''Tetraria thermalis'' (L.)

C.B.Clarke Charles Baron Clarke (17 June 1832 – 25 August 1906) was a British botanist. He was born at Andover, the eldest son of Turner Poulter Clarke. He was educated at King's College School, London, and at Trinity and Queens' Colleges, Cambridge. He ...

, the bergpalmiet, is a South African perennial in the family

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...

. The species is endemic to the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

, from the Cape Peninsula to

Nature's Valley Nature's Valley is a holiday resort and small village on the Garden Route along the southern Cape coast of South Africa. Nature's Valley lies between the Salt River, the foothills of the Tsitsikamma Mountains, the Indian Ocean and the Groot River ...

, growing on sandy soils and sandstone slopes There are some 50 species of '' Tetraria'' in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

, of which about 38 occur in the Cape

fynbos Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...

. ''Tetraria'', currently, is polyphyletic and in need of taxonomic revision. This is a pioneer plant which recovers rapidly after fire, aiding the regrowth of other species. It reaches some 2,5 m in height, is trigonous with wiry, drooping yellow-green leaves that are narrowly sword-shaped and keeled. They have scabrid leaf margins armed with minute teeth pointing to the leaf apex. The flowering stems are erect and triangular in cross-section, standing well above the leaves. Nutlets are small and trigonous, often crowned by a persistent style, and are consumed by the

Chacma baboon The chacma baboon (''Papio ursinus''), also known as the Cape baboon, is, like all other baboons, from the Old World monkey family. It is one of the largest of all monkeys. Located primarily in southern Africa, the chacma baboon has a wide vari ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15565127 thermalis