A RARE indigenous plant in Mpumalanga and Swaziland has been named after a Wits University botany student that discovered it. Marc Stalmans (42) discovered the plant, which has been named Hemizygia stalmansii (Labiatae) while researching the ecology of the Songimvelo Game Reserve in March 1994 for his PhD. “I feel honoured and humbled. It is a rare occasion. This also shows that we do not know much about our vegetation,” said Stalmans. Stalmans was looking for new species at Songimvelo, which is the Mpumalanga parks board’s flagship game reserve and borders Swaziland. He found a bush that can grow up to 1.5 metres tall. It blooms between January and February and brightens an entire hillside with its pink and lilac flowers that can grow up to 3cm long. – African Eye News Service