{"id":20860,"date":"2011-05-21T10:32:19","date_gmt":"2011-05-21T08:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=20860"},"modified":"2011-05-21T10:32:19","modified_gmt":"2011-05-21T08:32:19","slug":"rare-iris-comes-to-camps-bay-reflects-cape-treasure-chest-of-biodiversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/rare-iris-comes-to-camps-bay-reflects-cape-treasure-chest-of-biodiversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare iris comes to Camps Bay, reflects Cape ‘treasure chest of biodiversity’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The World Wide Fund’s Table Mountain Fund, aimed at conserving the Cape floral kingdom’s unique biodiversity, is more than R 1\/2 million richer after a Camps Bay couple, Rose and Mike Hainebach, bid for the naming rights of\u00a0a newly discovered Iris, reports New Age<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The iris was discovered at Jacobsbaai on the Cape West Coast by local farmer Koos Claassens.\u00a0 It is currently being documented by taxonomist John Manning of the South African National Biodiversity Institute at Kirstenbosch.\u00a0 If approved, its botanical name will become Moreae Hainebachium.\u00a0\u00a0 The discovery has attracted media interest in the United Kingdom, a country in which Iris bulbs are especially popular amongst the royal family.\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Hainebach’s bid, at an auction held at the Mount Nelson Hotel, and against worldwide bids, far exceeded the other bids received.\u00a0 The couple justified their extravagance in that it was a good way to make a donation to the Table Mountain Fund, and the work that it does, and it has the ‘additional benefit of the naming rights for our family legacy’.<\/p>\n

Western Cape Minister of Tourism Alan Winde said he was delighted\u00a0about the discovery of the Iris, and its media coverage, because it is good for ‘ building the brand of the Western Cape’, and it focuses on Table Mountain and the region.\u00a0\u00a0 The Chairman of the\u00a0 World Wide Fund for Nature in South Africa, Morn\u00e9 du Plessis, said there could be more rare Iris discoveries, reflecting the “absolute treasure chest of biodiversity in the Western Cape”.\u00a0 The auction had been a ‘marvellous opportunity for us to create a little bit of hype around the wonders of the fynbos, the fact that new species are being discovered’.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The World Wide Fund’s Table Mountain Fund, aimed at conserving the Cape floral kingdom’s unique biodiversity, is more than R 1\/2 million richer after a Camps Bay couple, Rose and Mike Hainebach, bid for the naming rights of\u00a0a newly discovered Iris, reports New Age. The iris was discovered at Jacobsbaai on the Cape West Coast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[15,3,124,22,21],"tags":[1317,373,32370,32378,1007,11564,11565,11568,11566,11570,152,1326,11563,11569,11562,11567,32373,11561],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t