Roridula dentata, gorgonias and D.regia
Eric Green (saharris@iafrica.com)
Tue, 01 Oct 96 23:02:56 GMT
Hi!,
The above two species are not annuals, and the fungus is a pain.
Both species can reach a height of at least 2 metres in nature,
much branched, growing about 10-15cm annually.
The fungus seems to be a cultural problem, having never seen
this problem in the wild, although in a stand of about 100 plants
one often comes across the odd dead plant, invariably just a dried
out skeleton of a plant still standing with piles of dead leaves at
it's base, future generations!, the seeds, hundreds of them still
stuck to the dead leaves, waiting for the +-7 year cycle of fire to
encourage the seed to germinate, I have seen dentata a few months
after a fire, and the ground was literally covered in seedlings,
thousands of them, growing in clumps of 20-30, where the
leaves/seeds had been sheltered from the wind by a clump of grass,
shrub or indentation in the soil.
Fungus: I find Benlate keeps it at bay, the fungus seems to
always start at the leaf tips, and pinching off the affected leaves
tends to prevent the spread of the disease. When the plant is only
10cm high, prior to branching, fungus does not seem to attack it,
it is only once it has started spreading that the fungus causes all
the damage.
D.regia are found fairly far from the sea, in a single valley
near Wellington in the Baines Kloof area. The plants grow amongst
dense 40-50cm tall grasses and reeds, well shaded, continually
damp, and the humidity is extremely high, except for the top 10cm,
leaf tips and flowers which protrude above the grasses. Plants
found in more exposed areas tend to be half this height.
ALL THE BEST Eric