Despite looking like a tangle of very old string with some pretty white flowers, the recent discovery of the Bootlace Lily in Kloof, just outside Durban, has excited botanists in the area – because exhaustive research has proved that this lily occurs in the Kranzkloof Reserve and absolutely nowhere else in the world.
Rod Edwards, a member of the Krantzkloof Flora Project, noticed the rather unusual plant while taking a walk through the Kranzkloof Nature Reserve, but it took three years before botanists could categorically state that the Bootlace Lily (Drimia flagellaris) is a plant species new to science.
The plant grows in a small area on spectacular cliff faces in the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve, just inland of Durban. The Bootlace Lily has long cylindrical leaves that hang from the cliff faces and a spray of pretty white flowers in spring.
EKZN Wildlife’s reserve manager, Johan Vermeulen, says this new discovery again underlines the conservation importance of the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve. “These gorges comprise one of the city’s largest remaining natural areas,” he said.
“The reserve is a life raft for many plant and some animal species. Many of the plants in this reserve are rare. Fortunately the Bootlace Lily grows in habitat that is inaccessible and unsuitable for development. The small population therefore seems secure for
the foreseeable future.”
