Tag: Aizoaceae (Mesembryanthemaceae)

Cheiridopsis denticulata (C. candidissima)

Forming dense clumps of up to 25 cm tall and 40 cm across, this may well be the most robust species in the genus.
It has silvery white to pale bluish grey (sometimes grey-green) leaves up to 11 cm long and 1.5 cm thick; they are triangular in cross-section and sometimes toothed (to quote “Plants of the Greater Cape Floristic Region”: absent one year but fiercely present the next). When no teeth are present, plants may be easily confused with C. robusta.
The flowers are big (up to 7 cm in diameter), on long, sturdy stalks. They may be white, cream-coloured or pale yellow, are often purplish at the tips and on the outside and appear in August-September. The fruits have 12-20 compartments.

The species is widespread on sandy flats and slopes (also often growing in dry river beds) in Namaqualand (from the south-eastern Richtersveld south to Bitterfontein).


#1: mid May 2007

            # 2,3 and 4: mid July 2011


#5: late August 2007

            # 6 and 7: late August 2016

 

 

Diplosoma luckhoffii

There’s still a lot to learn about these intriguing dwarfs.
They are said to be short-lived and surviving lengthy droughts only as seed. According to others, in the resting state the plants are just almost invisible because at that time so little of them remains at or above ground level.
In the growing period they have highly succulent, soft and tender leaves of which the surface is covered with big cells looking like blisters.
Including the flower (to 3 cm in diameter) the plants are up to 3 cm tall. The flowering period is June to September.

The plants are only known from a few localities in the Vredendal – Vanrhynsdorp area, where they sometimes form dense groups in suitable places (hills of very saline soils covered with quartz gravel). The rainfall here is between 75 and 200 mm per year.

According to some sources, cultivation is very difficult. Others say the plants are easy to grow as long you bear in mind they are winter growers and maintain a strict resting period without any watering but with ample shade.

The pictures were taken in mid-August 2018, at about 10.30 in the morning, unfortunately too early for showing the flowers (they only open around noon).

Delosperma schimperi

Most people will not think immediately of Ethiopia as a habitat for Mesembs, but it harbours at least two species of Delosperma and I was fortunate to find one of them in flower near Dilb in early December last year. The species is also found in Eritrea and occurs on basaltic outcrops at about 3000-4100 m altitude.
In the Ethiopian Red List (2005) it is classified as endangered.

The plants have thickened roots and form loose cushions or hang down from vertical cliffs with stems up to 75 cm long.
The leaves are about 1 cm long and more or less round; they have long papillae at their tips somewhat resembling a diadem as in Trichodiadema.
The flowers are about 2.5 cm in diameter and have purple petals which are shorter than the calyx lobes.

Growing together with Aloe ankoberensis and
Aeonium leucoblepharum

Cephalophyllum pillansii

One of the compact Cephalophyllums, with blue-green to bright green leaves up to 13 cm long.
The flowers have yellow petals and purple-red to brown stamens; they appear from June to September.
The fruits have 10-20 compartments; the old ones often lie in a ring around the plant.

Occurring on loamy soil on flats in western Namaqualand.

Like many other Cephalophyllums, this is often a pioneer in disturbed places, such as roadsides. Together with the spectacular flowering, this makes it a very suitable garden plant and it is therefore commonly cultivated.

With Drosanthemum schoenlandii in the background

Lampranthus glaucus

Often cultivated for its showy flowers, this is a small shrub (to 25 cm tall) with erect to decumbent* branches.
The leaves are fused at their bases, compressed 3-angled in cross-section to sword-shaped, 0.6-3 cm long, rough with green dots and glaucous (covered with a greyish waxy bloom).
Usually the golden-yellow to lemon-yellow (rarely pale yellow-white) flowers are solitary. They are up to 3 (-5) cm in diameter and appear in June-October.

Occurring from the Gifberg to Cape Peninsula on seasonally wet sandstone or loam soils.
Pictures taken on the Gifberg, August 11 of this year.

* lying flat on the ground with raised tips.

Drosanthemum delicatulum

It would be difficult to come up with a more apt name for this plant, which grows into a shrublet up to about 20 cm tall and to 25 cm in diameter with small leaves (2-4 mm long and 2-2.5 mm thick) covered in globose papillae (longer at the base).
The white or pale pink flowers are only 8-10 mm in diameter, without or with very short stalks, and are present in October-November.

Growing on sand and shale slopes -with or without quartz- in the Montagu, Ladismith, Swellendam area.

Cleretum (papulosum ssp.) schlechteri

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.

Glottiphyllum regium (part 1 of 2)

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.

Stayneria neilii

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.

Delosperma crassum

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.