The Secret Lives of Trees

By: Romy Antrobus-Wurth

"All our wisdom is stored in the trees."― Santosh Kalwar

In mid-March, the K2C BR was lucky to receive a visit from the renowned plant ecologist, Professor Eugene Moll. Prof. Moll, now retired to Cape Town, has to date published almost 200 articles in the scientific, semi-scientific and popular press, as well as 13 books, 18 chapters in books, and numerous reports, although as an author he is perhaps best-known for his popular field guide The Trees of Natal, published in 1981.

While in the region, Prof. Moll hosted two Tree Identification Courses for local enthusiasts. The first day was held at Otters Den, a private property along the Blyde River, supporting an amazing diversity of beautiful riparian and bushveld trees. The second day was held at Raptors View Wildlife Estate in Hoedspruit, allowing homeowners a chance to become better informed about the bushveld trees in the estate they call home. On walks around the properties, participants learnt about key identification features to use to positively identify species, as well as fascinating facts and insights into plant biology and ecology. There was much to take in, and many samples were taken for further scrutiny and discussion around the lunch table. 

On Monday 16 March, Prof. Moll gave a talk at one of the increasingly popular monthly Hoedspruit Conservation and Research Club evenings, held at Thirsty Giraffe. Locals were given fascinating insight into the unique biome of vegetation, known as heathlands, found at the top of Mariepskop.  This area is covered by dense shrubby fynbos-like vegetation, with lots of Cape plant genera in the families Asteraceae, Rutaceae, Thymelaeaceae among others.

What makes heathlands unique is that they are biomes largely governed by soil type, rather than climate. Heathlands only grow where soil phosphorus levels are low. In Africa, notably in the South Western Cape, heathlands have historically been lumped into “Fynbos” (three shrubland types) and we have historically incorrectly associated fynbos with needing a Mediterranean climate, when in fact it is largely driven by soils. 

By recognising our “Fynbos” as a specific type of Heathland, it allows us to align this locally unique vegetation type globally. It also allows us to recognise other local heathlands, mostly where the restio element is lacking and even absent but where many other “Cape” elements do occur. Examples are the Drakensberg (e.g. Cathedral Peak and Mariepskop), Pondoland, and in coastal marshes/wetlands in Maputaland (once dominated by Restio zuluensis). We hope to use his knowledge in putting together a robust Restoration Plan to be implemented in the Mariepskop region.

Thank you to Prof. Eugene Moll for spending time with us in the region and sharing his incredible knowledge, inspiring many of us to keep questioning and to get out into nature to learn!