Geraniaceae Archives - Page 4 of 4

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.

Monsonia salmoniflora (= Sarcocaulon salmoniflorum)

It is always a bit sad when a name that you have known for many years, is replaced by another one. This is even more so if the old name had a certain appeal to you, e.g. because it sounded nice or had a meaning that made it easy to remember. Some of these name changes are unavoidable as they are the result of following the nomenclatural code. In other cases it is more a matter of opinion, so much so that one sometimes wonders what the value of the new name really is. Probably better not to open this can of worms here.
In 1996 the genus Sarcocaulon was included in the genus Monsonia based on molecular studies and it seems that the new arrangement has been more or less generally accepted by now.
M. salmoniflora forms shrublets up to 40 cm tall and is widely distributed in Namibia and South Africa. The plants flower mainly in Oct.-Dec. The flowers are up to 3 cm across with colours ranging from pink to orange.

Pelargonium fulgidum

Fulgidus means brightly coloured or shining, referring to the flowers with their brilliant colours (scarlet or carmine). The leaves with their silky hairs are very attractive too.
The plants occur on the west coast of South Africa on rocky hills or sand dunes near the sea.

pelafulg2009-07-21#008res

A matter of colour (Pelargonium tetragonum)

The first time a saw a plant of Pelargonium tetragonum in the wild was in the vicinity of Calitzdorp. Later on I found out that the species was rather plentiful in the area, both north and south of the village.
The plants cannot be confused with any other species, but what surprised me was the colour of the flowers.

All the many plants I had seen in cultivation had pale pink flowers with deep red stripes on the upper two petals. All the plant I saw in the wild, not just around Calitzdorp but also elsewhere, had cream flowers (with the same red stripes as in the cultivated ones).

The more I thought about this phenomenon, the more I got the idea that the plants in cultivation originated from one or a few ancestors with an aberrant flower colour.
Last months I was in the Eastern Cape looking for plants with my wife and two Belgian plant friends. While trying to find my way into a dense thicket near Uitenhage, I suddenly came across several plants of this species with beautiful pink flowers.

So clearly the flower colour has to do with the area where the plants grow. According to J.J.A. van der Walt in “Pelargoniums of Southern Africa” (1977) the species occurs ” in a strip parallel with the coast from the Worcester-Caledon districts eastwards to Grahamstown. It has also been collected further inland near Graaff Reinet and Bedford”.
In their natural habitat the plants flower from September to December.