Exploring Pigeon Valley: The African Gladiolus

This is the 21st in an ongoing series that highlights the riches of Pigeon Valley, the urban nature reserve in the heart of Glenwood. The focus of this article will be on the African Gladiolus.

Residents of Glenwood get their water from a large reservoir in an area that was once part of the nature reserve.

This was a loss to the reserve, but fortunately the decision was to cover it with earth, allowing a patch of coastal grassland to develop. This is a habitat very much under threat. For years it was regularly mowed, leaving only the edges as habitats that provided for a wide range of bird and butterfly species.

Then, some years ago, eThekwini Water and Sanitation agreed to stop the mowing except for limited strips.

The effect of this change was remarkable – a great increase in species. For a time we had a pair of Zitting Cisticolas and I once witnessed a Burchell’s Coucal burst out from the grass. I even found an African White-faced Duck sitting on eggs. Last year, to our great surprise, we even had a Southern White-faced Owl on the edge of the reservoir.

ALSO READ: Exploring Pigeon Valley: The Dark-backed Weaver

Among the flowering plants there is the beautiful Large Pink Tephrosia (Tephrosia grandiflora), Wild Dagga (Leonotis leonurus), the stunning River Lily (Crinum macowanii) , Crocosmia aurea, the Star-flower (Hypoxis hemerocallidea) and, at present, the African Gladiolus (Gladiolus dalenii).

Every few years the area needs to be burned. This is what would happen naturally, but coastal grasslands have become cut off from each other.

The effect of the burning is to increase the diversity of the plant species, further enriching what this patch of grassland has to offer.

Crispin Hemson chairs the Friends of Pigeon Valley, a group that undertakes clearing of alien plants, keeps records of bird and mammal sightings and alerts management to any problems.

The Friends have a monthly walk at 7.30am on the second Saturday of each month. Email: friendsofpigeonvalley1@gmail.com.

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