Serruria aemula var. congesta that came from Faure

Serruria aemula var. congesta grown at Kirstenbosch sends a message from the past: You cannot find this plant anywhere in nature anymore! Natural history and one of its losses stare you in the face.

This form of the strawberry spiderhead (as the plant is commonly called) is extinct from its small distribution on the flats around Faure in the Western Cape, due to destruction of its habitat. This was caused by the urban sprawl and farming required for accommodating the (still) rapidly growing human population.

The town of Faure may count this plant among its noteworthy features. It can’t be proudly displayed there, unless the residents buy it from Kirstenbosch for their gardens as a memento of the nature that was once theirs. Maybe the town elders could obtain some plants for adorning the public places, the green lungs of the suburbs that remind people of our dependency upon and need for conserving nature.

The other well-known feature of this town? The kramat or tomb of Sheik Yusuf, an expatriate Islamic priest from Indonesia who lived from 1626 to 1699 and was buried here. That was the time when human impact on nature in this area slowly began to grow, the speed of this growth still ever increasing.

We should be proud of our diverse human history and rich cultural heritage, but it will be hard to do if we demolish the natural heritage that adorns our environment and gives us life (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iSpot; Wikipedia).