LEFT: The Brandberg with Welwitschia mirabilis in the foreground and the cliffface of Orabeswand in the background. Photo: Ernst van Jaarsveld.BELOW: Map of Namibia showing the location of the Brandberg.Map: Sally Adam, Technodraft.BELOW LEFT: The brosblaarplakkie Adromischus schuldtianus growing increvices on Orabeswand, which is aconspicuous cliff face.Photo: Ernst van Jaarsveld.

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The Burning MountainAn expedition to the Brandberg in Namibia in search of the endemic Brandbergplumbago.

by Ernst van Jaarsveld, Klrstenbosch, and Wemer Voigt, Karoo National Botanical Garden

The Brandberg, an extinct volcano in north-westernNamibia, is an isolated massive inselberg, 23 x 25 kIn, com­pletely surrounded by desert. Rising from the Namib Desertfloor, about 60 km from the coast, its highest peak,Konigstein, is 2573 m above sea-level - the highest peak inNamibia. (The second highest is Auas at 2479 m, just southof Windhoek.) The Brandberg is well known for its richarchaeological sites and San art (the 'White Lady' for exam­ple). The name Brandberg means 'burning mountain' inAfrikaans, and is a translation of the indigenous name'Daures' (according to Kinahan*). Like so many otherAfrikaans place name in southern Africa, it is a translationof a Khoi or San name.

This well-known landmark has a very different climate toits surrounds, as it receives more rainfall and fog from theAtlantic Ocean on its upper peaks. Standing on the mainmassif at about 2000 m the vegetation is not unlike that ofthe Khamiesberg. In fact many typical Namaqualand generaoccur here too: Othonna, Felicia, Osteospermum,Mesembryanthemum and Tetragonia to mention a few. Thisisolation or 'island effect' has resulted in the evolution ofmany unique life forms including eight endemic plants.

The floraOur interest in the Brandberg is its vegetation. Although

situated north of the tropic of Capricorn and thus well with-

152 December 2004 Veld&Flora

in the tropics, it is influenced by fogcaused by the cold north-flowing

Benguella Current of the AtlanticOcean. The foothills are typical desertwith many tropical desert species like

Welwitschia mirabilis, Petalidium,Commiphora and Aloe asperifolia. Withan increase in altitude, rainfall increas­es and temperature declines and it ison the higher peaks that our interest is

focused.When I first came to Kirstenbosch in

1976, my predecessor Walter Wisuraleft me a number of papers, one of

them the original description of theplant Plumbago wissii, a shrub withnarrow leaves and tubular violet flow­

ers - the Brandberg plumbago. The

genus Plumbago is horticulturally wellknown for South African species suchas Plumbago auriculata and P. zeylani­ca and being interested in southernAfrican plants with horticultural poten­

tial and having seen the originaldescription and illustration of theBrandberg plumbago, this plant

intrigued me.I just never could find the time to

investigate further. Then, whilst plan­ning expeditions for my doctoral thesisstudy of cliff faces, my promoter,Professor Braam van Wyk, suggested

we visit the Brandberg to investigate itscliffs. Here was my chance.

When Mr H. J. Wiss discovered theplant in 1955 he was part of a three­

week archaeological expedition, duringwhich he managed to collect someplants too. He was the only person col­lecting plants and two of these plants,

Plumbago wissii and Mentha wissii(today Mentha longifolia subsp. wissi!)were later named in his honour. Wiss

published the first account of plants hecame across on the Brandberg in theJournal of the S. w.A. Scientific Societyin 1957.

Bertil Nordenstam from Sweden,

realizing the lack of botanical knowl­edge about the Brandberg, explored themountain in 1963 and 1964 and pub­

liShed his very useful and detailedaccount 'Flora of the Brandberg' inDinteria (vol 11, 1974). This was thefirst checklist of the Brandberg flora tobe published, and contained a descrip­tion of five new species.

The last account 'Flora of theBrandberg, Namibia' was by Patriciaand Dan Craven in 2000 (memoir 9, inCimbebasia *). This useful book gives

an up to date checklist of all the plantsencountered up to the end of the lastcentury.

The name Brandberg means 'burning mountain' inAfrikaans and is a translation of the indigenousname 'Daures'.

An illustration by Elbe Joubert of the Brandbergplumbago Plumbago wissii from live plants collectedon Konigstein.

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LEFT: The impressive kobasboom Cyphostemmacurrorii at Watervalvlakte. Photo: Ernst van Jaarsveld.

Pikkie knows the Brandberg like theback of her hand and we were privi­

leged to have her as our guide.Our expedition left Cape Town on

Friday 28 March and we reachedWindhoek the next afternoon. Early onSunday morning we picked up Pikkieand left for Dis Mine near theBrandberg, arriving there at aboutmidday after picking up last minuteprovisions. We set up camp at Orabes

Kloof at the base of the Orabeswand,which is a conspicuous cliff face.

The terrain is typical desert completewith the characteristic clicks of barkinggeckos (Ptenopus garullus) at dusk.

Welwitschia mirabilis, rock corkwoodCommiphora saxicola, oak-leaved cork­wood C. wildii and many species oftongklapper Petalidium and grassoccurred in the area. We were not sure

whether we would find water and mostof us carried between 10 and 12 I eachfor the three days planned on top.

We left at six in the morning andworked our way up the Orabes KIoof.Along the way the well-known

Brandberg thorn (Acacia montis-ustz)became conspicuous, as did variousCommiphora species such as slendercorkwood C. virgata, blue-leaved cork­

wood C. glaucescens and again theoak-leaved corkwood C. wildii. The ter­rain consisted of steep, bare, massive

granite slabs that made walking quitedifficult. The drainage lines containedsubtropical bushveld and desert ele­ments and the crevices were filled withlithophytes, and succulents were quitecommon. To my surprise, the Namaqua

jackal berry Diospyros acocksii shrubwas quite prominent in the fissures:one of the many Namaqualand plantsshared with the Brandberg. Other trop­

ical elements we regularly came acrossincluded the impressive thick-stemmedphantom tree Moringa ovalifolia, thelarge-leaved star-chestnut Sterculiaquinqueloba as well as the strikingwhite-stemmed African star-chestnut

S. africana.Half way up we came across quiver

trees Aloe dichotoma, laurel figs Ficusilicina and gifnoors Euphorbia virosa,and the resemblance to the vegetationof the Khamiesberg in Namaqualandbecame more striking. The cliffs hadfew crevices and generally not manycliff dwellers.

What did occur here included a nar­row leaved form of the brosblaarplakkie

We planned to take a day from thebase to our proposed camp site at'Longipoolies' at about 2000 m. Joiningus were Carel Haumann and Anton

Cilliers both experienced mountaineersand doctors to attend to any healthproblems, and Steven Carr, a horticul­turist from the Botanical Gardens inWindhoek.

Terrence April, a nature conserva­tion student, Henk, my son, Adam

Harrower, Jaques Ellis, LaurenMalonie and international studentsHazel Hodgen and Le-anna May alsojoined the expedition. As not one of us

was familiar with the mountain, DsThys van der Merwe, who would have

accompanied us, arranged for PikkieHoffmann, a social worker of the localN.G. Kerk, to accompany us instead.

The expeditionThe Brandberg expedition was spe­

cially planned to take place during

autumn when there would be a goodchance of rain. Water is the mostimportant commodity on a trip to sucha dry place and proper planning is thus

essential.Preparation should not only include

the physical planning of food andcamping gear, but mental preparationis also most important. You have to

first conquer the idea. Climbing theBrandberg is strenuous and hardwork, as one has to deal with theintense heat on the bare granite slabsand boulder obstacles on the moun­

tain, so being fit is quite important.A good 1: 50 000 map is essential to

ensure good orientation.

Half way up we came across quiver trees, laurel figs and

gifnoors, and the resemblance to the vegetation of the

Khamiesberg in Namaqualand became more striking.

154 December 2004 Veld&Flora

RIGHT: The mopane aloe Aloe Iittoralis is widespread but not common on the mountain.

BELOW: The Brandberg acacia Acacia mantis-us!i in the Orabes Kloot.Photos: Ernst van Jaarsveld.

Adromischus schuldtianus and klipsalieAeollanthus neglectus. The Angola net­tle Obetia carruthersiana has largeleaves resembling our mountain nettleObetia tenax but with greyish leaves.We had to be careful as its chemicaldefences cause intense burning - fortu­nately only temporarily. We reachedthe top by midday and made forLongipoolies the largest and closestdrainage system and thus the bestchance for us to find water. We wereamazed: there were huge pools and arunning stream.

Taking advantage of the water weremarginal aquatics such as the cloverfern Marsilea and the Gariep sageSalvia garipensis (anotherNamaqualand plant) that was in flower.We looked for the Brandberg mintMentha longifolia subsp. wissii (whichalso occurs in Namaqualand!) but with­out success. After we set up camp nextto the river on a bare flat patch, weinspected the area - Pikkie showing ussome bushman paintings. The escarp­ment top was well watered and greenwith the conspicuous Damara bottle­brush Euphorbia monteiri subsp.brandbergensis very much in evidence.

The Namibian wild pear Dombeyarotundifolia var. velutina was in flower.This differs from the larger SouthAfrican Dombeya rotundifolia var.rotundifolia in its different floweringtime and shrubby habit. We saw themregularly. The laurel figs were quitecommon and the Namaqua rock figFicus cordata only occasionally spotted.Another plant quite common on theBrandberg is the kobasboomCyphostemma currorii also called bot­terboom (butter tree).

These are impressive short, thicksetsucculent-stemmed deciduous trees2.5-4 m high with peeling bark. Theysomewhat resemble the other botter­boom Tylecodon paniculatus which, incontrast, is summer deciduous. Thisparallel trend is quite remarkable.

Bees in arid regions are more aggres­sive and we soon discovered an aggres­sive colony near our campsite, whichwe kept well away from.

Sleeping under the stars on baregranite was a great experience. Theheat absorbed during the day is slowlyreleased in the night, and having awarm 'rock blanket' from below is real­ly very pleasant. Fortunately it wasn't

too hot or cold at this altitude, butother problems arose during the night.I woke up in the middle of the night tofind a mouse nibbling at my finger,then heard the activity of many mice.On investigation, I saw our supply oflight weight food slowly being draggedaway to inaccessible nests underneaththe granite slabs! We took immediateaction and packed it all up.

KonigsteinWe left early for Konigstein the next

morning, all excited, with our mainpurpose in mind - to look for theBrandberg plumago. Pikkie first tookus to Watervalvlakte and the SnakeCave with its incredible San art includ­ing an illustration of a python and aquiver tree Aloe dichotoma.

The terrain resembled the renoster­veld of the Khamiesberg inNamaqualand, and even the smell ofDinter's wild rosemary Eriocephalusdinteri was similar. Osteospermummuricatum, verbyloopbos Pegolettiaoxyodonta, Leysera tenella - all plantswe are so familiar with inNamaqualand were present.Scattered about was another familiartree, the Namib resin tree locally

December 2004 Veld&Flora 155

known as slangvelboom Ozoroa

crassinervia, a beautiful tree with dark,rough bark.

Adam Harrower badly wanted to seethe Brandberg beesklou Lithops gra­

cilidelineata subsp. brandbergensis butdue to its exce,llent camouflage and thefact that we did not know its distribu­tion on the Brandberg, we thought ourchances of finding it were slim.

But as we came closer to Konigsteinwe passed a rocky but gravelly patchand our intuition made us look and ­surely - there they were! We spotted afew plants and after photographingthem, left for our last lap.

We could see the beacon atKonigstein and Henk my fifteen-yearold and the youngest member, asalways bouncing with energy, was

156 December 2004 Veld&Flora

rushing ahead with me trying to slowhim down and Pikkie was worryingabout keeping the stragglers togetheras getting lost in this terrain is not ajoke! As we were ascending Konigstein,to our great joy, Plumbago wissii wasspotted.

It is not always that one finds one'starget plant. We had come far andworked hard and thus were greatlyrewarded with the plumbgo's range ofcolour forms. The bushy shrubs areabout 60-80 cm tall with narrow some­what fleshy but soft leaves. They justresembled another fynbos plant, grow­ing in rocky terrain. The plants arestoloniferous (bearing runners) and arethus adapted to re-sprout after fires.

We collected cuttings and seed: ourmission now successful but not yet

LEFT: The Nama bottlebrush Euphorbia monteirisubsp. brandbergensis. Photo: Ernst vanJaarsveld.

BELOW LEFT: Signing the visitor's book atKonigstein Beacon: from left, Steven Carr, Ernstvan Jaarsveld, Hazel Hodgen, Pikkie Hoffmannand Anton eilliers. Photo Henk van Jaarsveld

BELOW RIGHT: The Brandberg beeskloutjieWhops gracilidelineata var. brandbergensis.Photo: Ernst van Jaarsveld.

over. After taking photographs we leftfor the beacon. I was amazed to findthe Namib day gecko (Phelsuma) , atropical diurnal gecko, so active atsuch an altitude. It must be the ther­mal heat of its rocky habitat that givesit the advantage. At the beacon it wasphotograph time and to our amaze­ment, there was a book to sign andMemoir no 9 of Cimbebasia* that hadbeen left there by one of its authors forvisitors to read.

At this altitude we could see theinfluence of the increase in rainfall.Othonna brandbergensis graced manycrevices and the fragrance of crushedwatersalie or iboza Tetradenia riparia

leaves wafted around in the cool mid­day breeze. Other plants spottedincluded dawidjies Antizoma miersiana,

tjienkerientjee Omithogalum pulchrum,nama-angelierjtie Dianthus namaensisand the prickly raak-my-nie-aan bosCodon schenckii.

On the way back to Longipoolies, theeagle-eyes of Adam spotted anothermesemb, the meerkatvygie Hereroaputtkameriana, growing in small tuftsamong the gravel pebbles. We alsocame across the African rutaThamnosma africana, a highly aromat­ic shrub with an aroma similar to thatof the medicinal wynruit Ruta grave­olens, found in so many farm herbgardens.

At the waterfall flats Pikkie fIrst took

us to Lion cave, so named because ofthe San painting of a lion. Here amongthe rocks to our surprise we also foundPlumbago wissii. Other conspicuoussucculents included the mopane aloeAloe littoralis, Herero aloe Aloehereroensis, Khomas aloe Aloe viridijlo­ra and the grey-white leaved pig's earCotyledon orbiculata.

One of my boots started giving trou­ble, and we eventually arrived back atLongipoolies rather tired, and veryhungry.

That night there was very little foodleft for the mice! Carl and Anton helpedwith all sorts of foot and stress com-

plaints, and my boot needed temporaryfIxing with Anton's surgical needle forour last day.

The next morning our descent wentquickly and we reached our vehicles bymidday - all very tired. Pikkie and Steveleft for Windhoek and the rest of uswent to Henties Bay where Terrencecaught us kabeljou, steenbras andgaljoen and we had a fIsh braai next tothe Atlantic discussing our successes.

On Thursday we left for Windhoekwhere we left cuttings of Plumbago wis­sii for Johan Wentzel at WileendNursery and headed back toKirstenbosch.

BELOW LEFT: The phantom tree Moringa ovalifolia with its impressive stem. Photo: Ernst van Jaarsveld.

RIGHT: The Brandberg plumbago Plumbago wissii growing in a crevice at Watervalvlakte. Photo: Ernst van Jaarsveld

AcknowledgementsPikkie Hofman for her help in guiding us, and Or Pierre Le Roux for housing us at Windhoek. All the members of the team helping us and enjoying the Brandberg Mountain.

Further reading'Kinahan, J. 2000. Oaures, the burning mountain - issues of research and conservation in the Brandberg of Nambia. Cimbebasia Memoir 9. (Which also contains contri­butions from over forty specialists, and is entirely devoted to various natural topics of this interesting mountain.)

December 2004 Veld&Flora 157