Stamps & Stories: 50 Stories of Namibia's Postage Stamps Vol 2, by Antje Otto et al.

50 Stories of Namibia's Postage Stamps Vol 2, by Antje Otto et al. Gondwana Collection Namibia. Windhoek, Namibia 2013. ISBN 9789991688862 / ISBN 978-99916-888-6-2

The following excerpt from Stamps & Stories: 50 Stories of Namibia's Postage Stamps Vol 2, by Antje Otto et al., is taken from the chapter !Nara: nutritious fruit of the desert, Ron Swilling's contribution to this book.

Walter Moritz  Alfred Schleicher  Sven-Eric Kanzler  Christina Rockstroh  Mannfred Goldbeck  Antje Otto  

This scraggly green spiky plant is found predominantly in the narrow fog belt of the Namib Desert from Namibe in Angola to Port Nolloth in South Africa. A member of the cucumber family, !Nara or Acanthosicyos horridusis an endemic that characterises the Namib. Found on dunes, in sandy places and the lower reaches of dry riverbeds where its long tap roots can reach underground water, the species supports countless organisms. Fossil evidence suggests that this hardy plant existed 40 million years ago. The seeds must have featured in the lives of prehistoric man, having been found in archaeological excavations in shelters in the Namib and along the inland escarpment. !Nara performs the important function of stabilising the dunes as sand collects around it to form hummocks. It is leafless and thus water loss through transpiration is reduced. Photosynthesis takes place through its stem and long paired thorns. The thorns prevent most animals from browsing on the plant although ostriches and donkeys nibble on its tender tips. The male plants produce attractive waxy green flowers throughout the year that drop off to provide tasty titbits for tenebrionid beetles. The flowers on the female plants, although resembling those of the male, have swollen bases below the petals that grow into green melon-shaped fruit. One crop of the green spiky !Nara melons is produced per year and ripens in the late summer months. The melons that can grow up to 15 centimetres in diameter, are highly nutritious and the cream-coloured seeds contain up to 46 percent oil and 32 percent protein. The name Acanthosicyos is a synthesis of the Greek words akantha - thorn/ spine - and sikuos - cucumber. Although Horridus describes the spiky appearance of the plant, it does not suggest the virtues of !Nara as a keystone species and as an important part of the desert ecosystem. Mice, insects, reptiles and spiders take shelter under the plant's protective spines, enjoying the detritus that collects there, while the melons are veritable manna in the desert. They are eaten by the black-backed jackal that widely distributes the seed, gemsbok, gerbils, crickets and beetles. It has also been a major source of food and income for the Topnaar people (the #Aonin) who have lived along the lower Kuiseb River for centuries. According to a long harvesting tradition, when the fruits are ripe towards the end of the year the Topnaar travel out to the !Nara fields to harvest the fruit, staying in temporary encampments. Long sticks are used to collect the !Nara melons from in-between the spiky stems and they are gathered in piles that can easily be reached by donkey cart or car and taken back to camp. The fruit is cut open and the soft flesh and seeds are placed in a drum and cooked over the fire. The rinds are given to the donkeys or dried for fuel. The seeds, also known as "botterpitte" or butternuts are strained from the cooked mixture and dried in the sun on the sand or on plastic sheeting to sell in town.

This is an excerpt from Stamps & Stories: 50 Stories of Namibia's Postage Stamps Vol 2, by Antje Otto et al.

Title: Stamps & Stories: 50 Stories of Namibia's Postage Stamps Vol 2
Authors: Sven-Erik Kanzler; Iris le Roux; Inke Stoldt; Antje Otto; Chris Brown; Ron Swilling; Alfred Schleicher, Mannfred Goldbeck
Publisher: Gondwana Collection Namibia
Windhoek, Namibia 2013
ISBN 9789991688862 / ISBN 978-99916-888-6-2
Original softcover, 15 x 21 cm, 200 pages, throughout colour images, 1 map