Rare erica checked on by rediscoverer
“It was a wonderful opportunity for us all to spend time in the veld with this very knowledgeable botanist with his very special love of ericas,” said Stephen Smuts, the chair of both the Mountain Conservancy and the Southern Overberg.
The Napier Mountain Conservancy is a fynbos-rich area that overlooks the town of Napier. This was where, more than a decade ago in 2007, the “Erica recurvata” – a rare erica species, thought to have become extinct – was rediscovered in a rocky crevice by Turner.
At the time the rediscovery got wide coverage in botanical circles and in the main Cape Town dailies and the Reader’s Digest.
Towards the end of July Turner spent about 10 days in the Napier Mountain Conservancy as a guest of Stephen and Olwyn Smuts.
Stephen explained that the purpose of Turner’s visit to the area was to survey how this famous erica and many other erica species that grow and flower on the mountain in winter were doing. At the same time Turner updated himself on how all the other plant species on the mountain were doing.