It is certainly true that both geophytes and fire following annuals typically produce an impressive show after a fire, although if the fire intensity is high enough both can be cooked. There used to be a Lilium washingtonianum that would greet hikers at the top of a steep hill on the Clark Fork Trail, growing up through a clump of scrubby oak, that burned two years ago, with the area reduced to barren mineral soil and scarred rocks, the lily didn't survive. On the flip side, the best flowering stands of Calochortus macrocarpus were in areas that burned in the last year or so, but that was a light ground fire...just a couple examples from this summer. It is a small bright spot to look forward to during the conflagations. On Fri, Sep 11, 2020 at 5:52 AM Roy Herold via pbs < pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > I know this may not be comforting, but the best bloom I've ever seen in > South Africa has been in recently burned areas. > > In early 2002 there was a major fire in the Silvermine Reserve near > Cape Town. We were able to visit that October, and the display of > flowers was amazing. > > In 2008 there was a similar fire at the Fernkloof Reserve in Hermanus, > not too far from Cape Town. Again, wow. Not just bulbs, but protea > seedlings carpeted the hillside. > > In 2011 there were a number of large fires near Worcester, the site of > the Indigenous Bulb Association of South Africa (IBSA) conference. > Rachel and Rod Saunders, bless them, went out of their way to find > recently burnt areas for our tours. The blackened earth lined with > beautiful bulbs in bloom was resurrection at its best. > > Also in 2011, we went to KwaZulu-Natal. On a leisurely drive through the > Midlands we encountered burns, possibly intentional, along a railroad > line. Cyrtanthus tuckii! Scadoxus! Boophone! Scilla! Ledebouria! (pics > are from this site) > > I'm thinking of our friends on the West Coast, and hoping for the best. > > --Roy > NW of Boston > -------------- next part -------------- > A non-text attachment was scrubbed... > Name: 2011-09-18_IMG_3814A.jpg > Type: image/jpeg > Size: 2225434 bytes > Desc: not available > URL: < > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/… > > > -------------- next part -------------- > A non-text attachment was scrubbed... > Name: 2011-09-18_IMG_3803A.jpg > Type: image/jpeg > Size: 2412565 bytes > Desc: not available > URL: < > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/… > > > -------------- next part -------------- > A non-text attachment was scrubbed... > Name: 2011-09-18_IMG_3784A.jpg > Type: image/jpeg > Size: 2292324 bytes > Desc: not available > URL: < > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/… > > > -------------- next part -------------- > A non-text attachment was scrubbed... > Name: 2011-09-18_IMG_3778A.jpg > Type: image/jpeg > Size: 1634456 bytes > Desc: not available > URL: < > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/… > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…
