the knersvlakte

The Knersvlakte is a region of a gently rolling hilly terrain covered with quartz gravel in Namaqualand just north west of the Bokkeveld Mountains near Nieuwouldville.

The name is thought to be derived from the gnashing of teeth caused by the hard quartz stones as they are travelled over in wagon.

The Knersflakte is succulent karoo and dominated by leaf succulents belonging to the Mesembryanthemaceae and Crassulaceae, with a variety of shrubs spread amongst them. The climate of the region is semi-arid with long dry summers, and rainfall occurring in the winter months.

The white quartz gravel reflects the sunlight, and is not as hot as the darker rocks and soil found in adjacent areas.

Because the area is isolated from other areas with abundant quartz stones, there is a high level of endemism in the plants that occur in the Knersvlakte. Many of these plants are small and compact, which is presumably an adaptation to absorb heat as rain occurs in a short and cool winter period.

Mesems are hygrochastical, meaning their fruiting capsules only open with moisture. The velocity of raindrops on the wet capsule roofs disperses the seed by water pressure, almost like a water pistol.

When the capsule dries out the lids close, protecting the seed. The seed are thus only released during the rainy season.

The Knersvlakte covers an area of 48,500hectare area in which the plants are extremely diverse, with 1,324 recorded species, 266 of them endemic, and 133 globally threatened. This is an ultimate true hotspot. And land-use pressures such as mining, overgrazing, and illegal collecting have reduced the area of undisturbed flora greatly.

The Knarsvlekte is also the southern most distribution of the quiver tree, Aloe dichotoma, so called because the San bushmen used the tree stems to make the quivers for their arrows.