South Africa - August 1997 August 16, 1997
Posted by Lawrence in : Haworthia, Travelog , add a comment
My seventeen-year-old daughter Gretchen and I were met at Cape Town Airport by Kobus Venter on Friday evening August 15, 1997. We spent our first weekend in South Africa with the Venters. This was Gretchen’s first trip to Africa and my second. Kobus’ Haworthia collection is as impressive as ever, although arranged and organized differently than when I visited in ‘95. Bob Kent also has a very nice collection, possibly more plants than Kobus, but Kobus probably has the best set of documented plants in the world with the greatest number of different populations represented. In fact, in preparation for the new Haworthia book, Bruce Bayer has been using Kobus’ collection as a reference and has grouped and physically rearranged plants by relationship.
On Saturday Kobus took us on a hike to Bainskloof to see Aloe haemanthifolia. I’ve only ever seen pictures of this plant. The plants and the mountains along the trail were a great view and a nice (re)introduction to the South African veldt. Where the haemanthifolia grow is somewhat remote and is located in a protected conservation area. Kobus was able to get a permit and the keys to a gate leading to the trail head. The haemanthifolia grow on the walls of the canyon (the Afrikaaners call these valleys or gorges - kloofs). The trail is north of Wellington near the Bainskloof Pass. One of the branch trails heads to the Bobbejaansrivier Waterval. I was quite exhausted by the several hour trek. The trail wasn’t very difficult so I must have been out of shape, I was hot by the time we got to the head of the kloof. What a magnificent and spectacular waterfall! The air was cool and moist. No wonder the haemanthifolia grew in such abundance!
Aloe haemanthifolia, flower, and Bobbejaansrivier Waterval.
Protea in flower.
South Africa - August 1997 August 18, 1997
Posted by Lawrence in : Haworthia, Travelog , add a commentOn Sunday we stopped at Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden for lunch and then drove around the cape and stopped to see several other Aloe sites. Proving that American culture (or marketing) has penetrated all corners of the world - we had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, Cape Town! On Monday Kobus dropped us at the airport where we picked up the rental car and a cell phone and off we went into Cape Town. Driving on the left was a great thrill! The rush of oncoming traffic was almost worth the price of admission! In Cape Town we went to see a couple of the museums and the new aquarium. The kelp tank at the aquarium was very healthy and natural looking, the wave action almost lead me to feel as if I were really underwater. Then after lunch we drove east along the coast to Hermanus to see the southern right whales. The seabed must drop off quickly as the whales were literally right next to the rocks and beaches. From the park bench right at the waters edge we could see several whales spouting, flippers and tails. I was amazed. In New England one usually travels an hour or more off shore to see whales, if you can find them at all. Here, right next to the beach were more than a few whales as well as countless seal and porpoise. We also saw a penguin colony near by, little butlers waddling around their rookery.
On Tuesday we drove inland toward Riversdale and made a number of Haworthia collections along the way. We found H. turgida, H. mirabilis, and H. venosa near Swellendam. In Heidelberg we found H. heidelbergensis, of course, and various shades in-between. Near Riversdale on a series of hills, maybe a mile or less long, serpentine in contour, we found several interrelated Haworthia varieties. On one hill are H. retusa fa. foucheri. On the next are H. retusa fa. geraldii. On the third in the series are H. magnifica and H. minima.
Haworthia retusa fa. fouchei, H. retusa fa. geraldii clump, single head, and hills around Riversdale.
At the Gouritz River Bridge we found Aloe and Haworthia turgida growing on the steep banks of the river. Further east at Cooper Station we found H. pygmaea but couldn’t find H. floribunda. I couldn’t find H. parksiana at either of the sites near Great Brak River. On Wednesday we went to Mossel Bay and Knynsa (where I had a great big plate of oysters), again stopping here and there looking for Haworthia. On Thursday morning we met Kobus and Bruce Bayer near Ladismith and then spent the next four days in the Oudtshoorn area. In Sewenweekspoort we found H. habdomadis var. habdomadis. In my experience this variety is not often found in cultivation. In 1995 I had seen var. inconfluens near Ladismith. We also found H. marumiana and H. arachnoidea. We later stopped at Van Wykskraal to see the gardens and the famous H. truncata.
Gouritz River Gorge, Haworthia bayeri, H. habdomadis var. habdomadis, H. arachnoidea, H. unicolor var. helmiae, H. truncata.
South Africa - August 1997 August 20, 1997
Posted by Lawrence in : Haworthia, Travelog , add a commentFor the next two days we did a lot of climbing in Schoemanspoort studying the interactions between H. starkiana and H. scabra. We also saw H. graminifolia, H. unicolor v. helmiae, H smitii, and others. Bruce Bayer’s concept of species and variety of H. starkiana, var. lateganiae, H. scabra, var. morrisiae, and H. smitii may have changed due to the various forms and interactions we saw here.
Haworthia scabra, H. starkiana, H. starkiana var. lateganiae, H. scabra (long form emerging from mud).
South of Oudtshoorn we went to see the new species H. outeniquensis. Bayer will be formally describing this species in the new book. This plant was growing in a very untypical habitat, in shade under pine trees in pine needle mulch. I was dumbfounded. I would never have even thought to have looked in this habitat for a Haworthia. Later we stopped at a nice population of H. emelyae. That night Bruce let me read through the manuscript for the new book. The manuscript is almost complete. Bruce and Kobus were working on completing the photographs. Getting better pictures was one of the reasons for the trip to Oudtshoorn. The work on the new book is incredible! Thousands of hours of work.
Haworthia outeniquensis nomen nudum.
Another new Haworthia we went to look at was east of Oudtshoorn on the top of a mountain. Bruce will be describing this plant in the new book. He called it H. pungens because the leaves are stiff and the tips are pointed and hard. It grows like an Astroloba, but has Haworthia flowers. I think it is somewhat like H. glauca, but larger and different. It was interesting to see how the clumps grew in a bow shape to catch gravel coming down the hillside, scree traps. Possibly the gravel keeps the roots cool? We also took a drive and a few short hikes in the northern end of Prince Alfred’s Pass where we found H. scabra and H. cymbiformis.
Haworthia pungens nomen nudum (2), H. cymbiformis, and above the clouds in Prince Alfred’s Pass.
We parted company on Sunday afternoon, Bruce and Kobus heading west, Gretchen and I east. We stopped in Steytlerville where we found H. decipiens. It was getting dark. Next time I go to South Africa I’m going to spend more time in this area. We then made Graaff Reinet our base for a couple days where we found H. viscosa and Astroloba foliolosa (I think). I couldn’t find H. marumiana. I later found out I had the right hill but didn’t climb high enough or look close enough.
Haworthia viscosa, Astroloba foliolosa.
We spent most of Wednesday driving northwest to Upington and Augrabies Falls. Then we went further north to the southern end of Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. We didn’t see lion but we did hear them. We saw a number of different antelope and wildebeest, monkeys, baboons, flamingos and all sorts of other birds. Kalahari is a sandy lonely beautiful place.
I wished we had more time. By the end of the week we were headed back south through Springbok. Namaqualand was green. There were a number of plants in flower. I saw bunches of different kinds of Mesembs including Lithops and Conophytum. I also saw H. venosa tesselata, and H. norteri near Vanrhynsdorp and Clanwilliam. By Sunday evening we were back at the Venters where we had dinner with Bruce and Daphne Bayer, Steve Hammer, and the Venters. After dinner we looked through a hundred or so slides, selecting some for the book. On Monday we went to see Etwin Aslander and his nursery and then back to Kirsenbosch for lunch and on to the airport for the flights back to the US. I wished I had another couple weeks (months). I’ll just have to go back again someday. Actually I’m thinking of taking my wife Paula and our now seven-year-old daughter Claire in say 3 years.