Frans Noltee

Aloe divaricata

Madagascar is home to a number of tall Aloe species and this is one of them. It may either form a 2-6 m tall single-stemmed tree or a more or less open shrub; it is fast-growing and very common on sandy soil in dry shrubby vegetation in the western, south-western and southern parts of the island. The leaves are collected for medicinal purposes.

The dull blue-green to red leaves are erect (or somewhat hanging down in very dry conditions) and to a meter long and 7 cm wide at the base.
The flowers are arranged in much-branched inflorescences up to a meter high and appear from March to December, but mainly in August and September. They are coral red (pale red in var. rosea).

Jordaaniella (Cephalophyllum) spongiosa (volstruisvygie, olifantsvy)

In “NAMAQUALAND, a succulent desert” by Cowling and Pierce, this species is described as “perhaps Namaqualand’s showiest vygie” and that is saying a good deal. As it is also easy to grow, it makes a great garden subject in a suitable climate. It is widespread and common in its natural habitat, the sandy soil of Namaqualand’s coastal plain.

The plants are either creeping and rooting from the nodes, or forming a shrub up to 35 cm high, especially when there are other shrubs around to support them.
The branches are up to 1 cm across and the somewhat finger-shaped leaves may be up to 11 cm long.
In August – October, the plants produce spectacular flowers up to 10 cm across, pink to orange to red with a yellow to orange base. They are visited by several species of insects (see last picture) and have unusually high numbers of petals (230-270) and stamens (700-1050). The same goes for the number of compartments in the fruit (18-28).

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.

Plant poacher punished

Last week, US citizen Kalman Kaminar was sentenced in the Cape Town magistrate’s court to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for five years on condition that he was not convicted for illegal possession of protected succulent plants in that period.
He was also fined R500,000, declared an undesirable person and banned from entering SA.
This is the result of an arrest made by CapeNature officials in November 2019 after catching Kaminar and his succulent plant tour guide, David Cummings in the Robertson area.
At the time of their arrest, Kaminar was found with 354 plants, of which 337 were protected. Others were found at a guesthouse he was staying in, raising the total of plants obtained without permission to 738 — valued at R780,902.
Further investigation revealed that Kaminar arrived in the country on October 29 2019 on a guided tour for various succulent plants. He had a detailed itinerary with multiple stops in the area where the plants are found, detailed information on plant localities, place names and GPS co-ordinates of specific plants. He also had a five-page price list titled “Kal Kaminar — Never Enough Cactus. Hunting Fall Plant Sale 2019 Labels”, which listed various South African succulent plants.
It became clear in court that Kaminar was linked to a nursery named Never Enough Cactus in Los Angeles, California. He also has a Facebook page bearing the same name.

It’s to be hoped that this verdict sends out a strong signal to others not to steal plants from the wild.

Pelargonium triste

(Night-scented pelargonium; Kaneeltjie; Rooiwortel)

This is one of the first recorded Pelargoniums to reach Europe from South Africa nearly four hundred years ago (1632). The name triste refers to the dull colours of the flowers.

It has a very short stem above ground and a large woody tuber – as well as several smaller ones- underground. The leaves are 10-45 x 5-15 cm large and resemble those of a carrot; they are covered with fine hairs and deeply divided into narrow segments.
From August to February the inflorescences are produced, each having a very long stalk (to 30 cm or more tall) with 6-20 flowers. These are usually brownish-purple with a broad yellow margin, but sometimes cream-coloured, yellowish- green or brown, about 1.5 cm across; at night they emit a scent of either cinnamon or clove.

Usually the plants are found in sandy soils – often in colonies as a result of the spreading tubers- in a strip running parallel to the coast from Steinkopf in Namaqualand to Albertinia in the Southern Cape.
A decoction from the tuber is sometimes used as an astringent to stop diarrhoea or dysentery.

Mesembryanthemum liliputanum (Phyllobolus abbreviatus)

Usually, this dainty geophyte (up to 5 cm tall) only has a few leaves and flowers on slightly woody stems produced from tuberous roots.
The leaves are 4-ranked and almost cylindrical, they are covered in big and beautiful water-storing bladder cells. The pale yellow flowers are about 2 cm in diameter and appear in August-October.

Occurring on shale or loamy soil covered with quartz pebbles in the Vanrhynsdorp area.

Mesembryanthemum subtruncatum

What I find intriguing in this little annual, is the way the flowers open and rearrange their petals.
The flowers appear in October, are pink with a white or straw-coloured base and may be up to 2.5 cm in diameter.
The plants are up to 10 cm tall and 15 cm in diameter; the leaves are club-shaped, bright green but turning reddish when the flowers start appearing.

In the Tanqua Karoo and Little Karoo the species is locally abundant in disturbed places (usually in quartz).