Floral Treasure

There is no area of South Africa without its particular floral treasure or species of special beauty or interest. These include succulents that look almost exactly like stones (lithops), mangroves, tree ferns, traditional food plants and those that would kill you if you took a bite, and - one of the most promising fields of study in South Africa - a large number of plants of medicinal value. Some of these, such as the Aloe ferox, a purgative, were discovered to be medicinally useful by the early European colonists; many more have long been known and used by indigenous African people.

Yet for all the spectacular plants to be found, perhaps the landscape that most eloquently conjures up the spirit of South African flora is the typical savannah, with its (often dry) grasses and more-or-less thickly scattered shrubs and thorn trees. Lingering images may vary widely, from fynbos field to subtropical forest, but for many South Africans the thorn tree is the nesting place of their hearts.

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The medicinal plant Siphonochilus aethiopicus (wild ginger or isiPhephetho) has been exploited to extinction in the KwaZulu/Natal region. Warburgia salutaris (pepper-bark tree or isiBhaha) is on the brink of extinction in this region.  Ring-barking of most large stinkwood and assegai trees in KwaZulu/Natal has reduced the numbers of these trees drastically and this bark is now obtained from areas within the former Transkei.  Although plant material forms the basis of most traditional medicines, animal parts are also used. As with plants, there is concern that exploitation of certain animals is contributing to a serious decline in their numbers. Of particular concern are the python, pangolin, striped weasel, giant girdled lizard, and the Cape, lappet-faced, and whiteheaded vultures.  If you own, or know of land that is to be developed, contact your local conservation agency or regional Botanical Society branch to negotiate salvaging the medicinal plants.