 | Easy identification of some South African wetland plants |
| Expanded Title: | Recently a list of wetland plants in Southern Africa has been completed by Glen (2010), but there is no field guide available for the layman or student on the wetland plants of South Africa. The number of plants associated with wetlands in South Africa is such that all could not be published in one book. This lead to this field guide, that primarily includes obligate wetland plants as outlined in the caption of this book, with special focus on all grass-like plants. The plant families included are all monocotyledons and include the Cyperaceae (sedges), Eriocaulaceae (eriocaulons), Juncaceae (rushes), Poaceae (grasses), Prioniaceae (palmiet), Restionaceae (restios), Typhaceae (bulrushes) and the Xiridaceae (yellow-eyed grasses).South Africa is known to be a water scarce country. This Guide is by no means complete, but is the first in addressing some of the grass-like plants that may be encountered in a wetland. This includes the grasses, reeds, restios, sedges, rushes, bulrushes, eriocaulons and yellow-eyed grasses. The main focus is on selected obligate wetland plants. These are plants that need a high water table, as the whole life cycle is spent in water, either emergent or submerged. The soil is hydromorphic and the plants can withstand or have special adaptations to survive in anaerobic soil conditions. There are also a selected number of plants that have been included at the back of the guide, and that are not per se obligate wetland plants. These plants vary from opportunistic to positive facultative plants, and may be found in, or in close proximity to, a wetland. |
| Date Published: | 01/02/2011 |
| Document Type: | Research Report |
| Document Subjects: | Ecosystem - Biodiversity protection |
| Document Keywords: | Guidelines, Environment |
| Document Format: | Report |
| Document File Type: | pdf |
| Research Report Type: | Technical |
| WRC Report No: | TT 479/10 |
| ISBN No: | 978-1-4312-0066-5 |
| Authors: | van Ginkel CE; Glen RP; Gordon-Gray KD; Muasya M; van Deventer PP |
| Project Leader: | van Ginkel CE |
| Project No: | K8/847 |
| Originator: | WRC |
| Document Size: | 62 626 KB |
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