These small annual plants have up to 6 cm long, strap to racket-shaped leaves which are covered with glistening bladder cells.
The yellow flowers have long stalks and are relatively large (about 4 cm in diameter); they appear in July-October.
Usually found in disturbed, sandy places from Springbok to Kamieskroon en Nieuwoudtville. Photos taken 8 August 2018 just north of Gifberg.
This is the largest species of the genus (regium = royal), forming robust compact clumps up to 15 cm across.
The leaves are decussate (arranged in a cross), longer than 6.5 cm (up to 13 cm) and 2 cm wide, three-angled in cross-section to more or less cylindrical. They have a sharp upright point and are slightly unequal, narrowed below and ranging in colour from bright green and grey-green to ochre.
The flowers have long stalks (longer than 3 cm), are up to 3.5 cm across and appear from June to December. After flowering, the fruits remain on the plants.
Although the species is locally abundant, it only occurs in a handful of sites near Calitzdorp, on sandstone slopes and sandy-loamy soils. It is therefore categorized as endangered.
In G. surrectum the leaves are similar in shape, but shorter than 6 cm.
G. cruciatum is similar in general appearance, but has leaves with an expanded base.
Oddly enough, even though this species belongs to the giants in the family, it is easy to overlook the plants when not in flower, because they usually occur among other plants that are about as tall or even taller.
They form stout erect shrubs up to 1.5 m tall, with light to dark green leaves, which are to 8 cm long and 8 mm wide, three-sided with a sharp edge at the bottom.
The flowers have white or pink petals and appear in winter and early spring (July-September), usually in groups of three to seven on a short stalk; they are to 4 cm in diameter and often look untidy.
The fruits have 6-9 compartments (usually 8); once opened they do not completely close anymore.
This is the only one species in the genus and has not been recorded from outside the Breede River Valley in the Western Cape, where it occurs on clay slopes and acid sandstone soil between Worcester and McGregor. The rainfall here is 300-400 mm per year, mainly in winter.
Both the current name and its synonym D. robustum refer to the unusually sturdy appearance of this species compared to other Delospermas.
The plants form erect shrubs up to 30 cm tall, with a basal stem up to 4.5 cm in diameter. They have yellowish brown branches, which are covered in small papillae when young.
The leaves are erect to spreading, more or less round in cross-section, 1.5-2.5 cm long and up to 3 mm thick, bright green and velvety.
In July-August the mainly straw-coloured flowers appear; they are solitary and up to 2.5 cm in diameter, with a few staminodes (yellow with a white base) .
The distribution area is from Kamieskroon to Vredenburg and the plants are found on stony ground.
Pictures were taken earlier this month on the Knersvlakte.
Of the Pelargoniums with underground tubers, this is one of the most appealing.
The plants have large leaves (to 12 x 10 cm), changing from simple (undivided) in young plants to divided in various ways later on.
In September – November they produce more or less flat-topped inflorescences; these consist of 3-6 parts, each with up to 14 white flowers about 1 cm in diameter.
The plants occur in dry scrub and open places from Worcester to Stormsvlei and Bonnievale. Partly because much of the area has been cleared for growing grapes, they are localised and rather rare.
Although in several species of Gibbaeums the leaves have a velvety cover, G. pilosulum is the only one with long, erect hairs. Apart from this, the species is very similar to G. nuciforme, which sometimes grows less than a kilometre away.
The plants form compact mats to 13 cm in diameter, embedded in the ground. There are up to 10 leaf pairs, which are united and form egg-shaped, green to yellowish green bodies 0.5- 2 cm across with a short fissure at the tip.
The flowers are 1.2 – 1.6 cm in diameter and bright pink to purple; they appear in July-August.
Found in the western Little Karoo (Ladismith-Barrydale area), usually in quartz patches together with G. heathii.
This attractive and easy to recognize species is only known from Tanjana Vohimena (Cap Ste. Marie), Madagascar’s southernmost point.
It grows here in full sunshine or partial shade in xerophytic bush on limestone, exposed to strong and almost continuous winds.
The plants are creeping with raised tips or climbing, with branches 20-25 cm long (up to 50 cm when supported by bushes).
When young, the leaves are arranged in two vertical rows on opposite sides of the stem (spiralling with age); they are horizontally spreading but curved back in the upper third, 6-10 cm long and 0.7-0.9 cm wide.
The scarlet to yellow flowers are to 2.2 cm long.
The last two pictures were taken in cultivation (scans from old slides).
Plants of this species form small shrubs up to 50 cm tall with bright green leaves which are triangular in cross section and about 1.5 cm long, spreading with a reddish, recurved tip.
The flowers are 1.5-2 cm in diameter, white to pink, often with 3 together; they appear from spring to summer.
The species does not occur in many places, but is sometimes abundant in loamy soils from just west of Oudtshoorn to Willowmore.
The last picture was taken on the back road from Montagu and Anysberg. It seems to me that the plants in this population have all the typical characteristics of D. peersii, so the species may be more widely distributed than is recorded.
These plants are either tufted or forming long runners.
The trigonous leaves are 3-6.5 cm long and their margins and keel have tiny teeth near the tip.
In June-July the flowers appear; they are solitary, about 3 cm in diameter, on 2-4 cm long stalks; the petals are pink to white with pinkish-purple central vein and sides.
As in the other two species in the genus (see also B. intrusa), the flowers turn into almost globular tumble fruits, lying on the ground and facing upwards.
The plants occur on stony slopes in the area between McGregor, Swellendam and Montagu.
Since its description as a Mesembryanthemum in 1920, the species has been placed in Erepsia, Ruschia, Acrodon and Cerochlamys.
If you are interested in the vagaries of its taxonomic history, search the Web for “A Gordion knot in Ruschioideae (Aizoaceae): Acrodon and Brianhuntleya in an attempt to disentangle the confusion” by Heidrun Hartmann and Ingeborg Niesler in Bradleya 30/2012, p. 33-60.
