|
Dermatobotrys
saundersii
Dermatobotrys Article by Geoff Nichols
Late
winter with the
days starting to lengthen again
brings this plant out of its dormancy to flower before the leaves are
fully grown to their maximum size.
This is
one of our more interesting plants in that it belongs to the
snapdragon family and its first cousin twice removed is the familiar
Tree Fuchsia –
Halleria lucida. It is also one of our rare plants that is confined to
living
as an epiphyte in the canopy of our coastal forests from the Transkei
up
into the localised forests of KwaZulu-Natal like Ngoye, Nkandla,
Qudeni,
Ngome and Gwalaweni.
This plant
hitches a ride in the support trees and is not a parasite.
An
interesting phenomenon is that Dermatobotrys is a common sight growing
in
the old leaf bases of the Pondo Palm or Coconut – Jubaeopsis caffra
colonies
in two localities in the Transkei. These palms only occur in these two
rivers
in the whole wide world.
|
Click
on the image
|
This plant is always settled
in a fork of some forest giant. It is usually in fairly high sunlight
and will always flower best in full sun.
Dermatobotrys forms a multistemmed herb of about 600mm tall. The leaves
are broad and have a darkish purple red tinge to them. This red
colouring
helps to trap light and reflect it back through the leaf to make
maximum
use of any light striking the leaf.
The tubular flowers are a lovely red crimson colour that encircle the
top of each stem just below the rosette of leaves.
The fruits are produced in a few months and are ready to be eaten by
monkeys, hornbills and birds in spring and early summer ensuring that
the fine seeds within, many hundreds of seeds per fruit, are produced
and ready to germinate in the next leaf litter lined tree fork at the
height of the rainy season. Like many of the family Scrophulariaceae
the seed capsules and even the leaves when rubbed have a pungent smell.
I presume the chemicals involved help to keep browsers at bay. Although
the fruits are eaten by forest birds which seem not to mind this acrid
taste.
To propagate this species is a cinch, it grows from cuttings in summer
and seed when they are ripe. Fruits are relatively large and spinning
top-shaped about 25mm long by about 20mm in diameter at their widest.
The fruits have a bitter pungent smell and taste. Just sow the seeds in
seedling mix and watch
them grow like the proverbial hairs on a dog’s back.
The seedlings will flower in about their second year but this is where
life gets a bit more tricky. Treat this plant as an epiphyte make a
loose well drained soil mix with plenty of leaf litter or compost. Keep
the plant off the ground I find that eelworm will kill a plant in a
conventional pot so hang the pot or hanging basket above the ground or
growing benches to prevent these pests from getting at the roots. The
roots are thickened and not quite succulent but they do store nutrients
and water to kick start the flowering and then growth in late winter.
Dry the plant off completely in winter and let it rest. Your reward
will be a mass of flowers just before the new leaves appear.
Landscapes
and Gardens that are Nature
Friendly
Ecoman Durban Indigenous Landscape Design
Consultant
Designing
“Proudly
South African” Bio-Diverse Indigenous Landscapes and Gardens
I design “Proudly South African”
landscapes
and gardens that are Bio-Diverse as well as being pleasing to the eye.
I use my many years of
landscape planning and design as well as landscape construction
experience
coupled to my vast knowledge of the requirements of nature to create
habitat
suitable for birds, butterflies and other creatures to live and breed
in.
I always apply the
basic principles of good landscape design to create an aesthetically
pleasing
garden that at the same time satisfies the living requirements of the
target
creatures that I would like to attract. My
speciality is
to attract birds, butterflies and solitary bees. I design and build
Bio-Diverse
Roof Gardens
So
let Ecoman design and create a garden for you right
now that
will be a haven for wildlife such as birds, butterflies, frogs and
lizards in
the number of species comparable to Kruger National
Park.
|
