Vermaaklikheid and Nearby Blombos Are Very Interesting and Valuable Botanical Areas: Acollision

FLORA

Vermaaklikheid and nearby Blombos are very interesting and valuable botanical areas: acollision of Cape LimestoneFynbos, Afromontane Forest and Southern Cape Aloe / succulents. Probably the king tree here is the Milkwood. You will find some very large, old specimens deep in the kloofs and near the river. Restios have supported a small, longstanding thatch industry. Acacia Karroo, Aloe Ferox, BuddlejaSaligna to Queen Proteas,to Zaluzianskyacapensis; and all in between, big and small, bright colours to subtle designs. To explore on foot, bike or boat.

Aloe ferox -> visit the aloe factories (aloe products) inthe city ofAlbertinia!

White Coastal Milkwood

Wild Olive (Olea europaea subsp. Africana)

Brunsvigia orientalis, kandelaarblom. Feb and March, sand dunes

Protea magnifica, Queen Protea. Flowers in Winter.

Some folks make high-end Gin from the local fynbos. Book a tour with Rohan Scott of INVERROCHE Distillery ->

Acaciacyclops - Rooikrans

The only thing good about this bush is its legitimate claim to being South Africa’s number one braai wood. Makes the best coals in the business with a smoky flavour.

It is also an absolute disaster for the local environment. This colonial initiative by way of Australia achieved its objective of stabilising the sandy areas of the cape flats with its Australian cousins, Black wattle and Port Jackson. Then it spread up both coasts, encountering zero predators and a perfect environment to reproduce (at speed).

Nothing in Africa depends on, feeds on, and lives with rooikrans. A forest of rooikrans is a desert, the antithesis of the indigenous biodiverse ecology. A Milkwood can take 50 years to mature, a rooikrans bush can get there in 6. Vermaaklikheid vegetation cannot defend itself against it.

The biological combative programme (a beetle from Australia that consumes the seeds before they germinate) isn’t working at the rate it is supposed to. The rate of firewood harvesting is less than the rate of the rooikrans expansion. The value of the firewood is less than the cost of clearing the land and keeping it clean. The value is in the trunk – the bush is left behind. Under the dried bush come many baby plants – the bush gets thicker. Burn this bush and it comes back even faster.

We are taking one hectare at a time. Thank you for your tourism income, make braais and feed the boiler.