Branch out with BotSoc

Last week we launched this year’s Botanical Society Awards, now open to nominations before the 15 May. In honour of this, this week we interviewed one of our past awardees, botanist, artist and author of ‘Genesis of a Garden’ Elise Buitendag.

Elise’s career started as a botanical officer at the Botanical Research Institute in Pretoria (1962-1964). After a year at Grootfontein Agricultural College in the Karoo, she and her husband Carel moved to Mbombela (Nelspruit). Here Elise spent twelve years working as botanist at the Lowveld National Botanical Gardens (NBG).

Following this, she was employed by the Department of Agriculture, where for 21 years Elise was South Africa’s participant at technical meetings of The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV).

She chaired two of the six UPOV technical working parties and subsequently became the only person outside of Western Europe to be appointed chairperson of the UPOV Technical Committee, which is the highest technical body of this prestigious international union and received two bronze medals and a silver in recognition of her accomplishments.

The book ‘Genesis of a Garden’, written by Elise and edited by Wendy Sippel, documents through artwork and narrative, the story of the first twelve years of the Lowveld NBG.

Elise Buitendag was interviewed by Zoë C Poulsen.

Above: Botanist and artist Elise Buitendag at the exhibition and book launch of ‘Genesis of a Garden‘.

What is your background?

Elise grew up on a flower farm, where her father grew cut flowers. From early on this was an inspiration for Elise as she grew to love the plants and the soil. After studying botany, she then started work at the National Herbarium in Pretoria. After getting married Elise and her husband Carel moved to Middelburg where she spent a year doing research into the phenology of Karoo bushes.

They then moved to Nelspruit where their two sons were born. Soon afterwards, the Lowveld NBG was founded and Elise started working there as botanist. Elise’s role encompassed compiling a checklist of all plant species occurring naturally within the garden area, and identifying all plant specimens collected, as well as providing plant identification services, talks and guided tours to the public.

She was also required to produce information brochures about the garden. When writing information brochures about the garden, Elise was faced with the challenge of illustrating these brochures and that brought about the start of her calling as botanical artist and illustrator.

 

Above: Watercolour illustration of Ceropegia species from the second Lowveld NBG gardens brochure, 1983 (pp. 62).

What is your favourite part of the Lowveld NBG and why?

Elise’s favourite part of Lowveld NBG is the walk down to the rocks overlooking the Nels River. When the garden was first founded, this area was still bush until the viewpoint we see today was carefully cleared, taking great care not to damage any valuable trees. This part of the garden remains particularly special to Elise from the memories of seeing this new view from the garden for the first time.

What time of year is your favourite to visit Lowveld NBG?

Elise particularly enjoys visiting the Lowveld NBG when the seasons are changing during autumn or spring.  At this time of year one can see four seasons in one view with spring flowers, autumn leaves, evergreen trees and skeletal silhouettes like the barren, fruit-laden kiaat (Pterocarpus angolensis).

In early spring the Dombeya come into flower with the Lowveld chestnut also in full bloom, alongside the red blooms of Erythrina and the rusty red-leaved fig trees. Elise loves the muted colours of the Lowveld, the ruggedness of the bush.

Above: Oil on canvas of a typical thicket with Bauhinia and Dalbergia foreground (2018).

What inspired you to write ‘Genesis of a Garden’?

The writing of a book started off because Elise was anxious to have some of her artworks recorded in print, since she has no photographic record of more than 1000 of her paintings. She started the process by adding interesting bits of information and descriptions for each artwork. But the book was to take a different course.

Elise was often invited to tell the story of the Lowveld NBG and was encouraged by various groups to put it on record. So she incorporated the story of the garden amongst the paintings and the book grew into the coffee-table ‘Genesis of a Garden’.

Elise and her competent editor Wendy Sippel finally produced a generously illustrated book of artwork and stories about the first twelve years of the garden’s history.

Above: Oil on canvas of green Kiaat pods (Pterocarpus angolensis).

How did you become interested in plants?

Elise grew up with plants and they have always been a part of her being, inspired to have a deep appreciation in particular by her father. Elise remembers him receiving boxes of propagation material of Dahlias, Paeonies and other plants from the Netherlands.

She watched as he lifted them from the sawdust with the greatest of care. Elise also remembers long beds of Irises. As they grew, Elise would lie on the ground and watch the world growing bluer each day.

What is your favourite plant and why?

Elise’s favourite plants are the Ceropegia species, belonging to the Apocynaceae family. Ceropegias have distinctive lantern-like flowers, that are pollinated by insects captured inside the tube. But the flowers are small and inconspicuous and these dainty climbers are not easily spotted in the Lowveld bush.

Above: Watercolour illustration of Aloe arborescens (1988).

What is your definition of botanical illustration and why is it important?

Elise learned much about botanical art from Cythna Letty and one of their discussions was whether botanical illustration is a form of art or not. Elise believes that botanical illustration is definitely art, because each painting is a unique creation and is something that is produced from one’s creative spirit.

Although one needs to include all the key diagnostic features of each species, and must never make a plant look more beautiful than it is, it is still a creative process. And this creative process can never be rushed because it should never become a rote exercise – observation is the thing.

Elise remembers Cythna Letty working in her bay at the herbarium, where the window cast light on her subjects from the left-hand side. This single source of light created a stunning array of different levels of light and shadow.

What inspired you to start painting botanical artworks?

Elise has always had a love of plants, dating back as far as her childhood. Her artwork has always focused on the natural world around her. Even as a child she painted plants from life. She is inspired by a particular love of organic lines in nature, in contrast to manmade geometry.

Above: Oil on canvas of Kirkia acuminata in autumn (2007).

How do you choose the subjects of your artwork? Are there specific qualities that particularly attract you to painting certain plants?

For about 25 years Elise’s artwork encompassed many watercolour works of specific species for botanical researchers as well as general commissions of Lowveld flora. When she began with oils, she felt that subject matter was less important than mastering the technique.

Now, after many years of getting to know and love the Lowveld bush, Elise’s work draws a different focus: the soul of the plant in the context of its environment. The Boscia, for instance, she sees as a symbol of perseverance in an arid environment.

Do you prefer to create your artworks working from photographs or from life?

Elise prefers to create her artworks working from life, but one cannot spend hours in the bush painting a particular subject. She does not copy a single photo to produce an artwork but rather uses the camera as a referencing tool.

This can be compared to the approach of the old masters where they would use sketches taken from life to inform the creation of their artworks. Elise believes that to truly capture the soul of a plant in botanical illustration one needs to go further than imitating the photo.

Above: Oil on canvas of pod Mahogany seedpod (2007).

What is the best thing about being an artist?

Elise refers to the quote “Art is one of the most intellectual activities because every step of the process confronts the artist with numerous choices”. Creating art requires focus, observation and concentration, and should never become a mechanical process. Each component of a painting is important and one cannot neglect any part. Elise particularly enjoys the harmony of nature, where each part contributes to a beautiful equilibrium.

Who/what are the main influences of your work?

Elise’s artwork is strongly influenced by her father who was also an artist. South African artists Cythna Letty and Karin Daymond have also had a huge influence on her development as an artist.

What has been the most inspiring moment for you as an artist?

One of Elise’s greatest inspirations are her students. Often as they learn, they tend to hate their own artworks, as they aspire towards perfection. Elise remembers teaching a student who would dance and shout with the joy of creating a beautiful painting, an important lesson in appreciating one’s own work.

Is there anything else you’d like to mention that I haven’t asked?

To close, Elise would like to emphasise the importance of always growing, always living on the growing edge – not the most comfortable position to be in. You only grow into the space you allow for yourself.

Do you know someone who deserves recognition for their contribution to conservation, promotion and appreciation of South Africa’s indigenous flora? The call is now open for nomination for BotSoc’s annual honours and awards. Please make sure all nominations are submitted to our BotSoc national office team by 15 May. The categories are:

Honorary Life Membership: For any BotSoc member who has rendered exceptional services to the society or one of its branches. Voted on by members present at the society’s AGM.

Centenary Medal: For any person or entity who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and dedication to the mission of the Botanical Society, evidenced by significant and sustained actions over an extended period.

Botanical Society Certificate of Appreciation: Awarded at branch level for a BotSoc member’s valuable contribution to promoting southern African plants and/or BotSoc’s aims and objectives.

Bolus Medal: For an amateur botanist who has made a significant contribution to our knowledge of southern African flora through publications in recognised scientific literature, does not earn his/her living from these publications but may have received formal tertiary level training in botany.

Marloth Medal: For any amateur or professional botanist who has produced scientific literature of a popular nature to stimulate public interest in in southern Africa’s indigenous flora.

Denys Heesom Medal: For any person or organisation that has made a significant contribution to eradicating alien vegetation in southern Africa.

Cythna Letty Medal: For anyone whose published botanical illustrations have made a significant contribution to promoting South African plants.

Percy Sergeant Medal: For anyone who effectively promotes southern African plants and their conservation through photography.

Botanical Society Flora Conservation Medal: For anyone who has contributed considerably towards the preservation and conservation of southern African plants, such as landowners, financiers, educationalists and others.

Dale Parker Conservation Award: For any person or group who undertake innovative conservation action on their land, or land over which they are custodians.

Dudley D’Ewes Medal: For anyone who effectively promotes southern African plants and their conservation through the media (newspapers, popular journals, radio and television but excluding books).

Stella Petersen Medal: For anyone who lives with passion for learning and nature and displays sustained dedication to inspiring and empowering youth in nature from diverse walks of life through their involvement in environmental education and awareness.

Schelpe Award: For the best article on growing southern Africa’s indigenous flora published in Veld & Flora during the year.

More details and a copy of the required nomination form can be downloaded from the Botanical Society website https://botanicalsociety.org.za or via email at info@botanicalsociety.org.za. Remember that both proposer and seconder must be BotSoc members in good standing.

Cape Town: Most biodiverse city on Earth

Above: City Nature Challenge 2019 Leaderboard, iNaturalist website.

Last year the City of Cape Town became rated as the most biodiverse city in the world. It was the first city in South Africa to participate in the City Nature Challenge, a global event where over four days citizens can find and document as many different living species as possible within their urban areas. In 2019 Cape Town won the City Nature Challenge with a landslide victory with 54 120 observations made and 4 610 different species identified.

What is the City Nature Challenge?

Above: City Nature Challenge 2020: https://citynaturechallenge.org

The Challenge was first launched in 2016 in honour of Citizen Science Day, and is hosted by the biodiversity documentation platform and community of iNaturalist, which is a joint initiative between the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographical Society.

The City Nature Challenge at home

Above: We can turn our focus to our homes and gardens for this year’s City Nature Challenge. Photo: Eleanor Yeld Hutchings.

This year in southern Africa Cape Town is participating again, also joined by the Garden Route, Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane and Durban as well as Gaborone in Botswana. However, the arrival of COVID-19 and associated social distancing has meant that the City Nature Challenge looks quite different this year. Southern Africa is under lockdown and we can no longer head out in groups to our local urban nature reserves, national parks and urban open spaces.

However, biodiversity is certainly not cancelled. While the world beyond may be in turmoil, we can turn our focus to our homes and gardens, which are home to a surprising array of wildlife and plants. We can still join in the City Nature Challenge, whether from a tiny apartment or back yard or a larger outdoor or indoor space. The whole family can get involved, becoming citizen scientists at home.

How do I get involved?

Above: iNaturalist platform: https://www.inaturalist.org.

The City Nature Challenge 2020 will be taking place from 24-27 April, with iNaturalist identifications for City Nature Challenge being permitted up until the 3 May. Simply download the iNaturalist app to your smartphone and start photographing and sharing any plants or wildlife in your outdoor or indoor space. Photos can also be taken on a camera with their located noted and then be uploaded to the iNaturalist website to share them with the iNaturalist community.

More information on the City Nature Challenge: https://citynaturechallenge.org

More information on iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org.

How can I find wildlife and plants in my home or garden?

The iNaturalist team have come up with a host of useful tips on how to attract and spot wildlife and plants in your home and garden. We will share a few of them here to help you get started on your biodiversity hunting adventure.

Look out for pollinators visiting any plants in flower visiting your yard or garden, from sunbirds to insects such as bees. Patience is often rewarded here by sitting quietly in view of your chosen plant to see what creatures visit. Smaller insects and other creatures can be photographed with a magnifying glass or zoomed in so that identifying features are visible.

Why not make a compost heap in your garden? Minimal space is needed here. Use it to add any uncooked biodegradable kitchen and garden scraps such as fruit and vegetable peels and cores and soft non-woody garden waste. Return regularly and check for any interesting insects and other creatures setting up home here.

Make a wildlife feeding station: Overripe or rotting fruit, particularly bananas, can be used to attract birds and insects into your garden. Bread can also be used: Visiting wildlife won’t mind if it is mouldy or stale. Make sure your feeding station is out of reach of any resident dogs or cats and if possible in a semi-shaded position.  You can also put out water, or even make a bird bath.

Look around your home for any geckoes, house spiders or other small creatures such as ants. Remember that spiders are a great help around your home in catching unwanted visitors such as mosquitoes, so don’t unnecessarily persecute them. In your garden look for insects and other wildlife by looking underneath any wood, paving stones or rotting logs.

Don’t forget to explore your garden and home for wildlife at night as well as during the day. Many creatures such as geckoes and moths are nocturnal, only coming out at night. Plants that become more strongly scented at night are out to attract night-time moth visitors, and look out for moths resting on walls where they may be attracted to outside lighting.

Cultivated plants count as observations towards the City Nature Challenge, especially if they are eaten, pollinated or parasitized by other organisms. What plants do you have growing in your home or garden? Simply photograph the leaves, any flowers/seedheads and a pic of the whole plant for easy naming by iNaturalist ID teams. For garden/indoor plants simply select the ‘cultivated/captive’ option when uploading your observation to iNaturalist.  And don’t forget to look for goggas in the soil beneath the plants and under the pots.

Happy exploring….

Even though we cannot go out to our local nature reserves and other green areas, there is still much fun to be had documenting the surprising plethora of biodiversity to be found in our homes and gardens. We wish you all the very best at this challenging time. Stay safe and keep well.

On 15 March our BotSoc national team headed out from the office to Cape Town’s first ever Fynbos Festival, held at the Range on Orpen road in Tokai. This wonderful initiative was spearheaded by the Friends of Tokai Park, organised in partnership with and support from the Chilled Market @The Range, Greenpop, FynbosLIFE, Stellenbosch University’s Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW), the British Ecological Society, the Cape Town Environmental Education Trust (CTEET) and the Botanical Society of South Africa.

Offering entertainment and environmental education for all ages, the main aim of the Fynbos Festival was to raise awareness among the urban Cape Town community of the value, beauty and biodiversity of fynbos.

The City of Cape Town sits at the centre of the Cape Floristic Region, one of the most biodiverse environments on the planet. Few realise that the greater Cape Town area sits on its own unique fynbos vegetation, including the Critically Endangered Cape Flats Sand Fynbos, of which less than 1% is formally conserved.

Along with providing fun for all the family, the Fynbos Festival aims to raise awareness around the threats facing our beautiful and biodiverse fynbos as well as about the work of the conservation organisations working in South Africa’s Fynbos Biome. Tokai was chosen as a venue for the Fynbos Festival to raise awareness of the importance of Tokai Park as a key conservation area for Cape Flats Sand Fynbos and Peninsula Granite Fynbos.

Multiple members of the BotSoc national team and our Chair of Council Marinda Nel spent the day at the Fynbos Festival, ready to answer any questions from event attendees about the work of BotSoc, from how to become a member to tips on gardening with South Africa’s stunning indigenous flora. Free copies of our quarterly journal Veld & Flora were distributed as well as environmental education learning materials for children.

The Fynbos Festival highlighted the sheer diversity of people and organisations working to conserve, use and celebrate our biodiverse fynbos. In the culinary space Distillers & Union and Darling Honey offered up Fynbos gin tasting and Veld & Sea had on sale gluten free pancakes, festooned with edible flowers, wild flowered syrups, preserves and jams. They also hosted demonstrations by wild chef Gemma Hancock on how to incorporate wild flavours into food and drinks.

Artwork and photography were well represented at the Fynbos Festival too, with opportunities aplenty for visitors of all ages to get creative, from flower crown making for both children and adults to sunbird fynbos art and creating fynbos mini beasts with clay run by Julia Budden from Nature Heart. CTEET had a great range of activities for learners too, encouraging children to ‘Join the Race to Save the Fynbos’.

Photographer Morgan Trimble and artists Isabel Mertz and Roelf Daling teamed up to offer a variety of different artworks including photographic prints showcasing the stunning and imperilled flora and wildlife of the Cape Flats, greetings cards and original paintings and sculpture inspired by and in celebration of fynbos.

There was plenty to inspire would-be citizen scientists too, who can play a crucial role in helping to document and conserve South Africa’s fynbos biodiversity. The University of Cape Town had representatives from the Plant Conservation Unit’s RePhotoSA project, which encourages photographers to get out into nature to take repeated matched photographs of the same scene to help researchers to document environmental change across South Africa.

The biodiversity recording app iNaturalist was also represented, with experts on hand to encourage users to install the app and get started documenting biodiversity in their backyards, feeding important information to our scientific community to inform conservation planning. Members of CREW were also there, explaining how volunteers can contribute to monitoring rare and threatened plants in their local area.

There was also plenty to keep green fingered gardeners happy, with beautiful locally indigenous plants on sale and advice aplenty from FynbosLIFE. As we come into the season for planting indigenous bulbs in South Africa’s winter rainfall area, Veld & Fynbos had a fantastic range of indigenous bulbs on sale, as well as indigenous plants, handmade soaps and fynbos essential oils.

Our local community conservationists were out in force too, with representatives from the Friends of Tokai Park, the Friends of Blauwberg Conservation Area, the Friends of Kenilworth Racecourse and urban greening charity Communitree. All of these organisations undertake invaluable conservation work across the Cape Town area in our urban conservation areas and other green spaces. This was a great opportunity for community members to learn more about their work, how to support them and get involved.

All in all the Fynbos Festival was a wonderful success, with all the participants and attendees unanimous in recommending that this be an event that should happen again. We look forward to gathering again in the future when it is safe once again to do so to celebrate our fynbos biodiversity, conservation and community.

Written & photographed by Zoë C Poulsen

As we bid goodbye to the long and hot days of summer, the weather becomes cooler and our autumn flowering plants start to come into bloom. Coming in a plethora of different shapes, sizes and colours, indigenous shade-loving Plectranthus can light up even the darkest corners of our gardens. Colours vary from white to pale pink to the deepest dark blues and purples.

Plectranthus as Useful Plants

Top: Plectranthus zuluensis ‘White Zulu’. Above: Plectranthus ecklonii ‘Medley Wood’.

This Old World genus of plants are more commonly known as the Spurflowers. They are a part of the Lamiaceae family alongside the mints, sage and basil of the Mediterranean basin. Plectranthus, like these other family members, have a distinct variety of aromas from the vile, skunk-like odour of Plectranthus neochilus, which is believed to scare snakes away from human dwellings, to Plectranthus unguentarius which is used as a deodorising ingredient in the red ochre body lotion of the Himba tribe of Namibia’s Kaokoveld.

In addition, Plectranthus esculentus is also known as the African potato or Unbondwe. This potato-like crop is rich in starch and provides a highly drought tolerant food source. However, the majority of the genus Plectranthus are most well-known for their horticultural value, growing easily in the darkest and shadiest corners of gardens in southern Africa and beyond. As early as 1928 the botanist Edwin Phillips wrote about Plectranthus: “the South African species certainly deserve more attention from horticulturalists than has been given,” and that they make “very fine ornamental shade plants”.

Habitat and Ecology

Top: Plectranthus verticillatus. Above: Plectranthus fruticosus ‘James’.

In the wild, Plectranthus can be found in a variety of habitats, from high altitude grasslands to dry savannas, but most are forest dwellers. They most commonly occupy the forest understorey and are adapted to frequent disturbance by wildlife such as bushbuck and porcupines. There are several species that grow at high altitude in the Drakensberg mountains that have adapted to the cold by re-sprouting from an underground tuber after frost.

Plectranthus in the Indigenous Garden

Above: Plectranthus fruticosus ‘Ellaphie’ flowering en masse at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden.

The majority of Plectranthus species make excellent and relatively unfussy garden plants. Those most popular in cultivation come from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Growth usually takes place during the summer months followed by flowers produced in late summer or early autumn. During the winter months plants can be pruned back to keep the growth neat, maintain vigour and maximise flowering. Plectranthus will also tolerate light frosts if planted under trees.

In gardens they make stunning autumn displays if planted en masse under trees in shaded areas and can be paired with other indigenous genera such as Clivia or Streptocarpus. In contrast, the succulent Plectranthus neochilus thrives in full sun and can be grown throughout South Africa.

How to propagate Plectranthus

Top: Plectranthus madagascariensis. Above: Plectranthus oertendahlii.  

Plectranthus are very easy to propagate and can be grown both from seed and cuttings. Seed should be sown in spring in a moist but well-drained growing medium such as two parts compost and sand to two parts loam. Cuttings are best taken during spring and summer with soft tipped cuttings rooting well in moist sand. They should be kept moist and in the shade. During warm weather you can expect rooting to take place within around two to three weeks.

Want to know more?

Beautifully illustrated by botanical artist Vicki Thomas, Ernst van Jaarsveld’s book on the southern African Plectranthus makes for worthwhile and informative reading.

Reference: van Jaarsveld, E. Thomas, V (2006) The Southern African Plectranthus and the art of turning shade to glade, Fernwood Press, Simonstown, South Africa. ISBN 978-1-874950-80-6.