Month: June 2019

Crassula pyramidalis

Although this species is widespread from the southern Great Karoo and the Montagu area to Somerset East, it is rarely common. It most often grows in shallow soil on rocky outcrops, on gravelly slopes and in crevices; usually on a north/north-east facing aspect.

As the pictures show, the plants are very variable.
Most often, the stems are erect, only rarely decumbent*. They are completely covered by the leaves, which are arranged in four neat ranks so that a quadrangular column is formed. This may be 0.6-2 cm in diameter and up to 25 cm tall (usually much shorter). Once a stem has flowered, it dies back, but new ones are formed at the base.
The leaves are green to grey-green or reddish-brown and the flowers white or cream-coloured.
Flowering time is spring: Aug.-Oct.

* creeping on the ground with the tips raised.
Synonyms: C. quadrangula, C. cylindrica, C. archeri.

Gibbaeum petrense (Klipvygie)

As this species is easy to grow, it is often encountered in cultivation. In nature it is restricted to a narrow band along the northern foothills of the Langeberg Mountains, where it is locally abundant in shallow clayey soil rich in quartzite pebbles.
The plants form tufts -often 5 to 10 cm across- of densely crowded leaves, with rather sharp edges  and convex sides. They are firm to the touch and greyish to greenish in colour.
In Aug.­-Oct. they produce dark pink to light purple flowers, about 1.5 cm in diameter.

 

 

 

Glottiphyllum cruciatum

Cruciatum means cross-shaped, referring to the way the leaves are arranged. They are more or less erect, have pointed and often reddened tips and are widened towards the base.
The flowers have long stalks and are about 6 cm across; they appear in May-July.
Characteristic for the fruits are the disintegrating stalks and the very high tops (resembling an acorn).
The plants usually grow under shrubs in sandy/gravelly loam, often together with G. linguiforme and G. carnosum; they are locally abundant, but restricted to only a few sites in the Little Karoo (Oudtshoorn – Calitzdorp area).

Euphorbia nesemannii

In general, this species is similar to E. mammillaris or heptagona, but it combines a very short main stem with a tuberous main root, so that it forms a roughly cylindrical body which is almost completely hidden in the ground.
The branches are more or less upright, 1-3 cm in diameter and 8-40 (-70) cm long; they have 6-14 angles, with or without weak spines which -if present- are spreading and 1-2.5 cm long.
The plants flower in March-August and are found in open scrubland on lower gravelly slopes in the Worcester-Montagu-Swellendam area.
As witnessed by the pictures, the plants may be very variable, depending on the habitat conditions.

Pelargonium magenteum (incl. P. rhodanthum)

The softly woody branches  of these shrubs bear heart shaped to roundish leaves 0.5-2 cm in diameter, velvety hairy and greyish green, with a coarsely toothed margin.
In May-October the plants put forth inflorescences, each with 2-9 flowers about 2 cm across; the petals are pink to mauve to deep magenta, with dark purple spots and stripes.
The species is widespread from Vanrhynsdorp to Montagu and Calitzdorp, usually on rocky outcrops. As the shrubs become up to 1 m tall, they make great garden plants in a suitable climate.