Geraniaceae Archives - Page 2 of 4

Monsonia (Sarcocaulon) patersonii

With its thick, often nearly golden yellow stems, heavy armature and beautiful flowers, this species stands out even within a group of plants as special as the Sarcocaulons.

The plants occur in the coastal desert from Luederitz in southern Namibia to the Holgat River in South Africa and also in the area between Bethanie and Klein Karas in Namibia. In some regions of stabilised coarse sand they are very common with sometimes few or no other plants around. In some areas they are also found in rock crevices.
Their habit is creeping to more or less upright, up to 50 cm tall. Although they are potentially very spiny plants, the spines are often continually abrased by wind-blown sand.
When flowering (mainly May-September) the plants are even more attractive than usual, with their pink, magenta or purple flowers of about 3 cm in diameter.

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.

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.

Monsonia (Sarcocaulon) crassicaulis, part 3

The flowers are white to pale yellow and to 5.5 cm in diameter. They look as if made from crepe paper, thereby creating a striking contrast with the starkness of the spiny stems.

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Monsonia (Sarcocaulon) crassicaulis, part 2

The plants form shrubs up to 75 cm tall and seem to prefer stony plains and low ridges. Their thick stems (up to 2 cm thick) have a hard skin containing large quantities of resin and wax. This impervious layer is an excellent way of preventing desiccation.
It also means that the stems can be easily ignited to act as a candle or start a fire.
When you have a good look at the first three pictures, you will notice that the spines start out as leaf stalks, which after a while shed the leaf blades and become hard and rigid.

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To be continued.

Monsonia (Sarcocaulon) crassicaulis, part 1

Together with M. salmoniflora this is the most common succulent Monsonia. The plants are widely distributed in the southwestern part of Namibia and the winter rainfall area of South Africa. They grow here mainly in winter from May to July and flower mostly from August to early November. The species also occurs in the summer rainfall regions of Bushmanland and the Great Karoo, where they are dormant from May to August and grow in spring and autumn. Not surprisingly one can also find them in the transitional zones between the summer and winter rainfall areas.

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To be continued.

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.

Pelargonium crithmifolium (3)

Pelargonium crithmifolium (2)

In the preceding post I mentioned the persisting inflorescences that are so characteristic of this species. When you look back at that post you will notice that even young plants produce them.
One cannot help but wonder what purpose these outgrowths serve apart from the obvious one: supporting the flowers and fruits (which could be done with a far less complicated and heavy structure). We have to bear in mind that these plants live in difficult circumstances and cannot afford unnecessary extravagances. In other words, there must be a proper return on investment and the best return would be one that helps the plants to survive.
To my mind, the persisting inflorescence has three functions:
— It keeps browsing predators away.
— It helps shade the plant and thereby lower the temperature.
— The intricate structure of branches diminishes the speed of the usually hot and desiccating wind.
It is interesting that these functions have their strongest influence at the place where they are most helpful: the growing tips of the stems, with their soft and tender young leaves.

More pictures to follow.