The Game has Begun

I arrived in Cape Town last week and although most of my time has been spent securing my car and other collecting supplies, planning my longer trips, and just generally getting settled (my sleep schedule's still off), I did make it into the field around Cape Town twice so far and was rewarded both times with additional species of Geissorhiza. So the game has begun! Please see the images below for more details and watch this space for further updates; later this week I will be traveling much farther afield. Thank you to all of those who have pledged their support thus far!

 

Rondebosch Common, what looks like a weedy field in the middle of the suburbs of Cape Town, has a long history of human use - including the site of military encampments and cricket pitches - yet still maintains a great diversity of plant species and is one of few remaining examples of Cape Flats Sand Fynbos, a Critically Endangered vegetation type found nowhere else on Earth. Notice the University of Cape Town , the group of clay-roofed buildings nestled up against the mountain.

 

I found Geissorhiza imbricata subsp. imbricata restricted to damp depressions in what otherwise appears to be the flat plane of Rondebosch Common. This is one of the most variable and taxonomically poorly understood species of Geissorhiza. It was once considered three different species by a previous author and has since been reassigned to two subspecies each in its own area with a gradient of intermediate forms connecting the two. It sounds to me like there is some hybridization going on among the groups so this may be an example of what is referred to as a "hybrid swarm." My phylogenetic work should help solve the mystery.

 

G. juncea is a relatively common species found in damp sandy habitats around the Cape Peninsula, like the southern slope of Lion's Head (seen blow) just outside the central business district of Cape Town.

 

The southern slope of Lion's Head is home to a wealth of geophytic species (plants with underground storage organs) like the red Chasmanthe seen in the foreground.