VELD-BURNING EXPERIMENTS AT GROENKLOOF, PRETORIA. 28/ 



Morcca sp. was still in flower, but many individuals had 

 begun to form fruits. H cnuannia depressa and S cilia {laticce- 

 folia?) were comino^ into flower, while numerous shoots of 

 I cruotiia natalcnsis were appearinj^ above the orround. 



A single bush of Iilcphantorhiza Burchellil was found with 

 young' shoots just appearing. This species eventually became \'ery 

 common. 



The plots were not visited again until September 4th. and 

 the most noticeable change was the fact that Gerhera piloselluides 

 had replaced Gasania krebsiana and Lasiosiphon linifoUus as 

 the dominant flowering plant. The two latter species were now 

 on the wane. In several places Gerbera piloselloides formed 

 distinct clans. Another change noticed was the advanced growth 

 of Vernonia monocephala, which was seen in flower frequently, 

 but the majority of the plants were in bud. There was also a 

 marked difference in the development of Vcniouia lasioclada, 

 but none of the individuals had yet flowered. Scattered over 

 both plots were plants of Hypoxis rigidula in flower, and on some 

 parts these grew in more abundance. Thesium utile was another 

 species which was now frequent, and several plants of Scilla 

 (lanccrfolia?), some in bud, some in flower, were common. 



The increase in the number of individuals of Scilla {lanccc- 

 folia?) was the most important change observed the following 

 week (September 15th), but most of the plants were still in 

 bud. Bulbostylis trichobasis, a small plant 2 to .-^ inches high, 

 was now very common. Among the first species to make their 

 appearance after a fire is Beciuni obovatum, which was now 

 flowering freely. Indigofera hedyantha was freely in bud, 

 occasionally in flower, and plants of Diplopappus (Aster) serru- 

 lo/tus were frequently in bud. Besides Hypoxis rii^idula, a single 

 specimen of H. angnstifolia was found, and many plants of H. 

 multiceps were coming into flower. Herftiannia depressa and 

 Lasiosiphon linifoUus were flowering frequently, and occasionally 

 seen in bud. The first grass to flower was Eragrostis chalcantha, 

 which was very common. This grass is undoubtedly a pioneer, 

 as almost every hard bare patch has been invaded by this species. 

 In this respect it differs from Cynodon dactylon, which colonises 

 loose ground, such as broken-down ant heaps. 



During the following week growth appears to have been 

 very rapid, especially in Vernonia lasioclada, which on Septem- 

 ber 22nd formed a vernal aspect society on the plot E,, but none 

 of the individuals were yet in flower. Among this species, 

 plants of Becium obovatum, Indigofera hedyantha, Lasiosiphon 

 linifoUus, Felicia muricata, Indigofera hilaris, are common. 

 Oldenlandia (Hedyotis amatymbica) was frequent. At the 

 lower end of the plot, on a red loamy soil, were many plants of 

 Aster (Diplopappus serrulatus) in mature bud ; onlv one indi- 

 vidual was observed with an open inflorescence. This species 

 was alrnost entirely absent from the upper portion of this plot, 

 where the soil is of a y.ellow colour. Hermannia depressa. 



