Melville Koppies’ seed bank contribution

Seed from several plants was collected for conservation at the Millennium Seed Bank in Kew, London.

Conservation officer Maleselo Magoele explained that two seed specimens per plant were collected.

“One of which is housed in the National Herbarium, Pretoria, and the other at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,” she said.

“In certain cases, a voucher specimen duplicate is not sent to Kew herbarium where Cites regulations forbid the export of [specimens] of Cites Appendix 2 species. Seed collected from targeted species is kept at the National Plant Genetic Resources Centre at Roodeplaat, Pretoria, and the duplicate collection is housed at the Millennium Seed Bank at [Kew].”

The research team collected seed from plants such as Elephantorrhiza burkei, Albuca shawii, Clematopsis scabiosifolia, Helichrysum aureonitens, and Oxalis.

“The amount of seed collected varies from species to species, and is not always possible to count,” said Magoele.

“Care is taken, however, not to collect more than 20 percent of what is estimated to be available within a population, to ensure a sustainable way of seed collecting… Not more than five percent of seed available from threatened taxa is collected.”

She said that each collection site was visited once by the team, and that permission was always obtained from the landowners, who would later receive a report about the collection.

Magoele added that the team’s time at the reserve offered them a “unique visitor experience” and that they were inspired by the reserve’s natural vegetation and “haven of biodiversity”.

“We explored the koppies to such an extent that we felt connected to the natural heritage houses at Melville Koppies,” she said.

“Remarkable garden collection and herbarium species collected will add to the diversity of species houses in our gardens for preservation and conservation.”

Melville Koppies’ Wendy Carstens was delighted with the success of the visit.

“The four researches were amazed at the rich biodiversity of [the koppies]; 50 hectares of preserved indigenous grassland in the middle of Joburg,” she said.

“We didn’t have to walk far to find flowers. We discovered a new flower with every step taken through the grasslands. The team will come back at different times of the year, when seeds are available.”

Details: www.mk.org.za