Seeds are gathered from plants growing in the Southern Eastern Cape, not to far inland and much closer to the sea than other African strains we collect. It's a very dry region, but plants grow by the river banks, where other vegetation thrive because of rich soils close to the flowing water. The climate consists of hot summers and mild dry winters and is fairly windy a lot of the time, meaning the plants have very thick sturdy branches. Wildlife is minimal, consisting of many insects and birds, and wild pigs are a threat to the plants, destroying crops in search of roots and seeds. In fact this is the main threat of the wild
Transkei that grow here as they exist with little threat from anything else. The Xhosa people are the local tribe who are mostly agricultural, dealing with farming and fishing and specialising in beadwork, basket weaving, woodwork and pottery. The Transkie plant is a very sacred natural ingredient for many traditional cultural purposes- all of which are inherited orally, from their forefathers and passed down through the generations with nothing ever being recorded in writing. This includes the secret whereabouts of the purest Transkie plants which are typically long with many slender, dense lime green buds that shimmer with crystals and that are topped with orange hairs. This particular lineage is famed locally for its super fruity aroma, combining mild citrus and sour grapefruit notes as well as the effect which is super clean, natural and very cerebral.
Within the community there are many herbalists, healers, prophets and diviners who all play an important role in Xhosa village life and who all consider the Transkie plant important for many different things, curing it within their huts like most tribes in Africa and consuming the herb in long wooden pipes or infusing it into teas and remedies of all kinds.
