Treasure trove revisited

Page 49 left, picture page unnumbered

Detail

Taking a breather after the morning run - mild enough if rather Autumnal in flavour - around Jubilee Way, I spent half an hour leafing through the book first noticed, well over three years ago now, at reference 1. A curious book and few points that struck me follow, over and above those made then.

The botanic gardens

View of gardens turned up by Bing

Back in 2017 I described it as an educational picture book, which is indeed what it is, and rather more educational than one might suppose that a book featuring cigarette cards of football players or motor cars might be. But this one, featuring cards of flowers, was written by an eminent gardener, not some hack journalist, tasked with knocking something up in the local reference library in a couple of days. One R. H. Compton, MA (Cantab), FRSS.Af, Hon. FRHS. Lately director of what are described at reference 2 as world famous gardens. A web site more learned in tone than one gets from, for example, Wisley, where visitor footfall trumps botany or ecology; this perhaps reflecting the rather old fashioned tone of much of South African life. With white folk still stuck in the fifties. At least that is what I recall an IT consultant, fairly fresh off the plane, telling me.

Perhaps four times the area of Wisley, so of the same order of size, but with a stunning mountain backdrop that Wisley can't manage. Battleston Hill not really in the same league - even if quite a lot of the plants at Wisley are from from either Mexico or South Africa.

Apart from being reminded by this book that South Africa has a very rich flora, perhaps reflecting its antiquity and the long-term absence of ice, I learn that South Africa has hundreds of different sorts of heather - unlike poverty stricken Europe, with very few by comparison. And being relatively dry, while they have forests, they are not very extensive. Whereas they star at succulents. And, as in other countries, much of the natural vegetation has had to make way for farming. Seemingly, not least wheat.

There is a cycad, that is to say a very ancient plant, called the Kaffir Breadfruit, more fully described at the long Wikipedia entry at reference 3. After lunch I shall investigate its relationship with the breadfruit of 'Mutiny on the Bounty', fetched from the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

While the present book tells of many geographical puzzles presented by the curious distribution of some of the plants of South Africa, both locally and globally. I learn that the (fossil) plants of Antarctica are generally different, not closely related to those of South America, South Africa or Australia.

There are exactly 100 numbered pages, presumably a good thing from the point of view of marketing the cigarettes and their cards, which gives us exactly 100 cards. Plus some uncounted number of large pictures, possibly not photographs.

The pictures are described as photographs, plus something called direct colour in some cases, plus something called hand colour in others. Mostly taken in the gardens of Kirstenbosch, nearly all in such a way as to have the flowers standing out against a very bland, not to say blank, background. Rather curious, although not unattractive colours, with the large pictures particularly having the flavour of coloured botanical drawings rather than photographs. It would be interesting to know more about how they were done.

Don't know where the 1950 of reference 1 came from, as I can't find a date at all today. But Abebooks offers various dates around 1940 and prices ranging from £5 to £50. So the fiver I paid Wisley was reasonable.

One of the many curiosities which have survived the various culls of recent years. 

PS 1: at reference 1, I thought that the botanic gardens at Ventnor, with all their South African flowers, might like to have the book. But then, it is quite likely that their library already has one and also quite likely that their library is into downsizing, just like the one at Wisley. People don't use botany books but they do want toilets, cake and coffee, not necessarily in that order.

PS 2: later: I have now checked the Pacific breadfruit, which Wikipedia at reference 5 tells me is widespread in south eastern Asia, the islands off and the Pacific islands. But it is an angiosperm, that is to say a flowering plant, so a long way on the evolutionary tree from the cycadophytae. Most recent common ancestor many millions of years ago. Maybe the Pacific version was a better food crop than the African version, hence the Bounty business.

Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.com/2017/01/treasure-trove.html.

Reference 2: https://www.sanbi.org/gardens/kirstenbosch/.

Reference 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalartos.

Reference 4: https://www.botanic.co.uk/. The gardens at Ventnor. Visited most years.

Reference 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadfruit.