Join John Riley to explore medicinal plants in Somerset West
John Riley will be talking of medicinal plants at the next meeting of the Hottentots Holland Garden Club.
Image: Supplied
The Hottentots Holland Garden Club will welcome guest speaker John Riley at its next meeting on Wednesday, October 8.
The event takes place at the Dutch Reformed Church in Gordon Road, Somerset West, starting at 10am. He will speak on the topic of medicinal plants.
Mr Riley, a SANParks Honorary Ranger (SHR), has volunteered extensively in both the Kruger and Table Mountain National Parks. A retired electrical engineer, his biography notes that he has completed several training camps for SHRs and guides at the Sand River Bush Camp, about 20km north of Skukuza.
These training camps included: Bush Interpretation I, Bush Interpretation II, and Medicinal Plants of the Lowveld for SHRs and Guides. The medicinal plants were specific to the Savannah Biome. Herbalists familiar with them attended and assisted in the identification, preparation, and use thereof.
In 2016, he moved to Somerset West and transferred to the SHR Table Mountain National Park region. With a particular interest in the flora of the Table Mountain, he continued his interest in medicinal plants in the Fynbos Biome, interacting with other SHRs from SANBI.