BOTSOC NEWS APRIL, MAY & JUNE 2005

 

Hi all plant lovers

 

The shortest day of the year is behind us! Even though we have had very mild weather up to now the cold is sure to come during July and August, but we can look forward to for new growth and flowers in September!

 

MONTHLY TALKS:  Coleen Mannheimer’s talk in May on the “Wild Flowers of the Namib” was once again very popular and much appreciated. Sincere thanks to Colleen!

Unfortunately the presentation by Barbara Curtis advertised for 9 June had to be cancelled because Barbara was in bed with a very bad case of bronchitis. We trust that we will be hearing Barbara’s talk on “Trees in Madagascar” on some future date. Hopefully Barbara is feeling much better!

 

FORTHCOMING MONTHLY TALK:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garden Walks

 

The guided walk in the Botgarden on 4 June was well attended by about 17 visitors most of whom opted for visiting the nursery under the guidance of Silke, where they spent intriguing two hours. Some others joined Hanjo Böhme for a walk through the garden with an emphasis on bird life. A few visitors accompanied Luise for a look at trees and plants. The quiver trees on the south-western slopes were in flower and the wild pear trees covered in their golden brown flower-like fruit were a lovely sight.

 

 

 

Persons to contact when you see someone cutting down a protected tree

 

Within the municipal area of Windhoek:  

            Anthony Watkins           236 225

            Mr Aribib                       290 2384

            City Police                    290 2239

 

Outside municipal area of Windhoek:

Mr Visagie or Mr Shilunga of the Forestry Directorate                    221 478

 

The official list of protected trees will be attached to this Newsletter or sent as a separate document. It is quite short. According to the new Forestry Act (No 12 of 2001) many more trees are protected but the relevant list still has to be passed by Parliament. So if you see someone harming a tree, call the above numbers irrespective of whether the tree is on the existing protected list or not.

 

Better still, if you see that someone in your neighbourhood is preparing to make alterations to buildings, especially putting up walls, and there are trees that could be affected, talk to that person before the damage is done. Ask what the plans are; tell the person how much you love that tree, how many years it takes for a tree to grow. Draw attention to the fact that trees on sidewalks are the property of everyone because everyone benefits from them – the same is even true of trees on private property. Try to convince the person to build the wall around the tree or to incorporate the tree into the wall. [I have a small collection of photographs of how trees can be incorporated into walls – refer them to me for a look at those.]  Once the chain saw has started its awful work the damage is usually done. So it is important to talk to people before the cutting down has commenced.

 

For the above mentioned persons to take legal action against the cutting down of trees there needs to be evidence in the form of wood from the cut tree, photographs, witnesses etc. Taking photographs or filming may even be an effective way of stopping the destruction.

 

AGE OF TREES

 

In general, the age of a tree is quite difficult to determine without cutting down that tree.

 

Shepherd’s tree (Boscia albitrunca)

A friend who lives in Anderson Street told me that she had watched the witgatboom or shepherd’s tree (Boscia albitrunca) opposite the turn-off of Anderson from Sinclair Str grow from a seedling to a presentable and beautifully shaped tree over 35 years. She was devastated when recently the owner of the adjacent property had that tree cut down to make way for a wall!

Shepherd trees are slow growers and therefore many may be very old.

 

Quiver trees (Aloe dichotoma)

According to an article “Veld & Flora”, titled “Can the plunder of quiver trees be controlled”, the juvenile stage of the quiver trees lasts about 50 years. Its adult stage lasts for about 150 years, while the senescent stage takes another 50 years making up a total of at least 250 years. Of course considerable variation exists determined by soil type, climate, diseases and grazing pressure. The same article raises concern about the possible extinction of this remarkable species in the western and northern Cape as a result of people digging up the trees to sell as garden specimens and due to competition and trampling by grazing animals. Trees growing in arid surroundings need a series of favourable climatic events to become well established before the onset of the next drought. Natural regeneration therefore is very slow.

 

Baobab (Adansonia digitata)

The Baobab to the left of the entrance to the parking area in front of the buildings of parliament was planted in 1966, so now it is 39 years old. The tree was planted by Ben Strohbach’s father who was then in charge of the city’s parks and gardens.

Veronica Roodt in “Trees and Shrubs of the Okavango Delta” writes:

“According to a Mr CDJ Scholz who cultivated baobabs, a 17 year old tree had reached a height of 6 m, another tree planted in the Kruger National Park had reached 20 m and a circumference of 3,5 m in 38 years. It has been established that they grow fast during the first 270 yrs of their life, reaching a diameter of about 2 m during that period. Subsequently the average annual increase is limited to about 2,5 mm! The University of Rhodesia radio carbon-dated a baobab of 5 m diameter as being 1010 yrs old. Based on that, trees measuring more than 9 m in diameter could be more than 4000 yrs old.”

If you have any information and preferably evidence of the age of trees in your vicinity, please let us know. We collect this kind of information to expand our knowledge about trees. People need to be made aware of the age of trees to better appreciate their great value.

 

 

Now is the time to plant trees

Indigenous trees are available from:

The Forestry Nursery at Okahandja

Contact: Andries 081 260 7864

Unless you are in a great hurry, Andries can usually arrange for the trees to be brought to the Directorate of Forestry, 6^th & 7^th floor of City Centre Building, where you can then collect them. They are quite small but cost N$8 only and usually grow fast. In fact they are said to do better than larger trees which do not like to have their root system disturbed.

Contact Henry at 061 221478.

Please note the change of address: the Forestry Offices have moved to the centre of town!

There is also a Forestry Nursery at Grootfontein

Tel: 067 242128 / 242129            Fax: 067 242106

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tree Certificate

 

The well-known artist Helge Denker generously designed a beautiful Tree Certificate for us, which we would like to present to companies, institutions and private persons who either protect and conserve existing indigenous tree or who plant such trees.

In doing so we would like to encourage the protection of indigenous trees, in particular, within the municipal area of Windhoek but also elsewhere in the country. With the indications of global warming and possibly increasingly arid conditions it is particularly important to conserve the trees we have and to plant indigenous tress that are well adapted to our harsh climatic conditions.

 

Please send your written nominations for potential recipients of this certificate to

Luise: e-mail: luisehof@iway.na, P O Box 9053, Eros

Before 1 Sept 2005

 

 

Initially we plan to award several such certificates on Arbour Day in October 2005 or at our year end function during November 2005 to spread the message.

After that it should become an annual event with only one recipient, possibly in several categories such as companies, state & municipalities, private citizens, guest farm & lodges.

After receiving your nominations, the CAPP will inspect the various sites and decide upon this year’s winners/recipients.

 

 

 

 

Beware of the “fountain grass” “pronkgras” (Penisetum setaceum)!

 

Instead ask your nursery for either Penisetum purpurea which is a sterile version of the above grass but has purple leaves to which the name purpurea refers. Another grass with similar appearance is Miscanthus which is available with green leaves or with variegated leaves.

 

Fountain grass is an invasive species listed as one of NAMIBIA’S NASTY NINE [together with prosopis, wild tobacco, the ‘wonderboom’, datura, prickly pears and several others].  Although it is a very decorative plant and very easy to grow, it has already escaped into the wild. The percentage of this grass found along roadsides and adjacent farms around Grootfontein, Otavi and Tsumeb is alarming. This very tough and totally unpalatable grass is busy replacing the indigenous grazing which is the basis of our meat industry. I have already found plants of this species in the National Botanic Garden [where they were immediately removed] and at Avis Dam. Others have seen it along the road in the Khomas Hochland.

 

SO PLEASE ERADICATE ALL FOUNTAIN GRASS AND RATHER PLANT ONE OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED SPECIES

 

 

 

THE NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDEN IS OPEN TO VISITORS MONDAY – FRIDAY

Take your visitors for a walk in a natural setting and in safety in the Botanic Garden. Spend some peaceful moments on the benches provided at secluded spots. Bring your bird book and your binoculars as the garden houses at least 30 different bird species. “Dassies” (rock hyraxes) and other small mammals can also be seen.

 

Entrance is free but please sign the visitors‘ book at the reception, as an increase in numbers of visitors supports the curator of the Botanic Garden when applying for funding from her Ministry. A list of the botanical names of all plants occurring in the garden (including the common names for a number of the most well-known plants), as well as flyers on the objectives of the NBRI, the Botanical Garden and the MAN-Muller Library are also available at the reception.

 

 

SUBSCRIPTION FEES

Please be reminded to update your subscriptions as soon as possible.

Membership is               N$50 for individuals,

N$80 for families

N$10 for students

and covers the period from the AGM (September) to AGM.

Bertchen and Diana handle the membership fees and membership lists of Botsoc and are the persons to contact.

Diana Thompson (226871)  rafthom@mweb.com.na; Bertchen Kohrs (227913)earthl@iway.na

Botanical Society of Namibia, P O Box 11531, Klein Windhoek

 

Enjoy the outdoors in the cool winter weather while looking forward to the first signs of spring which can be expected in August.

 

With kind regards

 

Luise Hoffmann (239415) luisehof@iway.na

and Ellen Gudde            (227783) stpc.ge@iway.na

 

And

 

THE CORE OF ACTIVE PLANT PEOPLE (CAPP)

Kurt Schlenther (275300) capella@iafrica.com.na

Diana Thompson (226871)  rafthom@mweb.com.na

Silke Bartsch (202 2014)  silker@nbri.org.na

Bertchen Kohrs (227913)earthl@iway.na

Gillian Maggs-Koelling (202 2020)  gmk@nbri.org.na

Edna Mohrmann  (081 129 7974) tours@wilddog-safaris.com