A FIELD OF GOLDEN PARABOLAS

摘要

Recently, whilst dusting off a couple of ancient slides to put through the scanner,I was transported (whoosh!) back to the dusty, wind-swept plains of Namaqualand, collecting samples of stream sediment along a farmer's road many years ago. As I drove past a particularly large patch of quartz-strewn veld on a gentle incline to the southof Pofadder, I was startled by thousands of bright yellow blooms springing as if by magic from the stony soil. On closer inspection however, the delicate blooms emerged from between the succulent leaves of what, on first inspection, appeared to be a species of Cheiridopsis, The sheer number of large golden parabolas kept me spellbound for hours and only running out of film eventually brought me back to reality (fig 27.114). Back in civilization the true identity of the plants was revealed, Cheiridopsisvanzylii, as they were known then, became Ihlenfeldtia vanzylii in 1992, but to me they will always be Cheiridopsis, which they so closely resemble (Smith, G.F., et al. 1998). This serendipitous discovery left a lasting impression on me as it was the first time I had encountered succulents in such vast numbers and of such breathtaking beauty in nature (discounting the square kilometres of 'shrubby' mesemb species which are the hallmark of Namaqualand!). Now, quartz fields are very special places when it comes to the preferred habitat of many rare mesemb species, and in some cases the entire known population may be confined to just a single patch of quartz several acres in extent - Muiria hortenseae is a good example of this and even though it proliferates with reckless abandon in its particular patch, it occurs nowhere else.