Month: April 2022

Cheiridopsis robusta

C. robusta has a wide distribution which is probably the cause of its considerable variation in certain features. This in turn has led to a  high number of synonyms (16 in total).
It is easy to cultivate and to flower, one of the reasons for it being probably the most common species of Cheiridopsis in cultivation.

The plants form loose clumps, 20 cm tall and up to 40 cm across.
Their leaves are  mucronate*, 5-8 cm long and about 1.5 cm thick; triangular in cross-section, pale greyish blue to greyish green with a reddish tinge and decorated with translucent spots.
Flowers are 6 cm in diameter, cream to yellow to white , often with pink, purple or  orange  tinges; they appear in August-September.

C. robusta is very common in the Richtersveld and also occurs in Southern Namibia, both winter rainfall areas with less than 100 mm rain per year.  It is mostly found on rocky/gravelly flats or slopes, below 600 m in altitude.

* Ending abruptly with a small triangular tip.

Cephalophyllum spissum (skaapvygie, kwartsvygie)

These are compact plants (spissum = dense, close together), up to 10 cm tall and up to 15 cm in diameter.  They have dark green leaves which are 4.5-7 cm long and triangular to slightly round in cross-section.
The beautiful flowers have stalks to 5 cm long and are nearly 4 cm across. Compared to most other Cephalophyllums, they are rather subdued in colour (purple to salmon-pink, with a paler centre); they appear in July-August.

The plants are often confused with C. caespitosum but they have fruits with 11-15 instead of 9-10 compartments.
They occur in the southern Knersvlakte in loamy soil among white quartz pebbles; often together with Argyroderma delaetii.

Crassula expansa ssp. expansa

Crassula expansa is a very variable species which is widespread from southern Namibia to Tanzania and Madagascar. There are 4 subspecies, of which ssp. expansa is the most common.

This is a short-lived plant with soft and usually creeping branches, forming mats to 6 cm tall and 50 cm across.
The branches are green to reddish, and rooting at the nodes. Its leaves have a wedge-shaped base and a sharp tip; they are 6-12 mm long and 4-6 mm wide, inversely egg-shaped to almost linear, with a flat upper surface and a convex lower surface, or rarely almost round in cross-section; they are yellowish green to brown (or red when plants flower) with a reddish margin and often shiny.
The small (about 3 mm in diameter) cup-shaped flowers are white, often tinged red and appear mainly in July-December, but also at other times, especially after occasional rains.

Plants are found in KwaZulu Natal and in the Northern, Eastern and Western Cape Provinces, often on rocky or sandy slopes and sometimes abundant in disturbed places.