In cultivation this species is rather common, as it is one of the easier Gibbaeums to grow and flower (see picture at bottom).
In the wild it is only found on a few very dry shaly ridges near Vanwyksdorp. According to Nel’s Gibbaeum Handbook, it is the only Gibbaeum which does not grow together with any other species of the genus.
The plants look a bit like G. album, but they are darker and softer. The flowers appear in April.
A widely distributed species (from Zebra, between George and Oudtshoorn, to the Montagu area), often locally abundant on loamy soils with quartz pebbles.
The very soft, almost translucent bodies lie flat on the ground (cryptopodium literally means “with hidden foot”) and in dry periods often almost disappear from sight. In the rainy season they are yellowish green, often turning red in the dry period. They are more or less round or egg-shaped (nuciforme = shaped like a nut).
To be continued.
Although this species sometimes occurs in big colonies, it is nevertheless rather rare, as a result of the limited distribution area (along the border of the winter rainfall area, more or less in the Ceres-Sutherland-Laingsburg triangle). With leaves about a centimeter long, it really lives up to its name (pumila = dwarf).
The difference in appearance between plants in the resting and the growing period is so great that Louisa Bolus described the species twice within two years (as Ruschia pumila and R. levynsiae).
The pictures shown here will hopefully give you a good idea how much the plants change in a couple of months.
The first picture was made at the end of April (= Autumn) and the last one mid November (end of Spring). The flowering plants were photographed end of July-beginning of August.
These dwarfs are found from the Kamiesberg in Namaqualand to near Willowmore, usually growing under small shrubs.
This is one of the only two species in the genus, formerly part of Cheiridopsis.
The photographs were taken near Pofadder, 2 Sept. 2010.
This species is sometimes regarded as a subspecies of D. microspermus. It occurs in the Kenhardt district of Namaqualand. The pictures were taken in early Sept. 2010.
Photographed 9 Sept. 2010 in the northern Knersvlakte.
This plant only occurs near Riethuis in Namaqualand, where it grows in saline quartz flats. Although locally common, the plants are often not easy to find.
Pictures taken 1 April 2012.
Photographed near Riethuis 1 April 2012. The flowers were not open yet as it was early in the afternoon.
