New plant in highway's path

2003-08-04 07:34

Johannesburg - A botanist has discovered a new species of flower right in the path of the proposed N2 highway along the Eastern Cape's Pondoland coast, the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa said on Sunday.

The society said David Styles and a group of concerned botanists gathered in January 2002 to explore areas within the approximate three-kilometre corridor of the proposed road.

Styles said in a statement it was immediately apparent that the area in the vicinity of the corridor is particularly rich in the 120 plants that occur only in Pondoland and nowhere else in the world. The vegetation of Pondoland is recognised as one of the world's most important, and probably smallest, floral kingdoms.

He said one of the plants collected is a species of plectranthus. Other species of plectranthus are popular garden plants.

"The species we collected was examined by Professor Trevor Edwards of the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg's botany department - an expert on the family. He confirmed that it is a new species, unlike anything seen before."

Styles's finding, which is thought to have garden potential, will be published in a scientific journal towards the end of 2003.

"I believe there are other species to be found here," Styles said. "Most of the Pondoland region is poorly explored. No-one, least of all the people who want to put a road here, really knows what is in these places."

He said that as recently as 1987 a new tree species, up to 30m tall, was discovered.

"Given Pondoland's unique flora, the environmental impact of a national road, plus the collateral development that will result, could be huge. It will most certainly wipe out the only known population of this new plectranthus plant. There is a danger that other new species could be lost without even being detected."

Plans to mine heavy minerals on the Pondoland coast and re-route the N2 highway through the area have been widely condemned by conservationists.

An Australian-based company, Mineral Resources Ltd, currently holds a licence to prospect in the area, which has also been earmarked for inclusion in a proposed National Park.

- News24