Pelargonium trifidum fruit

The fruits of Pelargonium trifidum have the ubiquitous Pelargonium shape: long as the beak of the stork and ready to coil vigorously for drilling the elliptic seed into the ground, effectively planting it. When moisture arrives, germination may follow and the tiny, emerging root gains access to the earth for yet another miracle of life to happen.

This species is a reseeder that does not resprout after fire. Fire is a fact of life for plants in many situations, for which they are adapted to either seed or sprout, living off the nutrients left by the fire. Unfortunately, veld fires have become overrepresented in nature since humans were gifted the ability to light fires by Prometheus, as the myth has it.

And if you don’t like that story, substitute the Titan with some unknown forefather who showed real intelligence very long ago. But like all great gifts in the wrong hands, fire holds danger that is today damaging plant life in many parts of the world (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist).