May 2020 - enjoysucculents

The survival of the fattest: THE FILM

Several years ago I made a Powerpoint presentation about the ways and means succulents use to survive in nature. With apologies to Charles Darwin, I gave it the name “The survival of the fattest”. At a certain moment, it seemed a good idea to adapt part of the contents and publish them as a serial on this blog. (https://enjoysucculents.com/2018/02/25/the-survival-of-the-fattest/)
About 2 years ago, I visited Namaqualand with three friends from Calitzdorp. Two of them, George Hattingh and Buck Hemenway, are succulent enthusiasts and the third one, Neil Curry, spent most of his working years as a professional filmmaker, receiving many awards for his nature films.
One evening, after another exhausting as well as exhilarating day hunting for succulents, Neil said: “You know guys, to be honest, I had some reservations about this trip, as I am not nearly as knowledgeable and interested in succulents as you people. But seeing you busy in the field, full of joy and excitement, crawling around on your knees and talking Latin to each other, brought back memories of many years ago when I was working on the idea of making a film about Namaqualand. The idea never materialised, one of the reasons being that I could not find a strong enough storyline. Being here now with the three of you, all of a sudden gave me the idea that this trip in itself could be the basis for a film on Namaqualand and its succulents.”

Of course a storyline is highly important, but it has to be fleshed out. After playing around with a few options, I realised that the information contained in “The survival of the fattest” might well serve that purpose. But a lot of work and two more visits to Namaqualand were needed before Neil deemed the film good enough to be released under his name.
So now you can enjoy the film The survival of the fattest on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PIyzqfYK9Y . (Also available on DVD at the Calitzdorp Tourism Office as well as the Calitzdorp Museum).
You may also have a look at https://www.diehoorn.com/nuus/beautiful-documentary-on-survival-of-succulents/.

Euphorbia stenoclada (samata)

Although this easily recognised species is known as the most thorny Euphorbia of Madagascar, it is the most important fodder resource for livestock during the dry season in the area where it occurs naturally. For this reason, it is now being propagated by cuttings to increase production.
It grows into a much-branched tree up to 4.5 m tall. Especially in the young stage, the branch tips taper into sharp thorns. The leaves are much reduced and short-lived.
The species is common in open forest on limestone or sandy soils in the south and southwest of the island, within a distance of about 50 km from the ocean (the coastal plain of the Mahafaly plateau region).

Crassula macowaniana (papierbasplakkie)

Usually this is a robust, much-branched shrub up to over a meter tall, but in the Richtersveld it is sometimes only a few centimeters tall with creeping branches.
Its Afrikaans name (paperbark Crassula) refers to the flaking bark covering the branches.
The leaves are variable in shape and size, linear to sword-shaped, green to brown or reddish, 25-60 (-80) mm long, and 3-15 mm wide. They have acute tips, but often these become dry and fall off (see last picture).
The flowers are white (often tinged pink), tubular, and 2.5-4 mm long; they appear in Oct.-Dec.
This species occurs from southwestern Namibia to near Clanwilliam, among boulders and on rocky, N-facing slopes.

Argyroderma framesii ssp. framesii (vaalknopie, versamelboudjies)

As Argyrodermas go, this is one of the more easily recognised ones. It is the most highly branched species, forming round clumps up to 6 cm in diameter with up to 20 leaf pairs.
The leaves are hood-shaped, keeled, at most 11 mm across the top and not wider than 10 mm; the gap between them is 2-5 mm wide. Old leaves are reddish-brown and stay on the plants for many years.
The purple flowers are 15-30 mm in diameter and appear in May-July; they have bracts with chestnut-coloured spots.
One can come across these plants between rough quartz gravel in the Vanrhynsdorp-Vredendal area.