through the entire botanicgarden to understand the tremendouswork done in landscaping and layout.The alien exotics are slowly but stead-ily being eradicated and replaced byindigenous trees and various other lo-cal plants. This is done progressivelyto ensure that the original beauty of thegarden is maintained. I appreciated theart of massing-up and colour-mixingground covers in the landscape withindigenous flowers from KwaZulu-Natal. In this field of mixing indigenousspecies for a natural, though spectacu-lar effect, the garden is probably oneof the best in southern Africa.

Labour Deployment

I noticed that the gardeners of NatalNational Botanical Garden are willingto learn and to work hard. The gardenis divided into different areas, eacharea with its own foreman. One of thehorticulturists, Mrs Johnson, tours thegarden every Monday. She goes toeach area to recapitulate and evaluatethe previous week’s work progress andto rectify any mistakes. This is also thetime that she gives the foremen newinstructions for the week. This weeklyexercise ensures new ideas for im-provement in the garden. Since I wason botanic garden internship, I wasinvolved in the exercise and found itextremely useful.

Outside Visits

The Curator, Mr Brian Tarr, liased withseveral institutions in KwaZulu-Natal toallow me visit them to inform me of whatothers were doing in the areas of plantpropagation and conservation. Brianused all his resources to accommodateme in these trips and to strengthen mewith new knowledge in the process.Time, transport, etc. were sacrificed byhis staff members as follows:• 11/09/02—Visited the University of

Natal and attended a public lectureon the conservation of the CapeParrot with John Roff .

• 17/09/02—Visited Greytown to lookat Gerbera populations with IsabelJohnson.

• 18/09/02—Visited a nursery in Es-cort belonging to Dr Elliot Ndlovu,a traditional healer, to learn aboutthe propagation of traditional herbswith Siyabulela Nonjinge.

• 19/09/02—Visited the University ofNatal and attended a public lectureon Pollination with John Roff andIsabel Johnson.


• 20/09/02—Visited the Regional En-vironmental Education Centre inHowick with John Roff. This is theheadquarters of the Wildlife and En-vironmental Society of South Africasituated in the Umgeni Valley Na-ture Reserve.

These outside visits were very educa-tive and afforded me with new valu-able contacts.

Achievements

I gained a lot of knowledge during myinternship. There was something newto learn every day in all the areas ofPlant Propagation, Environmental In-

News fromMozambique

terpretation, Garden Layout, and La-bour Deployment. Knowledge gainedwill be put to good use at Zomba Bo-tanic Garden. Some of the nurserystructures and garden infrastructureswill actually be “imported” to Zomba.

Closing Remarks

I am glad that I was able to visit thedynamic Natal National Botanical Gar-den on an internship. The garden slo-gan is worthy of what it portrays—there is always learning at Natal Na-tional Botanical Garden. It was an en-riching visit, one that I will cherish fora long time!

On behalf of the National Herbarium andBotanic Garden of Malawi, I thank Mr BrianTarr, Curator of Natal National BotanicalGarden, for accepting and facilitating mystay during my internship. He was kind andunderstanding. I thank all members of stafffor looking after me and being very keen toteach me. A special thanks to Mr John Rofffor his mentoring during my visit. I also thankthe SABONET Regional Office in Pretoria forproviding funding. Finally, I thank NationalHerbarium and Botanic Garden of Malawifor releasing me for this worthwhile visit.

—Lloyd G. NkolomaCurator

Zomba Botanic Garden, Malawi

Internship to DurbanBotanical Garden

Marta Manjate(INIA Garden), Hilá-

rio Machava (Tunduro Gar-den), and Domingos Ma-nguengue (UEM Garden)visited the Durban Botani-cal Garden from 22–29 Sep-tember 2002 to gain expe-rience on propagationtechniques, soil preparation, and pestcontrol of some threatened plant spe-cies, for example, Encephalartos sp.

At the Silverglen Medicinal Plant Nurs-ery we learned how to propagateWalburgia salutaris and other medici-nal plants. We had the opportunity toparticipate in the Horticulture OpenDay at the Durban Education Centre.

It was great to be among experts andwe hope to implement our new knowl-

Reports on HerbariumInternships to Natal

Herbarium

Before departing for Durban I readup on various literature pertinent

News fromSouth Africa

Participants from Mozambique at Silverglen MedicinalPlant Nursery during a session on the propagation of themedicinal tree, Warburgia salutaris. (Photo: INIA)

The Orchid house at Durban BotanicGardens is a good example of thecreation of a microclimate that issuitable for the propagation of rarespecies (Photo: INIA)

edge into our Threatened Plant Pro-gramme.

We would like to thank SABONET forsponsoring our trip to Durban. We appreciatethe co-operation of Mr Christopher Dalzelland his staff. We extend our thanks toSilverglen Nursery for sharing their knowl-edge with us.

—Marta ManjateINIA Botanical Garden, Maputo

[email protected]

to the Euphorbiaceae. Many botanistsare facing family name changes orchanges in family circumscriptions.Few of these changes are welcomedbecause they depart from the familiar.The large family Euphorbiaceae is noexception despite surviving many ef-forts to divide it into smaller, more ho-mogenous units. A must read for any-body interested in Euphorbiaceae isAllan Radcliffe-Smith’s 2001 GeneraEuphorbiacearum published by Royal

Botanic Gardens, Kew with threetribes contributed by Hans-JoachimEsser. Radcliffe-Smith (who closelyfollows the Websterian system, revo-lutionary at the time of its first appear-ance) recognises 5 subfamilies basedon palynological evidence and thepresence of either one or two ovulesper locule. Ongoing phylogenetic re-search at the Jodrell Laboratory byMark Chase has made it necessary toseparate the uniovulate and biovulate


Euphorbiaceae taxa into 4 familiessuch as Phyllanthaceae, Putranjiva-ceae, Pseudanthaceae, and the AfricanPandaceae.

Purely phylogenetic changes on famil-iar classification are to be resisted un-til proven with morphological data.Time will prove one or the other moreaccurate but I think at least part of theabove will be widely in place. Withhindsight we see that many familiesand classifications are now being re-introduced

In Durban almost the entire holdingsof the family Euphorbiaceae sensu lato,(approximately 159 taxa), were workedthrough, checking correct identifica-tion as far as possible without soften-ing flowers (this would have been tootime-consuming). The names on speci-mens of a few genera were changedin line with the recently published twovolumes of Flora zambesiaca for thisfamily. Before a complete analysis ofthe whole tribe has been done,Chamaesyce cannot be kept separatefrom Euphorbia for purely phyloge-netic reasons. Many varieties that hadbeen ignored in the past were reintro-duced on the sheets, as these varietiesare considered significantly differentfrom the typical taxa. Present indica-tions are that the recognition of othersegregate genera from Euphorbia likeMonadenium, Pointsettia and Pedilan-thus, which are easily distinguished bymodification of the cyathia glands,makes the remaining Euphorbiasparaphyletic. This makes the presentclassification unacceptable. Muchwork needs to be done to establish areliable classification of the largestgroup of Euphorbiaceous species.

Two dissimilar southern African spe-cies in the genus Sapium need chang-ing: Sapium integerrimus changesback to Sclerocroton and Sapiumellipticum is now Shirakiopsis elliptica.A number of species complexes, espe-cially in the herbaceous Euphorbiasand the Acalyphas that were identified,need to be studied across their entiredistribution ranges, before any taxo-nomic decisions can be taken. A rela-tively small number of specimens werere-identified. Wrongly identified speci-mens are usually poor specimens thatoften look atypical or sterile. To mysurprise a number of recent wrongidentifications originated from PRE. Isnobody at PRE using microscopesanymore?

In addition, I studied material of a pos-

sible new species of Erythococca anda new species of Euphorbia. The firstis a slender shrub or small tree inPondoland. The second is a clump-forming Euphorbia from northernKwaZulu-Natal that was confused withthe Gauteng Euphorbia schinzii. Unfor-tunately I could not find any usefulspecimens in the Natal Herbarium tohelp me in the preparation of the de-scriptions. A number of specimensneed further study, as it is uncertain ifthese could constitute a separate taxon.In this case specimens of an interest-ing Jatropha and specimens of aPondoland Clutia need to be criticallyexamined to see if they are definitelydifferent from the typical material ormerely atypical.

I studied types and historically impor-tant specimens cited by Prain andHutchinson, the authors of the familyfor Flora capensis, still the only com-plete revision of the family for South-ern Africa. For instance, Euphorbiamultifida is a species from KwaZulu-Natal, only known from the provincewith no indication of its exact origin. Itis closely related to Euphorbia trichade-

nia and the differences between the spe-cies still need to be studied.

The type specimen of Callitrichecompressa was studied and comparedto the southern Cape C. bolusii and re-cently collected plants of C. depressain Gauteng and Mpumalanga. Al-though the family Callitrichaceae hasbeen regarded as close to Euphorbia-ceae, phylogenetic studies place thegenus in the remote familyPlantaginaceae. Flowers and fruit areextremely reduced making this genusvery difficult to study and to comparewith related species. Callitriche bolusiiSchönland & Pax ex Marloth was pub-lished by Marloth who, unlikeSchönland & Pax, possibly did not re-alise this species is identical to the spe-cies described by Brown 15 years pre-viously. Another possible species ofCallitriche from the northern parts ofNamibia is awaiting rediscovery andstudy. The only specimen in PRE is toopoor to be useful.

—Robert ArcherNational Herbarium, Pretoria

[email protected]

The uniovulate part of the Euphorbiaceae remains unaffected and consists ofthree subfamilies, Acalyphoideae, Crotonoideae, and Euphorbioideae.The remaining two groups or subfamilies with biovulate locules are thePhyllanthoideae with mostly alternate leaves and the Oldfieldioideaerepresented in southern Africa only by the monotypic genera Hyaenancheand Androstachys. These become the Pseudanthaceae.The Phyllanthoideae becomes the Phyllanthaceae, consisting of well-knowngenera like Heywoodia, Bridelia, Phyllanthus and Flueggea etc.The African and Australasian genus Drypetes with its distinctly non-euphorbiaceous fruit is to be put in the family Putranjivaceae. This familywas previously recognised because it produces mustard oils, unique in theMalpighiales and occuring in the Capparales.

Mr Peter Gavhi was recently initiated as the new curator of the Free StateNational Botanical Garden of South Africa. (Photo: National Botanical Institute)

News from Free State


News fromSouth Africa

Pretoria visits Mozambique

Four lucky Pretorians had the oppor-tunity to spend the first week of No-vember 2002 in Maputo, working inLMA herbarium and exploring thearea around the city. Marinda Koeke-moer examined herbarium manage-ment practices, and made notes onnumerous specimens of Asteraceae.Lyn Fish curated the LMA grass col-lection, and gave a morning’s seminaron grass identification. Stefan Siebertchecked herbarium specimen localitiesand looked for voucher specimens ofspecies recorded on the recentSABONET expedition to the LicuatiForest and Maputo Elephant Reservessouth of Maputo Bay. Hugh Glen madenotes on specimens of cultivatedplants, gave a one-hour seminar onnomenclature, and spent one morningcollecting live material of mangrovesfor Flowering Plants of Africa.

It was interesting, if unsettling, to seehow our colleagues used naphthaleneto control insects in their collection.They grind mothballs and use a largeshaker to scatter the resultant powderon the specimens in such quantity thatthe specimens look as if they are half-buried under malodorous snowdrifts.The effects were all too clear, and webecame uncomfortably familiar withspecimens, mounting boards, and cov-ers where the naphthalene crystals hadburnt holes right through the materialfrom cover to cover.

In delving through the cupboards Irecorded details of 532 specimens ofcultivated gymnosperms, Combreta-ceae, Myrtaceae and dicots fromCasuarina to Senna (possibly about aquarter of the collection). I also cameacross a specimen of Encephalartosfrom near Mocuba, which should helpsettle a difficulty that Johan Hurter

drew my attention to; we hope to complete ashort paper on this soon. In addition, I photo-graphed some trees for a project being run byMarie Jordaan, and collected fresh material offour species of mangrove from a small islandcalled Xefina Pequena.

It is curious that nobody finished the work theyset out to do, despite all having worked hard. Isit possible that someone wants to go back? Is it pos-sible that heaven really is a suburb of Maputo?

—Hugh GlenNational Herbarium, Pretoria

[email protected]

Grateful thanks to Mr Calane da Silva for the invitation tovisit LMA, Iva Vaz for looking after us, Odete Fumo forbeing a superb guide to Xefina Pequena island, and ofcourse SABONET, for internship funds that made itpossible to go.

Lyn Fish (NBI) examininggrass specimens at the INIAHerbarium (LMA) in Maputo.Note the beautiful woodencabinets. (Photo: MarindaKoekemoer)

Hugh Glen (NBI) and Odete Fumo (EduardoMondlane University) recording localityinformation for a mangrove specimen. (Photo:Stefan Siebert)

A large fruit of Xylocarpusgranatum. Collected onXefina Pequena Island,north of Maputo. (Photo:Hugh Glen)

A propagule of Ceriopstagal. Collected onXefina Pequena Island,north of Maputo.(Photo: Hugh Glen)

0021.000 ARAUCARIA1. LOVETT, J., PAGE, C.N. &

WHITMORE, T.C. 1986.Araucaria in EuropeanGarden Flora 1: 72–73.

angustifolia (Bertol.) KuntzeS: A. braziliensis Lindl. 1

C: Parana Pine D:Brazil U: 4, 7

V: KE: Argyle 053 (EA), MW:Salubeni 1024 (SRGH), MZ:Pedro 4948 (LMA), RW:Troupin 15097 (EA), TZ:Greenway 2352 (EA), ZA:Dahlstrand 1563 (PRE), ZM:Fanshawe G13 (SRGH), ZW:Biegel 4702 (SRGH).

columnaris (G.Forst.) Hook.S: A. cookii Endl. 1 C:

Caledonian Pine D: NewCaledonia U: 4, 7

V: KE: Mwangangi 2162 (EA),MZ: Grandvaux Barbosa8356 (LMA), TZ: Greenway8447 (EA, PRE), ZA: Forbes998 (NH), ZW: McGregor 28/38 (SRGH)

Example of specimens cited inHugh’s book on cultivated plantswhich are held at LMA.

Nikaya Govender participated inthe SABONET Southern Mozam-

bique 2001 Expedition (see SABONETNews 7(1), pages 7–18) during whichshe collected Satyrium sphaero-carpum. Gillian Condy illustrated thisspecies for Flowering Plants of Africa.Now that Nikaya is no longer withSABONET, I have been asked to write

the accompanying text. So one of mytasks while at NH was to locate thevoucher specimen, Govender 101, andto examine all 38 other herbariumspecimens of the species, additional tothose in PRE. I also worked throughnumerous Cyperaceae records andadded 175 vouchers to my manuscript“Conspectus of southern African

Cyperaceae”. I also did eleven identifi-cations, mainly of Kniphofia species, aswell as several re-identifications.

—Clare ArcherNational Herbarium

[email protected]


@@ @@

@ @Southern African Botanists’

E-mail Addresses

The following list includes the e-mailaddresses of staff working in some ofthe national/university herbaria,botany departments, botanical gar-dens, and biodiversity programmes ofsouthern Africa. Thanks to all thosewho have sent their e-mail addressesto the editors for inclusion in this list.

PLEASE NOTE that this list gets up-dated every issue of our newsletter. Inorder to avoid frustration and possi-ble disappointment, our readers areadvised to use the most recent list avail-able. Some of the addresses listed inprevious editions of the newslettermay no longer be relevant.

SPECIAL APPEAL: Should you beaware of any changes to one or moreof the addresses listed below, orwould like to be added to the list,please notify SABONET, [email protected] so that the listcan be updated on a regular basis.

ANGOLA

Agostinho Neto UniversityDr Esperança Costa:

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Dr Elissaveta Loutchanska:[email protected]

Ms Liz Matos:[email protected]

Ms Sonia Pereira:[email protected]

BOTSWANA

National Botanical GardenMr Diphetogo Menyatso:

[email protected] Nonofo Mosesane:

[email protected]

National Herbarium (GAB)General address:

[email protected]

Peter Smith Herbarium (PSUB)General address:

[email protected]

University of BotswanaHerbarium (UCBG)Mr Mbaki Muzila:

[email protected] (currentlystudying for a M.Sc. Degree at theUniversity of Cape Town)

Dr Moffat Setshogo:[email protected]

LESOTHO

Herbarium: National University ofLesotho (ROML)Mr Khotso Kobisi:

[email protected] Annah Moteetee:

[email protected] (currentlystudying for a PhD at the RandAfrikaans University)

Ms Puleng Matebesi:[email protected]

Katse Botanical GardenMr Tau Mahlelebe:

[email protected]

National Environment SecretariatMr Thulo Qhotsokoane:

[email protected]

University Botanic GardenMr Moretloa Polaki:

[email protected]

MALAWI

National Herbarium (MAL) andBotanic GardensProf. J.H. Seyani:

[email protected] (currently onleave of absence at theCommonwealth Secretariat,London)

Dr Augustine Chikuni:[email protected]

Mr Dickson Kamundi:[email protected](currently studying for a M.Sc.Degree at the University of theWitwatersrand)

Mr Bintony Kutsaira:[email protected]

Mr Zacharia Magombo:[email protected](currently on study leave atMissouri)

Ms Cecilia Nyirenda (nee Maliwichi):[email protected]

Ms Elizabeth Mwafongo (nee Mayaka):[email protected]

Mr Montfort Mwanyambo:[email protected]

Ms Gladys Msekandiana:[email protected]

Mr Jameston Kamwendo:[email protected]

General NHBG address:[email protected]

Medicinal plants:[email protected]

National Botanic Gardens of MalawiMr Mphamba Kumwenda:

[email protected] (currentlystudying for a M.Sc. Degree at theUniversity of Stellenbosch)

MOZAMBIQUE

LMA HerbariumMr Mario da Silva:

[email protected] Samira Izidine:

[email protected] [email protected] (currentlystudying for a M.Sc. Degree at theUniversity of the Pretoria)

Ms Marta Manjate:[email protected] [email protected]

LMU Herbarium: Eduardo MondlaneUniversityMr Salomão Bandeira:

[email protected] Filomena Barbosa:

[email protected] Domingos Manguengue:

[email protected] Carlota Quilambo:

[email protected]

Department of Biological Sciences:Eduardo Mondlane UniversityJohn Hatton:

[email protected]

NAMIBIA

National Botanical Research InstituteMs Patricia Craven:

[email protected]


Dr Gillian Maggs-Kölling:[email protected]

General NBRI address:[email protected]

National Herbarium (WIND)Ms Esmerialda Klaassen:

[email protected] Coleen Mannheimer:

[email protected]

National Botanic GardenMr Tobias Angula:

[email protected]

Vegetation SurveyMr Ben Strohbach:

[email protected]

National Plant Genetic ResourcesCentreMs Herta Kolberg:

[email protected]

Namibian Tree Atlas ProjectMs Barbara Curtis/Ms Coleen

Mannheimer:[email protected]

Polytechnic of NamibiaMr Dave Joubert:

[email protected]

SOUTH AFRICA

ARC-Plant Protection ResearchInstituteMr Alan Wood:

[email protected]

Bolus Herbarium (BOL): Universityof Cape Town (includes AssociatedStaff)Mrs Anne Bean:

[email protected] Peter Bruyns:

[email protected]. Tony Hall:

[email protected] Cornelia Klak:

[email protected] Sioban Munro:

[email protected] Trinder-Smith:

[email protected] George Verboom:

[email protected] Library:

[email protected]

Buffelskloof Private Nature Reserve& HerbariumMr John Burrows:

[email protected]

C.E. Moss Herbarium (J): Universityof the WitwatersrandProf. Kevin Balkwill:

[email protected] Glynis Cron:

[email protected] Donald McCallum:

[email protected] Reneé Reddy:

[email protected] Ramagwai Sebola:

[email protected]

Coastal & Environmental ServicesDr Ted Avis:

[email protected]

Compton Herbarium (NBG)Ms Pascale Chesselet:

[email protected] Christopher Cupido:

[email protected] Peter Goldblatt:

[email protected] Hubert Kurzweil:

[email protected] John Manning:

[email protected] Fatima Parker:

[email protected] Ted Oliver:

[email protected] John Rourke:

[email protected] Koos Roux:

[email protected] Dee Snijman:

[email protected]

Donald Killick Herbarium, KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation ServiceMr Rob Scott-Shaw:

[email protected]

Durban Botanic GardensMr Martin Clement:

[email protected] Christopher Dalzell (Curator):

[email protected] Barry Lang:

[email protected]

Free State National Botanical GardenMr Peter Gavhi (Curator):

[email protected]

When sending mail to a staff member at theFree State National Botanical Garden, insertthe name of the person in the subject line.

Gauteng Nature ConservationMs Michele Pfab:

[email protected]

Harold Porter National BotanicalGardenMs Toni Shaide (Curator):

[email protected]

Herbarium SoutpansbergensisMr Norbert Hahn:

[email protected]

Hermanus HerbariumMs Priscilla Drewe:

[email protected]

Jonkershoek HerbariumMs Melanie Simpson:

[email protected]

Karoo Desert National BotanicalGardenMr Ian Oliver (Curator):

[email protected] [email protected]

Kimberley McGregor (KMG)Museum HerbariumMs Tania Anderson (Curator):

[email protected] Annemarie van Heerden:

[email protected]

Kimberley South African NationalParks Herbarium (KSAN)Dr Hugo Bezuidenhout:

[email protected]

Kirstenbosch National BotanicalGardenMr Graham Duncan:

[email protected] Philip le Roux (Curator):

[email protected] Ernst van Jaarsveld:

[email protected] [email protected] (home)

Kirstenbosch Research CentreDr Neville Brown:

[email protected] J de Wet Bösenberg:

[email protected] John Donaldson:

[email protected] Barney Kgope:

[email protected] Boniswa Madikane:

[email protected] Guy Midgley:

[email protected] Charles Musil:

[email protected] Ingrid Nänni:

[email protected] Les Powrie:

[email protected] Tony Rebelo:

[email protected]


Dr Mike Rutherford:[email protected]

Lowveld National Botanical GardenMr Rudi Britz (Curator):

[email protected] Johan Hurter:

[email protected] Willem Froneman:

[email protected]

When sending mail to a staff member at theLowveld National Botanical Garden, insertthe name of the person in the subject line.

Mpumalanga Parks Board:LydenburgMs Sonnette Krynauw:

[email protected] Mervyn Lotter:

[email protected]

Natal Herbarium (NH)Ms Hassina Aboobaker:

[email protected] Neil Crouch:

[email protected] Zoleka Dimon:

[email protected] Melusi Mazibuko:

[email protected] Meeta Nathoo:

[email protected] Alfred Ngwenya:

[email protected] Yashica Singh:

[email protected] Rosemary Williams (Curator):

[email protected]

Natal National Botanical GardenMr Brian Tarr (Curator):

[email protected] John Roff:

[email protected]

National Botanical InstituteProf. Brian Huntley:

[email protected] (CEO)Ms Khungeka Njobe:

[email protected] (Director:Biodiversity, Policy & Planning)

Prof. Gideon Smith:[email protected] (Director:Research & Scientific Services)

Mr Christopher Willis:[email protected] (Director:Gardens & Horticultural Services)

Dr Maureen Wolfson:[email protected] (Deputy-Director:Research & Education)

National Herbarium (PRE)Dr John Anderson:

[email protected]

Ms Clare Archer:[email protected]

Dr Robert Archer:[email protected]

Mr Trevor Arnold:[email protected]

Ms Antoinette Botha:[email protected]

Dr Christien Bredenkamp:[email protected]

Ms Priscilla Burgoyne:[email protected]

Ms Carole de Wet:[email protected]

Ms Emsie du Plessis:[email protected]

Ms Lyn Fish:[email protected]

Mr Gerrit Germishuizen:[email protected]

Dr Hugh Glen:[email protected]

Ms René Glen:[email protected]

Ms Janice Golding:[email protected]

Mr Hans Heilgendorf:[email protected]

Ms Lesley Henderson:[email protected]

Mr Paul Herman:[email protected]

Ms Marie Jordaan:[email protected]

Dr Marinda Koekemoer (Curator):[email protected]

Ms Louisa Liebenberg:[email protected]

Mr Cuthbert Makgakga:[email protected]

Ms Alice Masombuka:[email protected]

Mr Jean Meyer:[email protected]

Ms Beverly Momberg:[email protected]

Dr Sarie Perold:[email protected]

Ms Julie Ready:[email protected]

Ms Elizabeth Retief:[email protected]

Mr Paulus Sebothoma:[email protected]

Ms Shirley Smithies:[email protected]

Ms Hannelie Snyman:[email protected]

Ms Christina Steyn:[email protected]

Dr Elsie Steyn:[email protected]

Dr Jacques van Rooy:[email protected]

Ms Helen van Rooyen:[email protected]

Ms Janine Victor:[email protected]

Ms Mienkie Welman:[email protected]

NBI Libraries:Mary Gunn Library:

[email protected], Mary Gunn Library (Ms Estelle

Potgieter), National Herbarium:[email protected]

Librarian, Kirstenbosch (Ms YvonneReynolds):[email protected]

National Museum Bloemfontein:Dr Ziets Zietsman:

[email protected]

Peninsula Technikon: Department ofBiological SciencesMr JC Coetzee:

[email protected]

Percy FitzPatrick Institute of AfricanOrnithology: Tierberg KarooResearch Centre field stationDr Sue Milton:

[email protected]

Plant Genetic Resources Unit,Agricultural Research CouncilDr Roger Ellis:

[email protected]

Potchefstroom UniversityDr Matt Buys:

[email protected]. Sarel Cilliers:

[email protected]. Braam Pieterse:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Pretoria National Botanical GardenMs Karin Behr (Curator):

[email protected]:

[email protected]

Qwa Qwa Herbarium: University ofthe North (Qwa Qwa campus)Prof. Rodney Moffett:

[email protected]

Qwa Qwa Herbarium: University ofthe North (School of Life Sciences)Prof. Laco Mucina:

[email protected]

Rand Afrikaans University: BotanyDepartmentDr Patricia Tilney:

[email protected]


Prof. Herman van der Bank:[email protected]

Prof. Ben-Erik van Wyk:[email protected]

Range and Forage Institute,Agricultural Research CouncilDr Kathy Immelman:

[email protected]

Rhodes University: BotanyDepartmentDr Nigel Barker:

[email protected]. CEJ Botha:

[email protected]. Roy Lubke:

[email protected] Pete Phillipson:

[email protected] Brad Ripley:

[email protected]

Rondevlei Scientific ServicesHerbarium, Wilderness NationalPark, SedgefieldDr Nick Hanekom:

[email protected] Ian Russell:

[email protected] Beate Sachse:

[email protected]

Saasveld Herbarium (SAAS): PortElizabeth TechnikonMr Mike Cameron:

[email protected] Peet Peens (Curator):

[email protected]

H.G.W.J Schweickerdt Herbarium(PRU): University of PretoriaProf. Braam van Wyk:

[email protected]

Scientific Services Herbarium,Department of Water Affairs andForestry, KnysnaMr Johan Baard (Curator):

[email protected] Rynhard Kok:

[email protected]

Selmar Schonland Herbarium,GrahamstownMs Estelle Brink:

[email protected] Tony Dold:

[email protected]

Skukuza Herbarium (KNP), KrugerNational ParkMs Guin Zambatis (Curator):

[email protected] Nick Zambatis:

[email protected]

Southern Cape HerbariumYvette van Wijk:

[email protected] [email protected]

Technikon Pretoria HerbariumCecilia de Ridder:

[email protected] du Plessis (Curator):

[email protected]

Umtamvuna Herbarium, UmtamvunaNature ReserveMr Tony Abbott:

[email protected]

University of Cape Town: BotanyDepartmentProf. John Bolton:

[email protected]. William Bond:

[email protected] Jeremy Midgley:

[email protected]. Willie Stock:

[email protected]

University of Cape Town:Department of Cell and MolecularBiologyProf. Jill Farrant:

[email protected] Brigitte Hamman:

[email protected]

University of Cape Town: Institutefor Plant ConservationDr Dave Richardson:

[email protected]

University of Durban-Westville:Botany DepartmentProf. Snowy Baijnath:

[email protected]. AD Barnabas:

[email protected]. G Naidoo:

[email protected] Ashley Nicholas:

[email protected] Pravin Poorun:

[email protected] Francois Smith:

[email protected]

University of Natal-Durban:Biological Sciences DepartmentProf. Alan Amory:

[email protected]. Patricia Berjak:

[email protected] Glen Campbell:

[email protected]. John Cooke:

[email protected] Bruce Page:

[email protected]

Prof. Norman Pammenter:[email protected]

Mr Herbert Sibiya:[email protected]

Mr Dehn von Ahlefeldt:[email protected]

Dr Paula Watt:[email protected]

University of Natal-Durban: ElectronMicroscope Unit, George CampbellBuildingMr James Wesley-Smith:

[email protected]

University of Natal-Pietermaritzburg: School of Botany& ZoologyMs Angela Beaumont:

[email protected] RP Beckett:

[email protected] Clinton Carbutt:

[email protected] TJ Edwards:

[email protected] CW Fennell:

[email protected] JF Finnie:

[email protected] JE Granger:

[email protected]. EF Hennessy:

[email protected] Steven D Johnson:

[email protected] NP Makunga:

[email protected] Christina Potgieter:

[email protected] MT Smith:

[email protected]. Hannes van Staden:

[email protected]

University of the North: BotanyDepartmentMr Martin Potgieter:

[email protected] Pieter Winter:

[email protected]

University of the Free State:Department of Botany and GeneticsDr Andor Venter:

[email protected]. Johan Venter:

[email protected]. RL Verhoeven:

[email protected]

University of Port Elizabeth: BotanyDepartmentDr JB Adams:

[email protected]


Prof. Guy C Bate:[email protected]

Dr EE Campbell:[email protected]

Dr DR du Preez:[email protected]

Mr PT Gama:[email protected]

University of Pretoria: BotanyDepartmentProf. George Bredenkamp:

[email protected]. Marion Meyer:

[email protected] Franci Siebert:

[email protected] Veldie van Greuning:

[email protected]. Gretel van Rooyen:

[email protected]

University of Pretoria: PharmacologyDepartmentProf. JN Eloff:

[email protected]

University of Stellenbosch: BotanyDepartmentProf. Frikkie Botha:

[email protected] Charlie Boucher:

[email protected] Leanne Dreyer:

[email protected] Karen Esler:

[email protected] Lynn Hoffmann:

[email protected] Bettie Marais:

[email protected]. Valdon Smith:

[email protected] Piet Vorster:

[email protected]

University of Stellenbosch:Biochemistry DepartmentMr Benny Bytebier:

[email protected]

University of Stellenbosch: BotanicGardenMr Piet van der Merwe:

[email protected]

University of the Transkei: BotanyDepartmentProf. R Bhat:

[email protected] Sizwe Cawe:

[email protected] Nikolova:

[email protected]

University of North-West: BiologicalSciences DepartmentMr David Phalatse:

[email protected]

University of Venda: BotanyDepartmentMr Maanda Ligavha:

ligavham/[email protected] Colleen Todd:

todd_colleen/[email protected] Robert Tshivhandekano:

robie/[email protected]. Pablo Weisser:

pablo/[email protected]

University of the Western Cape:Botany DepartmentDr Derek Keats:

[email protected] Richard Knight:

[email protected] M Raitt:

[email protected] Frans Weitz:

[email protected]

University of the Western Cape:Department of BiotechnologyDr Gwen Koning:

[email protected]

University of the Witwatersrand:Department of Animal, Plant andEnvironmental SciencesProf. Ed Witkowski:

[email protected]

Witwatersrand National BotanicalGardenMs Sharon Turner (Curator):

[email protected] Andrew Hankey:

[email protected] WNBG address:

[email protected]

Insert the name of the staff member you wishto contact in the subject line.

SWAZILAND

National Herbarium (SDNH)Mr Titus Dlamini (Curator):

[email protected]

This address can also be used to contactGideon Dlamini and Bongani Dlamini at theNational Herbarium. Insert the name of theperson in the subject line.

IndependentMs Linda Dobson:

[email protected]

ZAMBIA

Forestry Herbarium (NDO)Mrs EN Chupa:

[email protected] Zimba:

[email protected]

Herbarium (UZL): University ofZambiaMs Tasila Banda-Sakala

(currently studying at the Arizona StateUniversity, Phoenix, USA):[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Mr David Chuba:[email protected] [email protected]

Dr Patrick Phiri:[email protected] [email protected]

Munda Wanga Trust (BotanicalGarden)Mr Douglas Gibbs:

[email protected]

IndependentMr Mike Bingham:

[email protected] Ernest Gondwe:

[email protected] Florence Nyirenda:

[email protected]

ZIMBABWE

Bindura University of ScienceEducationMr Alfred Maroyi:

[email protected]

Biodiversity Foundation for AfricaMr Jonathan Timberlake:

[email protected]

Ewanrigg Botanic GardenMr Onias Ndoro:

[email protected]

National Herbarium (SRGH) &Botanic GardenMr Ezekeil Kwembeya:

[email protected] Claid Mujaju:

[email protected] Nozipo Nobanda:

[email protected] Soul Shava:

[email protected] Ratidzayi (Rattie) Takawira:

[email protected] (alsoavailable through SRGH address)


General SRGH address:[email protected]

TEAM VUMBA: The EnvironmentalAssociation for Management ofVumba’s Unique MountainBiodiversity AreasDr Colin Saunders:

[email protected]

University of Zimbabwe: Departmentof Biological SciencesDr Shakkie Kativu:

[email protected] Clemence Zimudzi:

[email protected]

University of Zimbabwe: Institute ofEnvironmental StudiesProf. Peter GH Frost:

[email protected]

Vumba Botanic GardenMr John Mapanga:

[email protected]

IndependentMr Mark Hyde:

[email protected] Michael Kimberley:

[email protected] Meg Coates Palgrave:

[email protected] Darrel CH Plowes:

[email protected] Rob M Plowes:

[email protected] Fay Robertson:

[email protected] Cathy Sharp:

[email protected]

Botanists Working onSouthern African PlantTaxa

This section lists e-mail addresses of afew of the botanists living outsidesouthern Africa that are working withsouthern African plant taxa. If youwould like to be included in this list,please notify one of the editorstogether with the names of thefamilies/taxa you are working on.

AUSTRALIA

Queensland Herbarium, Toowong,QueenslandBryan Simon:

[email protected] (w) [email protected] (h)(Tropical grasses)

Paul Forster:[email protected] (w) [email protected] (h)(Asphodelaceae, Alooideae)

ENGLAND

IUCN: World Conservation UnionCraig Hilton-Taylor:

[email protected]

National History Museum, LondonGeorge Lawson:

[email protected](Algae)

Brian O’Shea:[email protected](Bryophytes)

Royal Botanic Gardens, KewDiane Bridson:

[email protected](Rubiaceae, Vahliaceae)

Dr Dick Brummitt:[email protected]

Dr Thomas Cope:[email protected](Poaceae)

Dr Phillip Cribb:[email protected](Orchidaceae)

Dr David Goyder:[email protected](Asclepiadaceae, Fabaceae)

Ms Yvette Harvey:[email protected](Capparaceae, Lamiaceae, Sapotaceae)

Dr Michael Lock:[email protected](Fabaceae, Xyridaceae, Zingiberaceae)

Dr Alan Paton:[email protected](Lamiaceae, Verbenaceae)

Dr Sylvia Phillips:[email protected](Eriocaulaceae, Poaceae)

Dr Gerald Pope:[email protected](Asteraceae)

Dr Brian Schrire:[email protected](Fabaceae, Rhamnaceae)

Dr Kaj Vollesen:[email protected](Acanthaceae: Blepharis, Duosperma)

IndependentMrs Nikaya Govender:

[email protected](Amaryllidaceae, Liliaceae,Gentianaceae)

GERMANY

Friedrich-Schiller University, JenaDr Norbert Zimmermann:

[email protected](Euphorbiaceae,Mesembryanthemaceae)

Hamburg University: BotanicalInstitute & GardenProf. Dr HEK Hartmann:

[email protected](Aizoaceae, Mesembryanthema)

Dr Pia Parolin:[email protected](desert ecology, ecophysiology)

Dr Joachim Thiede:[email protected](Aizoaceae, Crassulaceae)

University of BayreuthProf. Sigrid Liede:

[email protected](Asclepiadaceae,Mesembryanthemaceae)

Dr Ulrich Meve:[email protected](Asclepiadaceae)

NETHERLANDS

Department of Plant Sciences,Wageningen UniversityIr Ben Groen:

[email protected](Asphodelaceae,Mesembryanthemaceae)

Prof. Dr LJG van der Maesen:[email protected](Fabaceae, Mesembryanthemaceae)

Dr Ir Jan Wieringa:Herbarium Vadense (WAG)[email protected](Fabaceae, Aphanocalyx, Bikinia,Icuria, Monopetalanthus andTetraberlinia)

NEW ZEALAND

Victoria University, WellingtonMr Fanie Venter:

[email protected]

NORWAY

Agricultural University of Norway:Department of Biology and NatureConservationProf. Kåre Lye:

[email protected](Cyperaceae)

Botanical Garden, University of Oslo,BlindernProf. Brita Stedje:

[email protected](Anthericaceae, Asphodelaceae,Hyacinthaceae)


Botanical Institute, The NorwegianArboretum, University of Bergen,HjellestadDr Cornelis Berg:

[email protected](Moraceae, Ulmaceae)

SCOTLAND

Royal Botanic Garden, EdinburghDr Mary Gibby:

[email protected](Geraniaceae)

SWEDEN

Swedish Museum of Natural HistoryDr Mari Kallersjo:

[email protected](Asteraceae, Myrsinaceae,Primulaceae)

Prof. Bertil Nordenstam:[email protected](Compositae, especially Senecioneaeand Calenduleae, Syncarpha,Colchicaceae: Anticharis)

Uppsala UniversityProf. Kåre Bremer:

[email protected](Asteraceae)

Mr Mattias Iwarsson:[email protected](Lamiaceae, Leonotis)

SWITZERLAND

Institute for Systematic Botany,University of ZürichProf. Christopher Cook:

[email protected] [email protected](Hydrocharitaceae, Limnocharitaceae,Lythraceae, Podostemaceae,Pontederiaceae)

Juerg Schoenenberger:[email protected] (Penaeceae,Oliniaceae, Rhynchocalycaceae)

UNITED STATESOF AMERICA

Arkansas State University: BeebeProf. Stephen Manning:

[email protected]

Bishop Museum (Department ofNatural Sciences): HawaiiDr George Staples:

[email protected](Convolvulaceae)

Iowa State University: Department ofBotany (Ada Hayden Herbarium)Prof. Robert Wallace:

[email protected](Molecular systematics and phylogenyof Aizoaceae s.l., Aloaceae/Asphodelaceae, Cactaceae,Didiereaceae, Nyctaginaceae,Phytolaccaceae, Portulacaceae)

University of California: JepsonHerbariumBruce Baldwin:

[email protected](Asteraceae: Blepharispermum,Welwitschiella)

University of Missouri-Columbia:Dunn-Palmer Herbarium (UMO)Dr Leszek Vincent:

[email protected](Asteraceae: Senecio, Iridaceae:Aristea)

Smithsonian Institution MRC 166: USNational Herbarium (NMNH)Dr V.A. Funk:

[email protected](Compositae (Asteraceae))

IndependentMrs Mary Wilkins & Mr Anthon Ellert:

[email protected]

WALES

National Botanic Garden of WalesDr Charles Stirton:

[email protected](Fabaceae, Hyacinthaceae, Rosaceae,Verbenaceae)

Last updated 27 February 2003


Chris Bornman was born inKenya in 1931 and completed

his secondary education in Nairobi.He attended the University ofStellenbosch where he obtained aBSc (Agric) in 1953, majoring inAgronomy and Pomology. He re-turned to Stellenbosch in 1958 andwas awarded the MSc (Agric) cumlaude in 1961 for his work on themalting quality of South African bar-ley. He then left for the University ofCalifornia at Davis where he com-pleted a PhD in Plant Physiology in1964. Chris was appointed AssistantProfessor of Botany at the Univer-sity of Wisconsin in Madison in 1965but returned to South Africa in Janu-ary 1966 to take up the Chair ofBotany at the University of Natal.During a 10-year term of service tothis University, he had a four-yearstint as Deputy Dean and Dean of theFaculty of Science. Chris served ona number of provincial, national, andinternational committees, includingthe National Institute of Water Af-fairs and the Namib Desert Ecologi-cal Research Unit and that of theCouncil for Scientific and IndustrialResearch (CSIR). He was awardedthe first Unit for Plant Cell and Tis-sue Culture by the CSIR in 1974.

Professor Bornman developed aspecial interest in form and function,influenced by his mentors, teachers,and advisors, including F.T. Addicott,Katherine Esau, R.F. Evert and F.Skoog. On his return to South Africathis interest was greatly strength-ened by the presence of colleaguesand PhD students such as Prof. T.A.Villiers (a protégée of Prof. P.F.Wareing), Patricia Berjak in Durban,J. van Staden (who later spent a yearwith P.F. Wareing in Aberystwyth)and C.E.J. Botha in Pietermaritz-burg.

Prof. Chris BornmanIn an unusual symmetry of circum-stances, F.T. Addicott and P.F. Wareingwere the simultaneous discoverers ofabscisin and dormin, respectively, latershown to be the same molecule andnow known as abscisic acid (ABA).ABA, together with cytokinin, auxin,ethylene and gibberellin are chemicalmessengers that act as intermediariesof many processes of differentiation,development and growth. The Depart-ment of Botany in Pietermaritzburgand Plant Biology in Durban graduallydeveloped into focal points of researchexcellence in the areas of seed viabil-ity and dormancy, somatic embryo-genesis and tissue culture.

Chris returned to Germany in 1977 andspent 18 months, as Visiting Professor,with Prof. H. Ziegler at the TechnischeUniversität, München. At the end of1978 he left Munich for the Universityof Lund as a Research Fellow of theSwedish Natural Science ResearchCouncil. He remained in Sweden, setup a cell biology laboratory for, andeventually became research directorof, the world’s largest sugar beetbreeding and biotechnology company.Chris was Adjunct-Professor of PlantPhysiology at the University of Lundfrom 1983 until 1996 and Editor-in-Chief of Physiologia Plantarum from1992–1997.

Professor Bornman, who had partici-pated in a number of UNESCO-spon-sored international courses in plantbiotechnology, was instrumental inorganising the first such course inSouth Africa in 1994. The AgriculturalResearch Council’s Vegetable and Or-namental Plant Institute at Roodeplaatwas selected as venue. The success ofthe course resulted in UNESCO des-ignating this institute as the Biotech-nology Education and Training Centrefor Africa. To date, approximately 400

participants from some 30 Africancountries have attended courses. Be-tween 1994 and 2001, Chris was in-volved in seven advanced levelcourses. He was a UNESCO VisitingProfessor to ARC-VOPI in 1998.Since 1999 he has been Visiting Re-searcher in the Forestry and Agri-cultural Biotechnology Institute ofthe University of Pretoria.

Chris has published about 150 pri-mary research papers and writtennumerous popular scientific articles.Currently he is undertakingeditorship of a special issue, due toappear in the South African Journalof Botany, on Biotechnology for Af-rica. He accepted the SAAB GoldMedal in January this year.

Chris is married to Janet (neeHughes), an alumnus of the Univer-sity of Natal, who until recently wasprofessor of Plant Physiology at theUniversity of Lund, and currently isdirector of Plant Biology in the Dan-ish Institute of Agricultural Sciences.She is president of the European So-ciety of Photobiology. The couple livein Slagelse on the west coast of Zea-land (Sjaelland) in Denmark.

—Hannes van Staden

SAAB Gold Medal


The Compton Prize was institutedby the editorial committee of the

South African Journal of Botany(SAJB) in the mid-1980s in recogni-tion of the best paper that appearedin it during a particular year. Profes-sor R.H. Compton was the secondDirector of the National BotanicGardens of South Africa. Hefounded the Journal of South Afri-can Botany, one of the forerunnersof the SAJB.

A panel of scientists assesses all thepapers and the outcome is an-nounced at a formal congress din-ner of the South African Associationof Botanists. The 2001 ComptonPrize was awarded to Ms GaelCampbell, previously a post-gradu-ate student at the Rand AfrikaansUniversity in Johannesburg, andher co-author, Prof. Ben-Erik vanWyk, a lecturer at the RandAfrikaans University, for their paper:A taxonomic revision of Rafnia(Fabaceae, Crotalarieae). South Af-rican Journal of Botany 67(2): 90-149.Campbell, G.J. & Van Wyk, B-E.2001.

The botanical community congratu-lates Gael and Ben-Erik on thisachievement. May it also serve toinspire our scientists to keep onsending some of their best work forpublication in the SAJB.

—Gideon F. SmithOffice of the Research and Scien-

tific Services DirectorNational Botanical Institute

Private Bag X101Pretoria 0001South Africa

Brian John Huntley was born inDurban, South Africa, on 20 Feb-

ruary 1944 and spent much of his youthon a farm near Dumisa. He was a keennaturalist from an early age, and likeso many prominent botanists workingin the country today had an early fas-cination for the succulents of the re-gion, particularly the aloes. His parentsencouraged his interest in nature,among other things through givinghim a copy of the famous ReynoldsAloes of South Africa, the standardwork on the group, as a gift on his 10thbirthday. Brian eventually pursued hisinterest in things natural through un-dergraduate academic training at theUniversity of Natal Pietermaritzburgcampus, graduating with a BSc degreein 1964. While doing vacation work ina regional herbarium of the BotanicalResearch Institute (BRI), now the Na-tal Herbarium of the National Botani-cal Institute (NBI), he was exposed tothe inner workings of herbaria as natu-ral history libraries.

Upon the completion of his first degreein 1964, he joined the first BiologicalExpedition to Marion and PrinceEdward Islands as ecologist. His initialinvolvement with this Programmelasted until 1966, after which he regis-tered for postgraduate training at theUniversity of Pretoria. After complet-ing a BSc (Hons) degree in WildlifeManagement, he defended part of hiswork on the Sub-Antarctic Islands fora Masters degree in ecology in 1968.Since 1967 he was employed by thethen Transvaal Department of NatureConservation, but by 1971 decided tomove to Angola where he joined theServicos de Veterinaria as ecologist,undertaking surveys of all Angolannational parks and developing a stra-tegic plan for biodiversity conservationin the country, which remains theframework for conservation to this day.

Although he was forced to move backto South Africa when the Angolan CivilWar broke out in 1975, he gained in-valuable and considerable researchexperience in subtropical and tropicalbushveld and desert ecosystems. In1976 he joined the Council for Scien-tific and Industrial Research (CSIR) ofSouth Africa in Pretoria as co-ordinator

The 2001Compton Prize

for their SavannaE c o s y s t e mProject. During the following 15years he served both the CSIR andlater the Foundation for ResearchDevelopment, which developedfrom the CSIR, as Manager for Eco-systems Programmes, coordinatinginter-disciplinary, multi-organisa-tional programmes in the country’srich Fynbos, Savanna, Karoo, Forestand Grassland Biomes. Despite theprevailing academic boycott, Briansucceeded in attracting many of theworld’s leading ecologists to theseprojects, stimulating a vibrant cohortof world-class South African ecolo-gists who still play major roles inSouth African science.

Collaborative research conductedduring this time has been synthe-sized in a series of books, includingEcology of tropical savannas(Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 1982),edited by Brian Huntley and BrianWalker; Biotic diversity in southernAfrica edited by Brian Huntley (Ox-ford University Press, 1989); Botani-cal diversity in southern Africa editedby Brian Huntley (National Botani-cal Institute, 1994) and South Africanenvironments into the 21st Centuryby Brian Huntley, Roy Siegfried andClem Sunter (Human and Rousseau,Cape Town 1989). The importance ofeach one of these seminal worksshould not be underestimated, forinstance, when Brian initiated thepublication on ‘Biotic Diversity’ theterm biodiversity had hardly yetbeen coined. Nowadays it is the cur-rency all biologists deal in, especiallyas it is the one word that politiciansunderstand and feel comfortablewith.

Arguably the most important eventin botany in South Africa took placein 1989 when the NBI was born fromthe amalgamation of the BRI and theNational Botanic Gardens of SouthAfrica. Shortly thereafter BrianHuntley was appointed as the firstChief Executive Officer of this fledg-ling organization, and to the HaroldPearson Chair in Botany at the Uni-versity of Cape Town. On his shoul-ders rested the challenge of leading

SAAB Silver Medal for Botany

Prof. Brian Huntley


the NBI through the rough androwdy years of post-amalgamation,with a future regarded by some asuncertain, to say the least. And whata challenge this turned out to be,given that the country was emerg-ing from the previous political dis-pensation and had just unbanned theAfrican National Congress. SouthAfrica was beginning to gain accept-ance into the broader internationalscientific arena and the wide rangeof international contacts made in the1970s and 80s facilitated rapid entryinto the global scene by the new In-stitute.

He was chair to numerous organi-sations and an avid supporter of na-ture conservation. He is also the ini-tiator and Steering Committee Chairof the Southern African BotanicalDiversity Network (SABONET), thelargest biodiversity capacity buildingproject of its kind in Africa.

His most recent honour has been theappointment, by the Director Gen-eral of the United Nations Environ-

mental Programme, to the Scientificand Technical Advisory Panel for theGlobal Environmental Facility (GEF).The panel, comprising twelve scien-tists from twelve countries throughoutthe world, will advise GEF on the dis-tribution of its US$ 2,6 billion budgetover the next three years.

Other awards that Brian has receivedinclude the Gold Medal of the Botani-cal Society of South Africa (1990), theRotary International Paul Harris Medal(1997), the WWF-SA Gold Medal forcontributions to conservation (1998)and the Senior Captain Scott Medal in2002.

Brian is married to Merle (nee Gous),a respected art critic and author andcurator of successive botanical art ex-hibitions at Kirstenbosch. They havetwo children, Peta and Stuart.

When writing of a colleague who hasmade such a major impact in botany, itcan become something of a cliché todescribe the subject of the note as be-ing ‘influential’. So many have, to a

greater or lesser extent, left a markon the work of their contemporariesand successors that there is the dan-ger that the coinage becomes deval-ued through sheer overuse. In thecase of Brian Huntley the term isthoroughly justified. His activitieshave had an immeasurable effect onbotany in South Africa over the past25 years. He has combined and inte-grated good corporate governance,performance-driven output delivery,diplomacy, and fund-raising and ne-gotiation skills in a way that nobodyhad attempted before. Above all, hehad made a success of it.

Brian, we salute you and what youhave done for botany in South Af-rica, in the subcontinent and on glo-bal scale.

—Gideon F. SmithOffice of the Director: Research &

Scientific ServicesNational Botanical Institute

Private Bag X101Pretoria 0001South Africa

Otto Albrecht Leistner was bornon 21 April 1931 in Leipzig, Ger-

many, the youngest of four children.His father was a Lutheran minister, aclassical scholar, and philosopher. Hismother who was a teacher primarilyengendered his love of nature. In 1947the family moved to Africa whereOtto attended German schools Tan-ganyika Territory, now Tanzania,where his family was resident andlater in an internment camp in South-ern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) during theSecond World War. Two amateurteachers in the camp, an agriculturaladviser and a medical practitioner,inspired him to take an interest inbotany and zoology.

He studied at the University ofStellenbosch where he obtained thefollowing degrees:• BSc with Botany and Zoology as

major subjects, in 1951• MSc Botany with a thesis entitled

‘n Morfologies-taksonomiese studievan die genus Skiatophytum L.Bol(Mesembryanthemaceae), in 1954

• DSc with a thesisThe plant ecology ofthe southern Kala-hari, in 1964.

During these years heremained in close con-tact with Hans HerreHortulanus at theStellenbosch BotanicGarden, who intro-duced him to succulents and encour-aged him to go the Botany way. Thezoology professor, C.G.S. (Con) deVilliers encouraged logical thinkingand appreciation of languages andmusic.

In February 1955, Otto joined the Bo-tanical Research Institute (now theNational Botanical Institute) in Preto-ria, as member of the Botanical Sur-vey Section. He collected some 5 100herbarium specimens, including jointcollections with other prominent bota-nists such as A.D.J. Meeuse (Water-berg), J.P.H. Acocks (Karoo and tran-sition to winter-rainfall area), B. de

Winter (Kaokoveld), D.J.B. Killick(Caprivi Strip), and later also with H-J. Schlieben and R.G. Strey. In 1959he was transferred to the BotanicalSurvey Office at the McGregor Mu-seum in Kimberley where plant sur-veys were undertaken in the North-ern Cape with the main emphasis onthe dune Kalahari that was poorlyknown at the time. Close co-opera-tion with other scientists providedinsight into other disciplines such asanimal ecology, especially the feed-ing behaviour of springbok, and ar-chaeology. His doctoral study thenalso originated from the research hedid in the region. In 1972, Otto

Dr Otto Leistner in front of his laptop, still activelyinvolved in Botany! (Photo: Tshidi Manamela)

Dr Otto LeistnerSilver Medallist (2003) of the SouthAfrican Association of Botanists


Leistner and Marinus Werger revis-ited the Kalahari and following theBraun-Blanquet procedure, pro-duced one of the pioneering phyto-sociological studies in southern Af-rica. The work culminated in a publi-cation in 1973 (Vegetatio 28: 353-399).

For the period 1965 to 1967 Otto wasSouth African Botanical Liaison Of-ficer at Kew—a great experience dur-ing which he obtained knowledgeand inspiration from prominent bota-nists of the day such as JohnHutchinson, who proposed him forFellowship of the Linnean Society,and Arthur Bullock who almost con-vinced him that nomenclature couldbe fun. Dick Brummitt, known todayfor his hand in standardising authorabbreviations, demonstrated to Ottothat it was possible to record reamsof new publications (on index cards)before starting the day’s work.

He was subsequently appointed headof the Herbarium Services Section ofthe National Herbarium in Pretoria,a position he held from 1967–1976.During this period he introduced anew model herbarium cabinet andhelped to lead the National Her-barium into the computer age byelaboration and adaptation of thedegree reference system for citingbiological records in southern Africa.This system is still being used to com-pile distribution maps today. Further-more, he compiled a gazetteer andprepared the herbarium for encod-ing which resulted in the birth ofPRECIS (National Herbarium, Preto-ria [PRE] Computerised InformationSystem). After 1976 he became headof the Flora Research Section of theherbarium, a post he held until 1985when he became head of the Publi-cations Section.

From 1985 until his retirement in 1996he was not only head of the Publica-tions Section but also scientific edi-tor of Bothalia, Flora of southern Af-rica, Memoirs of the Botanical Surveyof South Africa and later Strelitzia. Aseditor of Flowering Plants of Africaduring the period 1991 to 1997, he ini-tiated full recognition to the contrib-uting artists by treating them as co-authors, and he furthermore insistedon a distribution map accompanyingevery article.

Otto is the author or co-author of wellover 80 papers mainly on ecology andtaxonomy.

Upon retirement he was granted theopportunity to continue work at theNational Botanical Institute in an ad-visory capacity. He was appointed ascontract editor of Strelitzia 10, Seedplants of southern Africa: families andgenera. “…I would exhort taxonomiststo put right the errors and omissionsof the present work and to publish afurther revision to mark the turn of thecentury in the year 2000,” Dr R.A.Dyerwrote in 1975 in the Introduction to Thegenera of southern African floweringplants, predecessor and basis of Seedplants. It was under the guidance of DrLeistner and through the contributionsof the staff of the three herbaria of theNational Botanical Institute that thiswish was fulfilled. At present Otto iscompiling a supplement to this workcovering the five countries Angola,Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Mo-zambique for the Southern AfricanBotanical Diversity Network (SABO-NET), a task he is doing with greatdedication. His first manuscripts weredone by hand, now he is sitting in frontof the laptop compiling his manuscript!

Otto is married to Mariette, née Zeiler,a practising psychologist. They havetwo daughters, Elke, a student in ho-meopathy, and Ninette, a pupil inGrade 9.

We all know Otto Leistner as a soft-spoken, disciplined, friendly, helpfulman with integrity. We thank him forsharing with us his outstanding lin-guistic skills and his command ofEnglish, Afrikaans, German, Latin,and French and his wide knowledgeof Botany and associated subjects.We thank him for his continuedmentorship and guidance of not onlymany researchers and other staff ofthe National Botanical Institute, butalso of outside researchers.

On 10 January 2003 Otto AlbrechtLeistner was awarded the SilverMedal of the South African Associa-tion of Botanists for his contributionsto southern African Botany overmany years. He was also lauded forhis services to the National Botani-cal Institute and its predecessor, theBotanical Research Institute.

Congratulations, Otto! We applaudyou.

—E. Retief and G. GermishuizenNational Botanical Institute

Private Bag X101Pretoria 0001

The authors were fortunate to obtain the following response from Otto Leistner.

“Dear SAAB members

Holding this precious silver medal in my hand, like an Oscar, I do wish to say afew words of thanks:

To the SAAB Council who considered my contributions to Botany worthy of thisgreat honour.

To the Executives of the NBI and SABONET, specifically Gideon Smith and StefanSiebert, who afforded me the infrastructure for my latter-day activities in Botany;and to the staff members of these organisations who have come to regard me assomething of a mixture between a wise old man and a doddery old father figure.

To Mariette who has supported me for the last almost 30 years. When I say shesupported me I’m not suggesting that Botany is a brotlose Kunst, a breadless art,as one would say in German!

To the persons who proposed me for this honour, specifically Elizabeth Retief andGerrit Germishuizen. They have seen me almost daily for the last—goodnessknows how many—years. So they should know what they are doing/have done.

Once again my sincerest thanks. May your Association go from strength tostrength! Floreat Consortio Austroafricana Botanicorum!”


I met Richard Hall about five years agowhen, as chair of the Johannesburg

Branch of the Botanical Society of SouthAfrica, he persuaded me to join the com-mittee to arrange the outings. I soon be-came increasingly aware of the tremen-dous contribution Richard was makingto Botany.

Richard was born in Cape Town in May1920. During World War II he was im-prisoned in North Africa, Italy, and Ger-many and used this enforced idleness tostudy and read widely. He returned toSouth Africa and achieved a BA major-ing in Mathematics and Economics, aswell as a B.Com. degree from the Uni-versity of Cape Town in 1948. He later ob-tained the Diploma of the Royal Statisti-cal Society, became a Fellow of the Insti-tute of Incorporated Statisticians andworked in Nairobi and then in the UnitedKingdom. From 1952 to 1985 he was astatistician at the National Institute forPersonnel Research in Johannesburg.

As far as Botany is concerned, Richard’sgreatest contribution involves MelvilleKoppies Nature Reserve. This is a 160 hareserve situated close to the city centre ofJohannesburg. Melville Koppies is ofgreat botanical significance as it is hometo over 500 indigenous plant species, in-cluding at least 60 tree species and at least60 grass species. The Johannesburg CityCouncil owns the land on behalf of thecommunity.

Since inception, volunteers under theJohannesburg Council for Natural His-tory have advised on its management andassisted with conservation and guiding.Since February 1993, when a volunteercommittee took over full responsibility formanaging the Reserve, Richard has beenthe honorary manager. He was also thesecretary/treasurer of this committee forthe first five years.

For nearly a decade, Richard and a sin-gle worker supplied by the JohannesburgCity Council did all the conservation workon the Central Section. They have beenassisted in the last few years by threeregular helpers. Richard sets an exampleby doing physical conservation work ontwo weekday mornings as well as join-ing month-end work parties, which heused to organise for many years. He oncegot together a 50-strong work party toreclaim the paths! He coordinated a team

of voluntary wardens with whomhe keeps in regular e-mail contact,and he recruited a team of guidesto conduct visitors around MelvilleKoppies on Open Days.

Richard promotes the informative experi-ences that the Melville Koppies offer be-cause this is one of the main causes of thereserve’s value to the community. He hashad building plans drawn up for an inno-vative educational centre to enrich visitors’experiences, obtained the assistance of ex-perts to design the presentations and sin-gle-handedly secured sponsorship of overR500,000 towards this project! Richard ini-tiated the development of hands-oncourses by the Delta Environmental Cen-tre for school children, inspired variousprojects for students including two forSpringbok Scout badges, and has beenactively involved with students at tertiaryinstitutions doing research or practicals.Richard is a regular volunteer guide onOpen Days and frequently takes other or-ganised groups. He recruits and trains newguides by lectures and field training, keepsstatistics of Open Days and organised theguide duty roster for 6 years.

In 1993 Richard distributed 3,000 leafletsin neighbouring suburbs to revive interestin the reserve. He produced the first tenissues of the Melville Koppies newsletter,created a database of over 1,000 recipients,and continues to contribute to the news-letter. He gives interviews to and writesarticles for the media to publicise MelvilleKoppies. He has organised a competition,‘Memories of Melville Koppies’, and vis-ited descendants of the Geldenhuys fam-ily who previously owned Melville Koppiesto gather and record anecdotal informa-tion. He is also currently writing up the re-search that he has done on facets of MelvilleKoppies in a series of eco-modules, nine ofwhich are completed and five in prepara-tion. He freely distributes these to guidesand other interested people. Richard’s vi-sion for the future and the preservation ofMelville Koppies is also shown by his con-stant attention to forward planning. Hehelped draw up a document on the eco-logical management of Melville Koppiesentitled ‘’Master Plan for the Conservationof Melville Koppies’’ for future reference,and has trained a deputy.

Richard has been interested in plants sincechildhood and has an extensive knowledgeof them. His deep love for the Koppies and

delight in working on them is clearly evi-dent. No doubt he knows each of theplants there personally!

The tangible results of Richard’s years ofconservation work and the Reserve’s IronAge furnace resulted in Melville Koppiesbeing promoted as a venue for delegatesto visit during the World Summit on Sus-tainable Development last year. Richardworked extremely long hours to meetmany tight deadlines. He registered withthe Gauteng Tourist Authority so that hecould become an accredited guide for theWorld Summit. Even though he is a veryexperienced and knowledgeable guide,Richard was still prepared to do a com-pulsory First Aid course and be assessedin the field to achieve this.

In addition to his efforts for MelvilleKoppies, he has promoted Botany inother ways. He served the JohannesburgBranch of the Botanical Society of SouthAfrica as secretary from 1984 to 1997,chair from 1997 to 1999 and a committeemember until last year. He is a memberof the Tree Society and has been an Hon-orary Director of Delta EnvironmentalCentre from 1988 to 2002.

In conclusion, I feel Richard is an ex-tremely worthy recipient of a Certificateof Merit by the South African Associa-tion of Botanists. His time, energy, andresources have sustained MelvilleKoppies over the last decade and hisvision and strategy for the future areguiding the reserve into the 21st cen-tury. I am delighted that some formalrecognition is given to such an out-standing person.

Thanks to Wendy Carstens for providingmuch of the information.

—Pat TilneyDepartment of Botany

Rand Afrikaans UniversityP.O. Box 524, Auckland Park

[email protected]

Tel.: (w): +2711 489 2419(h): +2711 880 1160

Richard Hall AcceptsCertificate of Merit


As a result of large-scale destruction of plants and wildhabitats worldwide, botanic gardens have become the

last bastion in efforts to save plant diversity on our planet.In many countries, botanic gardens are amongst the lead-ing institutions in native plant research and conservation.International cooperation between botanic gardens is oneof the key factors highlighting the important role that gar-dens must play in conserving the world’s plant diversity.

Following the IABG (International Association of BotanicGardens) Cordoba Conference, IABG Asia Division will holdan international conference in collaboration with BGCI inBali, Indonesia. This International Botanical Gardens Con-ference is open to all researchers and representatives fromany botanical garden in the world. Participants are stronglyurged to contribute papers or posters on the following top-ics:• Botanic Gardens Management• Botanic Gardens and Plant Conservation• Botanic Gardens and their Benefit to Society

Venue

The Conference will be held in Bali Botanic Gardens, Indo-nesia, from 15–18 July 2003

Agenda

A three-day conference (poster session and concurrent pres-entations will be held on the second and third day) with thefollowing people as speakers:• Dr Peter Wyse Jackson (BGCI)—Botanical Gardens

Management• Prof. He Shan-An (IABG)—Botanic Gardens in Asia• Dr Prakosa (Ministry of Forestry, Republic of Indone-

sia)—Plant Conservation Strategy and Action Plan inIndonesia

• Prof. Kunio Iwatsuki (Japan)—Botanic Gardens andBenefit to Society

• LIPI Chairman, Prof. Dr Umar Anggara Jenie, willdeliver the opening remarks.

The conference will be followed by a one-day tour to inter-esting places in Bali on 18 July 2003. There is place for 30people. Participants should make the reservation before 17June 2003 by contacting the organising committee. The post-conference tour fee will be US$25.

Conference Fee

The conference registration fee will be US$100 per personfor the first three days. It includes:

• Materials for workshop• Morning and afternoon tea breaks• Lunches• Official reception

It excludes:• Accommodation. Information about hotel accommoda-

tion can be obtained from the organisers.• Post-conference tour.

Organising Committee

President of the Organizing Committee:Dr. Dedy Darnaedi

Organizing Committee Members:Mustaid SiregarHendrian

Contact Secretariat:Hendrian

Sponsored by

Indonesian Botanic Gardens—LIPI

IABG Asia Division

BGCI

Japanese Government

Organised by

Indonesian Botanic Gardens

IABG

BGCI

Please address any further enquiries to the secretariat:HendrianCenter for Plant Conservation—Bogor Botanic GardensJl. Ir. H. Juanda no. 13 BogorIndonesiaTel.: +62 251 322187Fax. +62 251 [email protected]@indo.net.id

International Botanical Gardens ConferenceBali Botanic Gardens—Indonesia

15–18 July 2003



A real need has been expressed in various forums forcase studies that demonstrate where taxonomy (or the

lack of it) has had profound impacts on society. A solutionwas proposed at a recent meeting* on the Global TaxonomyInitiative organised by the Global Network for Taxonomy,which includes the Secretariat of the CBD, UNESCO-MABProgramme, and BioNET-INTERNATIONAL. This was tocall for, and make available online to anyone who may wantto use them, as many case studies as possible. BioNET-IN-TERNATIONAL’s Technical Secretariat has agreed to assistwith this process.

Aims

Our aims are to provide summary case studies of how taxo-nomic knowledge and resources have been used to benefitsociety and meet user needs, or how the lack of taxonomicresources and information has led to poor decision-mak-ing, negatively affecting society in some way.

Process

The submitted case studies will be made available on-linein freely downloadable format at www.bionet-intl.org

Submission of material expressly acknowledges it will benon-copyright and can be used by anyone needing good

✃

Taxonomy’s Value to Society:Call for Case Studies

examples of why taxonomy is important when submittingproposals for funding, talking to decision-makers, and soon. Provision for acknowledgement of the source is made.

Guidelines to Contributors

Provide a one-page narrative of a case study that includesthe following elements to [email protected].

1. Title: Clear and informative title. State any impacts, posi-tive or negative, in the title if possible (for example, “Cor-rect Identification of Pest Saves Millions”).

2. Relevant Sector: Clearly specify thematic area/societalsector and economic area/s to which your case studyapplies for example, agriculture (or subsectors), forestry,inland waters, marine and coastal, invasive alien species,pollination, biodiversity conservation, trade, humanhealth, disease vectors, pharmaceuticals, and so on.

3. Geographic Location: Specify where (country/region)the activity took place and where the impact was felt.

4. Problem Statement: Describe the specific (non-taxo-nomic) problem or question that was addressed.

5. Methods: Include a non-technical statement of meth-ods and procedures used. Specify taxonomic approachand applications used.

6. Lessons: State the particular taxonomic issue that wasaddressed, or that should have beenaddressed.7. Outcomes and Impacts: Present

the benefits/impacts to society oftaxonomy or lack thereof, lessonslearned and conclusions.

8. Reference: If possible, cite one ormore key reference documents/websites etc. for follow-up by in-terested persons.

9. Contact Information: Provideauthor’s name, affiliation, and con-tact information (including web-links). If further acknowledge-ment of source is required, includethe citation to be used.

We look forward to receiving yourcontributions and in providing youwith access to numerous other casestudies.

—Cindy [email protected]

* Implementing the CBD GTI Programmeof Work: a Follow-up Workshop to the 3rd

Global Taxonomy Workshop (3GTW),UNESCO, Paris, 12–14 Feb, 2003


We thank the following people and organisationsfor help with preparing this issue of

SABONET News:

In the July 2003 edition of SABONET News...Profiles:

Salomao Bandeira (Mozambique)

Soul Shava (Zimbabwe)

Living Collections:

Pretoria NBG, South Africa

University BG, Zambia

Herbaria:

MASE & ROML, Lesotho

LMA & LMU, Mozambique

Remember to send us your submissionsbefore 30 June 2003!

Tony Abbott

Hassina Aboobaker

Clare Archer

Robert Archer

Salomao Bandeira

Dirk Bellstedt

Cindy Blench

Antoinette Burkhardt

Augustin Chikuni

Christopher Dalzell

Lorna Davis

Zbigniew Dzwonko

Anne-Lise Fourie

Gerrit Germishuizen

Lidia Gibson

Hugh Glen

Teresa Gonçalves Martins

Norbert Hahn

Mark Hyde

MacImage

Andrew Mangwarara

Marta Manjate

Anthony Mapaura

Puleng Matebesi

Mark Mattson

Mike Maunder

Nonofo Mosesane

Meeta Nathoo

Alfred Ngwenya

Ashley Nicholas

Lloyd Nkoloma

Siyabulela Nonjinge

George Owusu-Afriyie

Estelle Potgieter

Peter Raven

Elizabeth Retief

Elmar Robbrecht

John Roff

Nyasha Rukazhanga-Noko

Mary Sancy

James Seyani

Soul Shava

Yashica Singh

Gideon Smith

Marianna Smith

Hannes van Staden

Achim Steiner

Clare Tenner

Pat Tilney

Sandra Turck

Christopher Willis


About SABONETThis publication is a product of the Southern African Botanical Diversity Network (SABONET), a programme aimed at strengthening the level ofbotanical expertise, expanding and improving herbarium and botanic garden collections, and fostering closer collaborative links among botanistsin the southern African subcontinent.

The main objective of SABONET is to develop a strong core of professional botanists, taxonomists, horticulturists, and plant diversity specialistswithin the ten countries of southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia andZimbabwe). This core group will be competent to inventory, monitor, evaluate, and conserve the botanical diversity of the region in the face ofspecific development challenges, and to respond to the technical and scientific needs of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

To enhance the human resource capacity and infrastructure available in the region, SABONET offers training courses, workshops, and collabora-tive expeditions in under-collected areas. The programme produces a series of occasional publications, the Southern African Botanical DiversityNetwork Report Series, and a newsletter, SABONET News.

SABONET is co-funded by:• The United States Agency for International Development (USAID/World Conservation Union—Regional Office for southern

Africa (IUCN-ROSA)• The Global Environment Facility (GEF)/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

For more information about our projects in southern Africa contact one of the following addresses:

General enquiries about SABONETSABONET Coordinatorc/o National Botanical InstitutePrivate Bag X101Pretoria 0001South AfricaTel: (27) 12 804 3200Fax: (27) 12 804 3211/5979E-mail: [email protected]://www.sabonet.org

ANGOLALuanda Herbarium(Prof. Esparança Costa)Universidade Agostinho NetoRua Fernando Pessoa No. 103Villa AliceCaixa Postal 3244Tel: (244) 2 336 168Fax: (244) 2 336 168E-mail: [email protected] /[email protected]

BOTSWANANational Herbarium(Mr Nonofo Mosesane)National Museums, Monuments and ArtGalleryc/o Mobuto Drive & Notwane RoadPrivate Bag 00114GaboroneTel: (267) 373860/374616Fax: (267) 311186/302797E-mail: [email protected] /[email protected]

LESOTHONational Environment Secretariat(Mr Thulo Qhotsokoane)Ministry of Environment6th Floor, Development HousePrivate Bag A23Maseru 100Tel: (266) 311 767Fax: (266) 310 506/321505E-mail: [email protected]

MALAWINational Herbarium and Botanic Gardens ofMalawi(Dr Augustine Chikuni)c/o Livingstone & old Naisi RoadP.O. Box 528ZombaTel: (265) 525 388/118/145Fax: (265) 524164/108E-mail: [email protected] /[email protected]

MOZAMBIQUELMA Herbarium(Mr Calane da Silva)Instituto Nacional de InvestigaçáoAgronómicaDepartamento de BotânicaAvenida das Forças PopularesCaixa Postal 3658MavalaneMaputoTel: (258) 1 460 255/130/190/097/149Fax: (258) 1 460 074E-mail: [email protected] /[email protected]

NAMIBIANational Herbarium(Dr Gillian Maggs-Kölling)National Botanical Research InstituteOrban StreetPrivate Bag 13184WindhoekTel: (264) 61 202 2020Fax: (264) 61 258 153E-mail: [email protected] /[email protected]

SOUTH AFRICANational Herbarium(Prof. Gideon Smith)National Botanical Institute2 Cussonia AvenueBrummeriaPrivate Bag X101Pretoria 0001Tel: (27) 12 804 3200Fax: (27) 12 804 3211/5343E-mail: [email protected]

SWAZILANDNational Herbarium(Mr Gideon Dlamini)Malkerns Agricultural Research StationP.O. Box 4MalkernsTel: (268) 52 82111/83017/83038Fax: (268) 52 83360/83490E-mail: [email protected] /[email protected]

ZAMBIAHerbarium (Dr Patrick Phiri)Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of ZambiaP.O. Box 32379LusakaTel: (260) 1 293 158Fax: (260) 1 294806/253952E-mail: [email protected]

ZIMBABWENational Herbarium and Botanic Garden(Ms Nozipo Nobanda)c/o Downie Avenue & 5th StreetAlexandra ParkP.O. Box A889AvondaleHarareTel: (263) 4 708 938/744170/725313/745230Fax: (263) 4 728 317/708 938E-mail: [email protected] /[email protected]


Documents

SABONET Progress Report Using Interpretive Labels Mateku ... · 4 SABONET News Vol. 8 No. 1 March 2003 letters to the editors [email protected] 1) Manuscripts should preferably