Kleinia Archives - enjoysucculents

Curio sulcicalyx

This interesting little plant from southern Namibia and Namaqualand (as far south as Bitterfontein), comes under a variety of names: Senecio sulcicalyx, S. klinghardtianus, S. iosensis, Othonna/Senecio/Kleinia pusilla (pusillus).
It has a preference for rock crevices.

A great part of the plant is underground with rhizomes and tuberous roots.
The branches are up to 5 cm long. The leaves are 1 -2.5 cm long and 0.7-1.2 cm wide, sometimes shortly hairy.
Although the flower heads are usually white to mauve, in certain forms they are yellow; they appear from February to July.

Senecio longiflorus ssp. longiflorus

With its upright succulent stems this plant may easily be mistaken for a Euphorbia. It is widely distributed from Malawi and Zambia to South Africa, usually growing among rocks or under bushes.
In general the plants become 60-90 cm tall, but they may as much as 1.8 m. The stems are round at first, but later become somewhat angular or even furrowed. They are green, sometimes with a purple tinge, and decorated with groups of three dark green or purple lines. The leaves are rather fleshy but short-lived.
When in seed, the shrubs are a striking sight with their tufts of long white hairs.

Curio radicans

A well known species in cultivation, but also widely distributed in nature (from southern Namibia to the Eastern Cape).
What is not so well known yet is the genus name Curio which apparently we are now supposed to use. So beware, when the taxonomy police comes round next time, you will need a good excuse if you still use the name Senecio (or even Kleinia) radicans.

Whatever you want to call it, I hope you will enjoy the following pictures.