This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

[IGS] Boesmankers

Hello all out there,
I am awaiting some pelargonium seeds by mail from a friend in South
Africa and she told me that next to the stuff she got from the two
botanical gardens she approached for me, also could add seed from a
plant with the south african name of Boesmanskers and wanted to know if
I liked that too.
Of course I did say yes, but I have no idea what it is and since my
friend is not a Pellie-person herself, just a friend who is nice to me,
she does not know either, only knows it grows in the wild outside and is
considered nice. We correspond in Dutch (me) and South-African (she) -
Southafrican is in fact a 17 century Dutch so this is quite funny
writing I can tell you! and this is what she wrote about it:
<< My mother had sent me two packets of seed from the Boesmankers. A
very difficult desert plant. Does not grow easily, also not from seed.
The stem is covered with a solid layer of ??? and this enables it to
survive for years in dry circumstances. She had cut a piece of a plant
she found in Namakwaland and put it in the rock garden as ornamental
plant. Then a piece moved with us to Namibia, Windhoek, where the piece
of wood finally made leaves and went into flower - all in all it took 10
years. The stem must have photosynthised by the brown see through layer
on the stem and also absorbed water from there - it amazes me how it
survived! Since I now have some seeds I can of course add that to your
packages weith pelargoinium seeds >>
So - I hope some one out there familiar with the South African flora can
be of some help and tell me what the latin name is, how I should try to
germinate the seeds and all other info you know!
Thanx in advance for help
Mimy Sluiter
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index