It was this abuse of a nature areathat led some local residents, in1996, to band together to clean upthe Common and confront theproblems. In December 1997 theyformed a committee and, in co­operation with the South PeninsulaMunicipality, have organized cleanups, arranged for the removal of100 pine trees, covered a path withbark chips to encourage people tostick to it, blocked access to carswith pine logs and reportedsuspicious activities to the police.Dr Purcell's list of species, asidentified by J. Rourke, P. Fairalland D. Snijman, has beenconsulted and some of theremaining flora identified. Thecommittee has also endeavoured toremove alien Port Jackson plants asthey appear.

At the entrance to MeadowridgeCommon in the Cape Townsuburb of Meadowridge, a

signboard (right) greets visitorswith the words,

'The Meadowridge Common isone of the last remnants of SandPlain Fynbos. These remnants

have the highest concentration ofplant species threatened withextinction recorded for Africa.

TREASURE YOUR HERITAGE.'It is signed by the

'Friends of the MeadowridgeCommon'.

Meadowridge Common todayThe largest green lung forMeadowridge, the Commonoccupies a small area of 0.06 km

2•

It surrounds two football fields andhas tennis courts, bowling greens,apartments and other buildings onits border. It is a popular place forresidents to walk their dogs. Muchof the Common is covered by pinetrees, which suppress some of theflora, but not as much as Iexpected. Abuse of the Common atnight has included drunkenparties, visit;> by drug abusers andvagrants using it for cooking,drinking and sleeping.

Paradise lost and regained? A challenge to the Friends ofMeadowridge Common.

by Fiona Watson, Meadowridge, Cape Town

T he history of the Commonstretches back to 1685 whenSimon van der Stel named a

farm 'Constantia'. On his death thisfarm was divided into the presentConstantia and Bergvliet and in1769 Petrus Eksteen boughtBergvliet and built the Bergvlietfarmhouse, now a nationalmonument. Most of the veld inBergvliet remained an undisturbedparadise and Dr William Purcell,manager of the farm from 1902 to1919, collected herbariumspecimens of 595 different speciesfrom an area of 3.43 km

2• These are

still in the Compton Herbarium atKirstenbosch and represent26.4% of the CapePeninsula flora. In 1952,the suburb ofMeadowridge wasdeveloped as a 'gardencity' and, with the suburbof Bergvliet, the area hasbecome thoroughlyurbanized.

THE WILDFLOWERS OFMEADOWRIDGE COMMON

Above.One shrub of Diastellaproteoides (1.5 m' in diameter)occurs on the Common.It needs protection!Photo: F. Watson.

Right. Moroea collina.Far right. Wurmbeamonopetala, standing only110 mm tall, is easilyoverlooked unless one is onhands and knees. Photos: F. Watson.

20

Top right.Carpobrotusacinacijormis andthe yellowCarpobrotus edulisare the largestflowers on theCommon: 90 mm indiameter.Centre right.[ria dubia.Bottom right.Monopsis debilis isone of the smallestflowers on theCommon: 3-4 mmacross.Photos: F. Watson.

The floraAs an amateur botanist with only one year of botany atuniversity level, I have, for thirty years, been inter­ested in what remains of our rich floral heritage. InNovember 1999, I decided to undertake a survey of theflowers as they appeared on the Common over thecourse of a year and to make a photographic record ofthis survey. It is this activity that led, recently, to mybeing co-opted onto the Friends of the MeadowridgeCommon Committee.

I did not realize at the time that I had chosen a yearthat would include one of the driest winters andhottest summers on record. I have noted about ninetydifferent species and am continuing to find more.Some appear en masse like Sparaxis bulbifera,Senecio littoreus and Ursinia anthemoides and somehave only one plant like Diastella proteoides, athreatened species of protea. Some are brightlycoloured, like Moraea collina (previously Homeriaflaccida) and others are well camouflaged against thebrown sand like Wurmbea monopetala. Some are largeas is the sour fig Carpobrotus acinaciformis with adiameter of 90 mm, and others small, like Monopsisdebilis with a diameter of 4 mm.

In November, the threatened Diastella proteoides isat its best, but it continues to flower throughout theyear. Needing to protect it, and being conscious of notdisturbing its roots, we have had to carefully weed outinfestation of a tendrillous introduced Vicia hirsuta,Senecio littoreus and grasses. A patch of beautifulgolden Ixia dubia at the southern fringe of the pinetrees was followed by a collection of golden sticky­stemmed Moraea elsiae opening in the afternoons onthe northern fringe. The only specimen of the pink­flowering Cryptadenia grandiflora shrub that grewunder the pine trees was destroyed by a tractor sent into mow the grass. (This 'need' by the authorities tomow nature areas is another problem to beconfronted.) An area of Otholobium decumbens wasalso destroyed - in a fire started by vagrants.

December provided displays in blue: a patch ofAristea dichotoma, flourishing surprisingly in a verydry, sandy area, Lobelia erinus fringing a damperpathway, and 3 m high shrubs of Psoralea pinnata.

Veld Er Flora March 2001

Left. Aristeadichotoma.Below top.The monarchbutterfly, Danauschrysippus, visitingNylandtia spinosa.Below centre.Romulea hirsuta.Below bottom.Geissorhiza aspera.Photos: F. \>\fatson.

One plant of Lapeirousia corymbosa floweredprofusely at the foot of a pine tree. The white­flowering shrubs of Erica subdivaricata provided acontrast to the blues.

From January to April it was extremely hot anddry, broken by only seven days of light showers. Largefires raged around the Peninsula and the Common hadtwo small fires of its own. Grasses and restios were tothe fore. In April only Eriocephalus african us,Metalasia muricata and Chrysanthemoides moniliferashrubs came into bloom.

By May the skilpadbessie Nylandtia spinosa was infull bloom with details of its exquisite small flowersonly evident on close inspection. For a week, one ofthese large shrubs was continually visited bynumerous monarch butterflies, Danaus chrysippus,surprisingly as I have not seen it recorded as a hostplant.

Three days with rain and eight with showersbrought a floral response in June and July. A weekafter the rains at the end of June, a patch of autumnstars, Empodium plicatum, came into bloom undersome pines. Interestingly, the same happened withpatches of small sterretjies, Spiloxene capensis, afterthe rains of 2 and 21 August - but in different placesunder the pine trees. The rains also brought Oxalisspecies out in profusion: Oxalis obtusa, O. luteola,O. versicolor and O. purpurea. Lachenalia reflexa alsoflowered but did not age from yellow to orange as itnormally does, but shrivelled up as the drought of Julytook hold. Was there time to set seed? I wonder.

August began with three days of rain and heraldedspring with mass displays of yellow Senecio littoreusand white Sparaxis bulbifera. Salvia africana-luteadisplayed its brown blooms, and the pelargoniumswere represented by shrubs of Pelargonium capitatumfull of dark-pink blooms as well as the pale pinkP. myrrhifolium and the smaller cream and brownP. triste. At ground level the rich rose colour ofRomulea hirsuta and the lilac flowers of R. roseaglowed, as did the iridescent yellow Lampranthusreptans. The trachyandras, Trachyandra ciliata andT revoluta provided contrast with their muted whitecolours.

September brought rain and evidence of Paradise.Among the fields of yellow Ursinia anthemoides, Ifound many gems. Sheets of blue Geissorhiza asperawere followed by a smaller number of creamGeissorhiza imbricata. Butterfly-dainty moraeas havealways been a favourite of mine, and clump of blueMoraea tripetala bloomed in a damp area over aperiod of two weeks. On two afternoons, theCommon's single plant of Moraea lugubris (previouslyM. plumaria) displayed its two purple and goldflowers with their plumes of style crests. Moraea fugaxsubsp. fugax flowered over a wide area, with its eye­catching yellow iris-shaped flowers. Lots of flax-blueHeliophila africana flowers provided Nature's perfectcomplementary coloured counterfoils to the dominantyellows.

Quaint and not easily noticed were the smallflowers of Wurmbea monopetala, with their six claw­like cream and brown perianth lobes. Triglochinbulbosa flowers are odd in appearance with narrowbrown tubular flowers tipped with the red hairs oftheir stigmas like lighted cigarettes. The orchids

Veld &- Flora March 2001

Satyrium odorum and Pterygodium catholicum intheir greens are interesting but could not rival theexotic orchids. Albuca flaccida showed how apt itsLatin name 'sentry in a box' is.

The heat retuned in October affecting the insectiv­orous sundew Drosera trinervia. The flower budsseemed to be aborting in the hot, dry weather, and theonly buds that I observed opening into full flowerwere a group that I had experimentally watered theprevious evening. Geissorhiza tenella opened theirnarrow perianth lobes each morning for a couple ofweeks, and also successful were members of theCampanulaceae family: the tall blue Wahlenbergiacapensis (growing in an area with some shade) and theminute Microcodon hispidulum. Monopsis debilis alsoflowered. Iridescent yellow Carpanthea pomeridianaand shrubby glistening Ruschia sarmentosa werehighlights in areas already turning brown.

These are but some of the flowering plants. Iobserved. If 2001 is not as dry, it will be interesting toobserve any differences and to see if the Lachenaliareflexa and Drosera trinervia were able to set seed.

The way forwardThis remnant of the flora of the original Bergvliet isworth preserving and needs to be well managed. Arethere any lists of flora from other Bergvliet remnants?Where species are now only represented by one or twospecimens, they could be augmented to better re­establish the species. Access to the Common forwalking and experiencing a little bit of nature needs tobe continued for residents. They should also be intro­duced to and made aware of the sensitive nature oftheir heritage on the Common.

The Friends of the Meadowridge Common areconsidering joining with other Friends in affiliationwith the Wildlife and Environment Society of SouthAfrica in order to share ideas and support each other. ®

Above.Moraealugubris.Right.The red glandson the leaves ofthis sundew,Droseratrinervia, trapinsects andsecrete protein­digestingenzymes.Below left.Moraea fugaxsubsp. fugax.Below right.Moraeatripetala.Photos: F. Watson.