Tetraria thermalis, the bergpalmiet

Tetraria thermalis, commonly known in Afrikaans as bergpalmiet (mountain bulrush), is a tufted perennial, a robust grower to 2,5 m.

The coarse, wiry leaves are yellow-green, arching backwards. They are sword-shaped and keeled with sharp, entire margins that can cut into flesh. At the base the leaves become 3 cm wide, tapering to acutely pointed tips.

The flowering stems are solid, three-sided and erect, well longer than the leaves. The flowers are clustered spikelets spaced up the stems, subtended by dusky-brown bracts that overlap. A few stem-leaves curve outwards below the inflorescence. Flowering happens in winter to mid-spring.

The species distribution is in the southwest of the Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula to Riversdale. The habitat is flats and sandstone slopes lower than 1000 m in places with relatively cool conditions. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

The plant resprouts vigorously after fire, one of the first plants to be established in new veld. Baboons are said to eat the new growth; welcome food when the terrain is bare and blackened.

There are about 50 species of Tetraria in Africa and Australasia, 38 of which are found in the fynbos (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; www.redlist.sanbi.org).