January 2019 - enjoysucculents

Cheiridopsis denticulata (C. candidissima)

Forming dense clumps of up to 25 cm tall and 40 cm across, this may well be the most robust species in the genus.
It has silvery white to pale bluish grey (sometimes grey-green) leaves up to 11 cm long and 1.5 cm thick; they are triangular in cross-section and sometimes toothed (to quote “Plants of the Greater Cape Floristic Region”: absent one year but fiercely present the next). When no teeth are present, plants may be easily confused with C. robusta.
The flowers are big (up to 7 cm in diameter), on long, sturdy stalks. They may be white, cream-coloured or pale yellow, are often purplish at the tips and on the outside and appear in August-September. The fruits have 12-20 compartments.

The species is widespread on sandy flats and slopes (also often growing in dry river beds) in Namaqualand (from the south-eastern Richtersveld south to Bitterfontein).

#1: mid May 2007

# 2,3 and 4: mid July 2011

#5: late August 2007

# 6 and 7: late August 2016

Diplosoma luckhoffii

There’s still a lot to learn about these intriguing dwarfs.
They are said to be short-lived and surviving lengthy droughts only as seed. According to others, in the resting state the plants are just almost invisible because at that time so little of them remains at or above ground level.
In the growing period they have highly succulent, soft and tender leaves of which the surface is covered with big cells looking like blisters.
Including the flower (to 3 cm in diameter) the plants are up to 3 cm tall. The flowering period is June to September.

The plants are only known from a few localities in the Vredendal – Vanrhynsdorp area, where they sometimes form dense groups in suitable places (hills of very saline soils covered with quartz gravel). The rainfall here is between 75 and 200 mm per year.

According to some sources, cultivation is very difficult. Others say the plants are easy to grow as long you bear in mind they are winter growers and maintain a strict resting period without any watering but with ample shade.

The pictures were taken in mid-August 2018, at about 10.30 in the morning, unfortunately too early for showing the flowers (they only open around noon).

Delosperma schimperi

Most people will not think immediately of Ethiopia as a habitat for Mesembs, but it harbours at least two species of Delosperma and I was fortunate to find one of them in flower near Dilb in early December last year. The species is also found in Eritrea and occurs on basaltic outcrops at about 3000-4100 m altitude.
In the Ethiopian Red List (2005) it is classified as endangered.

The plants have thickened roots and form loose cushions or hang down from vertical cliffs with stems up to 75 cm long.
The leaves are about 1 cm long and more or less round; they have long papillae at their tips somewhat resembling a diadem as in Trichodiadema.
The flowers are about 2.5 cm in diameter and have purple petals which are shorter than the calyx lobes.