New Sightings for Reserve

The proverbial Holy Grail for botanists is discovering a new plant species. Second to that would be observing a known, preferably rare, species in an area where it hasn’t been previously recorded.

These days much of this plays out on iNaturalist, a citizen science website that allows anybody to upload observations of fauna and flora for comment, identification and further study by fellow citizen scientists as well as scientists and academics.

University of Stellenbosch biodiversity student Hendré Barnard was recently involved in two such first-time observations in the Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve.

Hendré’s particular interest is in the genus Drosera – carnivorous plants commonly known as sundews. His interest was drawn to an iNaturalist observation by professional mountain guide, Santie Gouws. She posted a photo of what she believed to be Drosera capensis , which she spotted along one of the reserve’s trails on New Year’s Day. An American contributor to iNaturalist, Alex Dietrick, then suggested that it might in fact be Drosera ramentacea, which was confirmed by Handré when he went out to verify it. That made it the first iNaturalist observation of Drosera ramentacea in the Franschhoek/Stellenbosch area.

While out in the reserve Hendré also found an orchid, Ceretandra atrata, which also hadn’t been logged in the reserve on iNaturalist.

Hendré says “As a young child, Steve Irwin and Sir David Attenborough crawled into my brain and never left, leading to a lifelong adoration for the natural world.” Besides carnivorous plants Hendré is also passionate about orchids, ants, and “just about any other reptile, insect, or arachnid on top of that.”

Hendré’s observations can be found in iNaturalist or his own website – capecarnivores.co.za.

Text: Editorial Desk | Image: Hendré Barnard

23 - 26 February 2023

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