geophytes Archives - Page 2 of 3

Pelargonium luteolum

About 70 species of Pelargonium belong to the section Hoarea: deciduous geophytes with turnip-shaped or elongated tubers. Several of these plants have similar leaves, so one needs flowers to positively identify them.
P. luteolum possesses a large tuberous rootstock and a number of smaller tubers and
leaves 4-7 cm long and 3-12 cm wide which are dry at flowering.
The inflorescence has 2-3 branches and is up to 20-30 cm tall.
Each of the branches bears to 16 flowers, which are about 1.5 cm in diameter and pale yellow, sometimes pink, with dark red-purple lines on the two upper petals. They usually appear from November-March, but sometimes as late as May.
The plants are widespread in various -usually rocky- habitats from southern Namaqualand to Steytlerville and Mossel Bay. This is mainly a winter rainfall area, with about 100-300 mm rain per year. They seem to be especially plentiful in the Worcester-Montagu area.

The three overlapping lower petals -hiding the style and stamens-are characteristic for this species. The literature tells us that they are arranged in such a way that the lateral ones partly overlap the central one. When you look closely at the last picture, you will see that the arrangement is sometimes the other way round: here the central one of the three lower petals lies on top of the two lateral ones.

The first picture was taken 27 June 2010, the next three 22 Jan. 2016 and the last one 21 Febr. 2009.

Othonna taraxacoides

Almost two years ago I published a post on Othonna auriculifolia. Today’s subject could be considered the northern counterpart of that species. Both were described in the first half of the 19th century, when taxonomy was still a very European science. This probably explains why both specific epithets refer to well known European plants: taraxacoides means looking like a Taraxacum (dandelion) and auriculifolia means with leaves like Primula auricula (bear’s ears or cow slip).

O. taraxacoides is a stemless tuberous geophyte up to 10 cm tall. The leaves are leathery and wedge- to egg-shaped or more or less kidney-shaped. Usually they are 2-3 cm long and up to 2 cm wide, with small rounded teeth and often incised with 3-5 rounded lobes.
The flower heads are 0.8-1.5 cm in diameter and appear in July and August.
The plants occur on open pebbly places or quartz patches from the
Richtersveld to Kamieskroon.

Pelargonium lobatum

Last week I saw flowers of this species in the wild for the first time ever. The pleasure was even greater because it was completely unexpected (according to the literature the flowers appear from September through November).
Pelargonium lobatum is a geophyte with a very large, woody tuber. The leaves lie more or less flat on the ground and are usually 3-lobed. They are extremely large: up to over 30 cm in diameter.
Up to 20 flowers are borne on a sturdy peduncle. They are usually dark purple to almost black with dull greenish yellow margins and base. At night they give off a clove or cinnamon scent.
The species occurs from Piketberg to Knysna on sandy flats and against hillsides.

Pelargonium nervifolium (2)

Pelargonium nervifolium (1)

Apparently not all experts agree on what is a succulent and what is not. The subject of this post e.g. is mentioned in the List of Southern African Succulent Plants (1997), but not in the Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants (2002).
Well, whether a succulent or not, it is an interesting tuberous geophyte ( a plant that has its regenerating buds below soil-level, often with big underground storage organs and short-lived growth above ground).
The leaves are undivided or divided into 3 leaflets.
In September-October the plants are decorated with white to pale yellow flowers about 1.7 cm across – up to 17 in each inflorescence.
The plants are widespread in the winter rainfall area of the western Karoo, southwards to Karoopoort and Matjiesfontein, usually on low shale ridges in direct sunlight and often in large numbers.

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.

Eriospermum paradoxum

The family Eriospermaceae contains only one genus, with about a hundred species. The name Eriospermum means woolly seed, referring to the long hairs that cover the seeds. The plants have underground tubers, which in most species produce only one leaf per year. In the case of E. paradoxum the leaf is about 7×6 mm, bearing a peculiar and distinctive tree shaped outgrowth (enation), which may be up to 11 cm long and 3 cm wide. The leafing period is May to October, slightly overlapping the flowering time (April/May).
E. paradoxum has a wide distribution in the winter rainfall area, from the Richtersveld in the north-west to near Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, on sandy or clayey soils.

Crassula saxifraga

Another of the tuberous Crassulas, widespread from the Richtersveld to the Eastern Cape, in rock crevices (saxifraga means stone breaker) and on stony slopes. The tubers may be up to 9 cm across.
The white to dark pink flowers are relatively big (up to 7.5 mm long) and occur from April to June. The leaves usually appear after flowering.

Pelargonium longifolium

Many of the more interesting Pelargoniums are geophytes*. The fact that they are hidden part of the year somehow adds to their appeal. The species shown here is very variable as to the shape and size of its leaves, which can be undivided or finely dissected and smooth or hairy. The beautiful flowers may be white, pale yellow or pink and appear from October to December.
The photos were taken last Saturday directly behind my house, where the plants grow in open or lightly vegetated sandy patches as well as on rocky outcrops. Actually the first ones I noticed were growing in an open Eucalytus coppice there.

* Plants which store water and/or food in underground storage organs and die down each year, regenerating at the start of the new growing season from buds that are hidden below soil-level.