Notes

For an artist for whom the bushveld was a central theme, it is remarkable that Jacob Hendrik Pierneef was able to produce such a wide variety of images of this much-loved area. Here he has captured this glorious bushveld landscape, in mid-winter or early spring when the wild pear trees are in spectacular bloom. It’s the time when many South Africans and international tourists head to this part of the world for its pleasant climate and because the dry weather encourages game to the waterholes.

Pierneef obviously also enjoyed such trips and has captured this scene in the bright light of the midday sun. Wild pear trees (Dombeya rotundifolia), which can grow up to eight metres tall, are part of the savannah biome. With its associated species, including the umbrella shaped Burkea or ‘wilde sering’ (Burkea africana) in the middle ground, the raasblaar (Combretum zeyheri) and the red Bushwillow or rooibos (Combretum apiculatum), this bushveld scene could very well be north of Pretoria. According to Mucina & Rutherford, this plant community is typical of the mineral poor sandy regions known as the central sandy bushveld.¹

The breadth of the bright blue sky, the open landscape, the dry yellow grasses and the sharp definition of the vegetation all conjure the bushveld on a perfect day.

For this information, we are indebted to Ernst van Jaarsveld, Botanist and Horticulturist at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens.
1. Mucina, L. & Rutherford, M.C. (eds) (2006) ‘The Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland’. Strelitzia 19, Pretoria: South African National Biodiversity Institute.