Asphodelaceae (Aloaceae) Archives - Page 4 of 6

Three hundred posts later

When I started this blog just over two years ago, I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. Actually it looked easy :
I had a lot of pictures people might be interested in and after a lifetime of growing, studying and photographing succulents, it should not be difficult to write some texts as well.
And yes, it is as simple as that: you select a few pictures, write a couple of words and hey presto, another post ready. Well, sometimes. Not so very often; rarely in fact.
Stumbling blocks may be:
-not enough good pictures to tell a story
-enough pictures but nothing special
-too little info on the subject
-too busy to do research
-plants can’t be identified properly.
This list is far from exhaustive, but you’ll get my drift I suppose.

The accompanying pictures illustrate the last of the problems mentioned above. They were taken a few km northeast of Montagu, on 9 Oct. 2013.
From the start is was clear that the plants belonged to Haworthia arachnoidea. But which variety? The first option is var. arachnoidea.
In his “Haworthia revisited”, Bruce Bayer says: “This variety often occurs on southern slopes where it is embedded in moss and lichen, and thus very moist in the winter months. The basic leaf colouration is darkish-green and the marginal spines are white”.
This description fits the bill (see first picture), but the distribution area is given as the Worcester/Robertson Karoo, which is west, rather than northeast of Montagu.
When I looked at the pictures once again, I realized that some plants looked like var. nigricans, which is decribed as: “distinguished by the purplish colouration towards the tips of the leaves and the generally darker colour” (picture 2). This variety is known from around Oudtshoorn in the east to the area between Barrydale and Montagu in the west (but not as far west as the locality where this picture was taken).

Here endeth the lesson and my 300th post.

Haworthia arachnoidea var. scabrispina

In their most typical form, these plants are easy to identify, because of the more or less rounded, rather than flat rosettes (see first two pictures).
When they don’t have this give-away shape, one has to have a closer look at the leaves and spines, which are firm and stiff.
Locality is also important, as they only occur in the southwestern corner of the great Karoo and the adjacent part of the Little Karoo.

Astroloba (Poellnitzia) rubriflora

A while ago I published some pictures of Poellnitzia rubriflora’s beautiful flowers. They were taken in my garden, because it was only last August that I saw this species in the wild for the first time.
The plants occur in a small area between Robertson and Bonnievale (not far from where I live nowadays) on dry stony flats and low hills, usually under bushes. They form low clusters with stems up to 25 cm long.

DNA research seems to indicate that the genus Poellnitzia with its one species belongs in Astroloba, in spite of the rather different flowers.

The accompanying photo were taken 10 August 2014 in the Vrolykheid Nature Reserve near McGregor.

Aloe perfoliata (2)

Aloe perfoliata (1)

In 2000, Glen and Hardy came to the conclusion that Aloe comptonii, A. distans and A. mitriformis were to be united, under the old name A. perfoliata.
This species is most common in the Little Karoo, bur occurs from the Bokkeveld Mountains in the northwest to Genadendal in the south and Uitenhage in the east. The plants are usually found on sandstone or quartzitic outcrops where they often hang down vertical cliffs with stems up to 3 m long. The leaves are bluish-green and up to 25 cm long.
The flowers vary from dull orange-red to bright red and appear from August to February.

Bulbine praemorsa (2)

Today we’ll have a closer look at the plant and especially its flowers.
In yesterday’s post I mentioned the fact that most Bulbine flowers are very similar. That might give one the idea that they are not beautiful or interesting. Hopefully the pictures will convince you of the contrary. (Personally I’m rather chuffed with the last one, where the backlight shows off the bearded filaments beautifully).

Bulbine praemorsa (1)

Bulbines are easy to recognize as such when they are in flower. No other plants that I know of have the same peculiar bearded filaments. In general, the flowers are much of a muchness as to shape and colour (almost always yellow). This is one of the reasons many species are not easy to identify.
B. praemorsa is a common and widespread species, occurring from southern Namaqualand to the southwestern Cape, usually on sandy soils or rocky sandstone slopes.
The plants posses a small tuberous rootstock and long, thick and fleshy leaves that are deeply channeled above. The inflorescences are up to 60 cm tall, with yellow to orange or salmon-coloured flowers which appear from June to September.

Astroloba bullulata

Most of the time this beautiful and distinctive species is not easy to find, not only because it is rather uncommon, but also because it prefers to grow in the shelter of shrubs. It branches only reluctantly and may reach a height of 30 cm.
The attractive flowers appear from November to June.
The main distribution area is from Sutherland to Ceres and Laingsburg. A locality near Bonnievale and one near Prince Albert are also mentioned in literature.

The last picture shows a plant in cultivation.

Bulbine torta (2)

Bulbine torta (1)

What sets these plants apart from other Bulbines are the peculiar, thread-like, usually coiled leaves. They appear from a flat-based underground tuber and are 3.5-12 cm long and about 1 mm wide. In cultivation they become both wider and straighter.
According to literature the plants occur on sandy and rocky places from Vanrhynsdorp and Calvinia southwards to Sutherland and Clanwilliam. However, all the photos here were taken on our farm near Matjiesfontein, about 100 kms south of Sutherland. The flowers appear from August to October.