Page 24 - Cornwall 2 2021

NATURE

he mornings are cooler now and the dew still do not affect human agriculture, but some species
clings to the grasses as we take our morning like Striga asiatica have devastating effects on crops,
Twalk. Admiring the diamond-like effect that the particularly those planted by subsistence farmers such
morning sunlight has on the droplets, a tiny flash of as maize, millet, sorghum, sugar cane, rice, legumes
deep scarlet catches my eye. A single plant of Striga and a range of grasses. It is capable of significantly
elegans, or witchweed, with her baby’s fingernail reducing yields, in some cases wiping out the entire
sized flowers, winks amongst the droplets. As the lush crop. Insects are attracted to the beautiful scarlet flow-
growth of Summer slows down and the veld grasses ers because of their colour and scent – although they
start yellowing into their Autumn colours, one begins are so tiny that I will have to take the scholars’ word for
to see the beautiful herbaceous plants that are usually that – for pollination. They produce seeds that spread
well hidden amongst the taller grasses. It is the time of readily via wind, water, animals and through human
the year to appreciate the “little guys” of the veld. activity.

Striga elegans is an annual herbaceous plant that is It is a beautiful little plant, aptly named elegans I think,
parasitic on grasses. Native to a large part of Africa, and worth looking out for on the open stands and
from Kenya to South Africa, most of the Striga species wild pavements of the estate.

Bibliography:
Van Wyk, Braam and Malan Sasa - Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Highveld
En.wikipedia.org/wiki/striga
Plantsoftheworldonline.org

24 Cornwall View • Issue 2 2021