Page 25 - Landscape SA 100

ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURE

Clematis brachiata is commonly known as Traveller’s Joy
or Klimop. It occurs in a number of areas on the koppies,
twining up trees, bushes and scrambling through long
grasses. It is a vigorous climbing vine, with scented
flowers and leaves divided into three to five emerald
green leaflets. It creates a splendid display, sometimes
scrambling high into trees, with showy sepals, stamens
and anthers, hence its common English name (which is
also related to its medicinal uses). It flowers on bushy
hillsides from late summer to autumn. Its seed heads
are covered with silky, silvery hairs which are persistent.
In the garden it should be pruned back to encourage
flowering.

Some years, Mundulea sericea, commonly known as
the Cork Bush produces deep, purple-coloured flowers
(see right) at Melville Koppies, rather than the usual
pale mauve, leguminous blooms. The nectar attracts
birds and insects from October to February. It is a small
tree, highly suited to small gardens due to its non-
aggressive roots, and is commercially available. It is an
attraction on grassy hillsides, where it grows into either
a large bush or notably shaped tree. The corky bark is a
natural protection against fires in grassland. It has blue-
grey leaves and clusters of thin pods covered in silvery
hairs It is also known as Visgif, as the deep-fissured bark
is pounded to pulp by local communities relying on
subsistence fishing. The bark has properties that can kill
fish but is harmless to people.

An extraordinary number of Haemanthus humilis, often
called Rabbit’s Ears or Velskoenblaar, under a grouping
of Dombeya rotundifolia, commonly known as the Wild
Pear. The popular small tree is appropriate in townhouse
gardens with its round velvety leaves and white flowers
turning to rusty brown. In December 2011, Wendy
Carstens counted 77 Haemanthus blooming under the
trees, saying she had never seen so many in flower in the
colony before or since. The bulbs are difficult to acquire
commercially. Plantsman and scientist, the late Charles
Craib, observed field mice taking bites of the fruit but
then spitting these out between crevices, which is the
plants natural habitat. It is surmised that the fruit is
slightly poisonous and hence not edible.

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