Salt Pan daisy rediscovered in Cape Town after almost 100 years
Conservationists have found a flower that was thought to be extinct in Cape Town.
FILE: Floating Buttons (Cotula myriophylloides). Picture: Rupert Koopman via iNaturalist
Lester Kiewit speaks with Clifford Dorse, nature conservation officer at the City of Cape Town
Listen below.
The Salt Pan Daisy (Cotula myriophylloides) was last officially seen in Cape Town in 1926.
The plant was thought to have gone extinct but was spotted again in the wetlands of the Transnet railway reserve.
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These wetlands were extremely full this winter, which led to some flooding.
Records show this plant was once widespread in the city, occurring in wetlands from Noordhoek through to Table Bay.
Dorse says botanists have been searching for this flower, also known as a floating button, for almost 100 years.
“No living person has acknowledged seeing it or found it in the city since 1926.”
- Clifford Dorse, Nature Conservation officer at the City of Cape Town
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.