Die Nuwe Graskoue Trappers (Riel Dancers)
Driving southward in a Game Viewer along the
Pakhuis Jeep track towards Heuningvlei.
if we do not continue to lend a hand to an otherwise lost cause. With that said, here’s hoping to
see you all at the 2016 annual Cedar Tree Planting Event!
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Gail Cleaver-Christie
(CapeNature Executive Director: Conservation
Management), Marietjie Engelbrecht
(CapeNature Communication Manager), Rika du
Plessis (CapeNature Conservation Manager: Matjiesrivier Nature Reserve), Patrick Lane
(CapeNature Conservation Manager: Cederberg
Wilderness Area), Jill Wagner (Bushmans Kloof:
Marketing Manager), and Floris Smith (Bushmans
Kloof: Assistant General Manager) for their invaluable contributions. Prof Leanne Dreyer
(Stellenbosch University: Department of Botany
and Zoology) is thanked for the identifications of
the Oxalis species.
An Irony!
The Clanwilliam Cedar is highly flammable.
The resin in the bark causes the tree to burst
into flame relatively easily and the trees burn
rapidly – they can be killed even by quick, light,
veld fires. It is ironic then that they are endemic to a fire-prone ecosystem.
Oxalis stokoei is very similar to Oxalis petiolulata. The only way to distinguish between the two species is
through the distribution of the glands
on the leaflets and the bulb characters.
Established in August 2012, two groups of talented
youngsters from the Heuningvlei and Wupperthal communities form the Riel Dance Troop, ‘Die Nuwe
Graskoue Trappers’. Born out of traditional Khoi and
San ceremonial dances, the Riel dance was performed
by descendants of these cultures, most of whom were
sheep shearers and farm workers from across the
Cape. The Riel was very popular in the forties, fifties
and sixties, but has been neglected in recent decades.
Popular Riel dances include courtship rituals, and
mimicking typical animal antics along with lots of bravado, showmanship and foot stomping. It has recently
been revived through the efforts of writer and storyteller, Elias Nel of the Afrikaanse Taal & Kultuurvereniging. Typically dressed in traditional farm workers outfits, the girls wear dresses with aprons and old frontier
bonnets, while the boys wear waistcoats and hats
adorned with feathers. The outfits are finished with the
famous handmade red veldskoene (Information thanks
to Floris Smith, Riel Dance Project Manager, Bushmans Kloof, [email protected]).
Sources and Further Reading
February, E.C., Higgins, S., Fox, S., Raimondo, D. & Victor,
J.E. 2008. Widdringtonia cedarbergensis J.A.Marsh. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version
2013.1. URL: redlist.sanbi.org/
Maneveldt, G.W. & van der Spuy, J. 2013. The Annual
Cedar Tree Planting Event - Doing our bit to conserve the
Clanwilliam Cedar: Veld & Flora 99(4): 187-188.
Mustart, P. 2013. Saving the Clanwilliam Cedar – Looking
back at efforts to conserve Widdringtonia cedarbergensis.
Veld & Flora 99(4): 184-186.
Notten, A. 2003. Widdringtonia cedarbergensis Marsh.
South African National Biodiversity Institute. URL:
www.plantzafrica.com/plantwxyz/widcedar.htm
A white form of Oxalis purpurea
(Grand Duchess Sorrel, Groot
Suring, Bojaansuring,
Joemapitsuring).
Oxalis flava (Bobbejaansuring,
Vingersuring,) is one of the most variable species in the genus Oxalis. This
form with its undulating folded leaves
is one of at least 10 different forms