GN Bachmannia Woodii Four-finger bush Viervingerbos

PLANT OF THE MONTH

By Geoff Nichols

This plant was in the family Capparaceae (Capers) but has now been changed to the family Brassicaceae (Cabbages). It is a multi-stemmed, understorey shrub, unique to the coastal and mist belt forests of the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mozambique and it grows to a height of about 1.5 to 2 metres. The genus name honours Dr Franz Bachmann, who collected the plant in Pondoland in 1888. It is slow growing (my plant has been in cultivation since about 1979 and it is still growing) but recently I found it being grown in the hundreds by a group of Lower South Coast nurserymen: Stephen Brand was the first to grow it in about 2006 and now two other nurserymen, Andrew Harding and Simon Woodley, have also got it in cultivation.

This is an excellent subject for shady gardens of the KZN coastal plain. It is suited for use as a container plant due to its habit of producing stems from the base after being pruned, either by humans or animals, or even being burnt. Like many of the Caper family, the roots form tuber-like swellings. The assumption is that these swellings store water and nutrients to allow the plant to survive browsing, fire and drought. Being an understorey plant, it prefers to grow in shade, and will grow in sandy or loam soils.

The palmately compound, dark green leaves tend to be clustered towards the ends of the stems and it is from the leaves that this plant gets its common name. The leaves have a rough matt feel and texture to them, and are eaten by the larvae of butterflies belonging to the family Pieridae, especially the genus Colotis. This only happens if the plant is growing near a forest clearing where the butterflies might fly past, as these butterflies would not normally fly in a shady forest. I have seen the caterpillars of the African Wood White (Leptosia a/cesta) feeding on this plant in southern Mozambique.

The 30mm long, mauve-pink flowers, which resemble tassels, are borne on the old woody stems during late winter into spring. The oval-shaped fruits when ripe, are yellow and about 15mm in diameter. The pulpy flesh surrounding the seeds is quite sweet and palatable to humans, as well as birds and monkeys. Do not delay in sowing the seeds as they lose viability quickly – use a mix of coarse river sand and leaf litter in a ratio of 1:1. The seeds germinate in about 2 weeks and grow slowly above ground but under the soil the tuber-like swellings are developing quickly.