The Common Sugarbush (Protea cara

subsp. cara)
Dont muddle your Cape fora and summer-
rainfall protea species: there are no shared
species and never the twain shall meet! Tony
Rebelo, iSpot.
Golden carpets laid on a fre-blackened
veld? This was an entrancing sight on
Melville Koppies as the oblique rays of the
winter sun lit up the fne, silky, rust-gold
hairs of the Common Sugarbush (Protea
cafra) seeds, dropped in thick profusion
under the parent trees. The plush golden
overlay is due to the sudden shedding of
seeds in response to fre. The seeds in the
photograph were dropped in an area which
was part of a controlled burn at Melville
Koppies in July 2012. The proteas had
been holding their tightly packed seeds
in the hard saucer-shaped receptacles of
involucral bracts after the inforescences
had died of. Prior to the burn, some of
the seeds had escaped and had been
dispersed by the wind. After the burn, all
the remaining seeds were spontaneously
dropped. Close observation shows the
beautiful exposed Fibonacci spiral of the
empty saucer-shaped receptacle of the
fower head, evident also in the early stages
of the fower head. The northern summer
rainfall area proteas are not serotinous
as some of their southern relatives are, as
serotiny refers to the storing of seeds on
plants for several years, which grassveld
proteas do not do.
The appeal
of proteas
Four summer rainfall proteas in Johannesburg and surrounding nature reserves
by Wendy Carstens, Chairman of the Melville Koppies Management Committee
Germination of seeds in Nature
The small, hard, oblong seeds are densely
covered with short shiny hairs. Visitors pick
them up and immediately begin stroking
the tiny creature-like seeds. Next they
ask, Will they grow if I plant them? This is
difcult to answer as protea seeds seem
to need so many variables to germinate.
Protea cafra do well at Melville Koppies on
the steep, well-drained western and eastern
slopes bordering the fault line where
Beyers Naud Drive cuts the Koppies into
two sections. The soil here, derived from
the weathering of quartzite, is poor and
rather acidic. The seeds lie on the surface
between grass tufts which trap pockets
of moisture. This creates a microclimate
and the seeds are protected from strong
sunlight. The percentage of viable seeds
that escape foraging insects or rodents is
not known. However, the exceptionally wet
years recorded at the Koppies in 2008 (1141
mm), 2009 (1014 mm), 2010 (1395 mm) and
2011 (1006 mm) perhaps contributed to
the prolifc fowering of the proteas and the
resultant abundance of seeds in December
2011. After this fowering bonanza we were
very disappointed in the extreme paucity
of fowers in December 2012. (The average
rainfall is 750 mm.) Many seeds germinated
under the parent trees where the grass
cover is abundant. Fire has been excluded
from the west-facing slopes for four years
which might account for the high number of
juveniles here compared to the number on
the east-facing slopes which burn every year.
ABOVE: Ursula Silverstone enthralled at the carpet of seeds below a Common Sugarbush (Protea cafra subsp. cafra). Photo: Wendy Carstens.
However, in the area where the proteas that
were burnt in July 2012, young seedlings
have since appeared beneath the parent
trees six months later but only where the
new grass cover is dense.
Germinating seeds in articial conditions
Nurserymen and horticulturists I consulted
about growing Protea cafra from seeds all
laughed. The consensus is that summer
rainfall proteas are difcult to propagate
from seed. There is no certainty though
about the need for fre or smoke to
stimulate germination. Smoked seed discs
are available but they are expensive. Young
plants transplanted from the wild tend
to die after a few seasons. It appears that
most horticulturists prefer growing new
specimens from cuttings, using top quality
trees, as this is more reliable.
The eect of re on Protea cara
Thirty years ago when bird expert, Geof
Lockwood, used to ring birds at Melville
Koppies Central, he set up his nets in an
open area which is now densely covered
in a forest of Protea cafra. Fire has been
largely excluded from this area, perhaps
the reason for the P. cafra forest today. As
an adaptation to fre, mature trees coppice
from buds in the thick bark (epicormic: buds
in the bark) if the fre is not too hot, but the
trees could die if they are burnt every year. A
protea fowers only when the tree is mature
which can take over ten years. This, and the
fact that very young plants seem unable to
VELD&FLORA | DECEMBER 2013 198
withstand fre, makes the survival of our protea seedlings important
for their future numbers. However, as Tony Rebelo points out, most
of plants survive the fres and may be hundreds of years old, which
means that one good recruitment every 100 years may be enough to
maintain the population.
Protea cara in the surrounding nature reserves
Drive north-west from Johannesburg to the mountains at Walter
Sisulu National Botanical Garden (WSNBG) and a diferent picture
about frequent fres emerges. Unfortunately many ridges and slopes
surrounding WSNBG have been covered in high density egg-box
dwellings for humans despite Mogale Citys Ridge Policy. The ridges
and slopes that are not already built upon are profusely dotted with
Protea cafra, despite these areas being burned every year. The ridge
above the WSNBG, which likewise burns yearly, is a pristine woodland
of mature P. cafra. Fire is promoted by the grass load below the trees,
which can be quite high depending on the underlying soil and the
previous rains. P. cafra are adapted to fre by having single trunks
which lift the canopy above the fames. However, as Andrew Hankey,
horticulturist at WSNBG pointed out to me on a tour of the ridge,
the proteas and their environment is being severely degraded by
people in 4X4s, and on scramblers and mountain bikes who use this
previously unspoilt area as a playground.
Common Sugarbushes also do well at Suikerbosrand, Klipriviersberg,
Kloofendal Nature Reserves and in the Magaliesberg.
The Silver Sugarbush (Protea roupelliae)
A group of silver proteas (Protea roupelliae) were identifed and
described by Professor Bredenkamp in 1975. This population was very
small, thus very vulnerable. This specifc protea species has a limited
lifespan and does not grow older than 50 years. The older trees started to
die of and the problem existed that there were few young plants left. A
1980s pamphlet on Suikerbosrand.
There are no Silver Sugarbushes (Protea roupelliae) at Melville Koppies
(highest point 1740 m), Magaliesberg (1852 m) Klipriviersberg (1788
m) or Suikerbosrand (1917 m), but there are a moderate number on
the ranges south of the Magaliesberg. Daniel Koen, Biodiversity Ofcer
at Suikerbosrand, confrmed there were about ffteen P. roupelliae left
at Suikerbosrand twenty years ago. An attempt at propagating them
from seeds was aborted as the seeds were all sterile.
There is a small population of P. roupelliae at the Walter Sisulu
National Botanical Garden (WSNBG), including some juveniles in a
confned area bounded on either side by the Common Sugarbush
(P. cafra). Instead of their natural bushy appearance, these Silver
Sugarbushes (P. roupelliae) have grown tall with the canopy of leaves
at the top as an adaption to the annual fres. Kloofendal (1790 m)
about 20 km north-west of Melville Koppies and close to WSNBG, has
several P. roupelliae. And there are others between these populations.
A lone bonsai was found in the grounds of the Johannesburg
Observatory some decades ago. This limited number of specimens
on the north-west of the Witwatersrand fts in with the extreme of
the favoured range which includes the Drakensberg and the eastern
escarpment of Mpumulanga.
The Dwarf Savanna Sugarbush (Protea welwitschii) and the African
Sugarbush (Protea gaguedi)
The roots of the African Sugarbush are reputed to have aphrodisiac
properties it is probably extinct in Namibia for this reason. Tony
Rebelo, Proteas of the summer rainfall region.
Neither of these savanna species is prolifc in Gauteng, although the
latter is the second most widespread of all sugarbushes. There are
a few specimens of the Dwarf Savanna Sugarbush or Cluster-Head
Sugarbush (P. welwitschii) on the adjoining uncut verges to the west
of WSNBG and in Kloofendal. Several populations of P. welwitschii
were still to be found in the Bryanston/Fourways area up until two
decades ago. All have now been lost to urban development.
Both P. gaguedi and P. welwitschii have been recorded in
the Magaliesberg.
Scientists have long puzzled over the fact that, whereas the Cape
Protea species are so easy to identify, the non-Cape species are so
difcult as they are so similar. With DNA we now know that (with
two exceptions in the Drakensberg) all the African proteas are
recent escapes from the Cape in fact a single recent escape. So
the diverse pollination systems of the Cape are old, and the modern
specialization of the northern sugarbushes has been focused on
Scarab Beetles hence a certain similarity in fower shape.
The Protea population at Melville Koppies could provide a
rewarding research topic for students of the two neighbouring
universities, the University of the Witwatersrand and the University
of Johannesburg.
GET CONNECTED
Wendy Carstens can be contacted at wendavid@mweb.co.za. More information on Melville
Koppies can be found at www.mk.org.za.
READING
Gill, Kevin & Engelbrecht, Andry. 2012. Wild fowers of the Magaliesberg.
Rebelo, Tony. 1995. Proteas of the summer rainfall region. Share Net Environmental
Resources Pocket Guide 5. Protea Atlas Project and NBI, Cape Town.
Rebelo, Tony. 1995. Sasol Proteas: A feld guide to the proteas of southern Africa. Fernwood
and NBI, Cape Town.
www.proteaatlas.org.za. and www.ispot.org.za.
ABOVE LEFT: Andrew Hankey and a Silver Sugarbush (Protea roupelliae) at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden. Photo: Wendy Carstens.
ABOVE RIGHT: A perfect fower head of the Common Sugarbush (Protea cafra subsp. cafra). Photo: Wendy Carstens.
DECEMBER 2013 | VELD&FLORA 199