Tag: Richtersveld

Cheiridopsis pillansii

This species is a common sight on soft saline soil and low outcrops in the Richtersveld, from north of Lekkersing to the Augrabiesberg, at an altitude of 200-300 m. This is a winter rainfall area, which receives less than 100 mm rain per year.

It develops large, dense clumps 6-10 cm tall and up to 50 cm in diameter.
The more or less erect leaves are pale greyish white to bluish green, broad and thick (1-2.5 cm) and up to 4.5 cm long.
The flowers are 5-6 cm in diameter and range from cream and yellow to orange-red, sometimes with a purplish tinge. They appear in winter and spring (August-September).

 

 

 

 

Cheiridopsis robusta

C. robusta has a wide distribution which is probably the cause of its considerable variation in certain features. This in turn has led to a  high number of synonyms (16 in total).
It is easy to cultivate and to flower, one of the reasons for it being probably the most common species of Cheiridopsis in cultivation.

The plants form loose clumps, 20 cm tall and up to 40 cm across.
Their leaves are  mucronate*, 5-8 cm long and about 1.5 cm thick; triangular in cross-section, pale greyish blue to greyish green with a reddish tinge and decorated with translucent spots.
Flowers are 6 cm in diameter, cream to yellow to white , often with pink, purple or  orange  tinges; they appear in August-September.

C. robusta is very common in the Richtersveld and also occurs in Southern Namibia, both winter rainfall areas with less than 100 mm rain per year.  It is mostly found on rocky/gravelly flats or slopes, below 600 m in altitude.

* Ending abruptly with a small triangular tip.

Mitrophyllum grande

Depending on the time of the year, plants belonging to the genus Mitropyllum develop completely different leaf pairs.
During the resting period, the pairs consist of two leaves pressed together in an upright position. This cone-shaped entity is covered in a paper-thin skin, the remains of the preceding leaf pair.
At the beginning of the vegetation period, the leaf pairs start to swell, and the pressure causes the skin to rip apart. After a while, the old leaves are in a more or less horizontal position and in between them the early stage of the mitre-shaped leaves can be seen. In the next phase, the latter start showing their final shape. The original leaves now only bear the remains of the covering membrane. The mitre is still very thin but will fill out considerably in the weeks to come. Gradually the old leaf pair will shrivel and ultimately wither to dry remains. The mitre-shaped leaf has now attained the shape which the genus name refers to.

This phenomenon whereby plants possess leaves of more than one shape or size is called heterophylly.
In Mitrophyllum and related genera this means that the leaves of the hot resting period are smaller than those present at the height of the cool growing season, resulting in less loss of water.

M. grande is a shrublet with a compact centre and short-shoots from which erect long-shoots develop.
It has green to yellowish-green leaves, which in the first pairs are 6-12 x 1.5-3 mm, with tongue-shaped to triangular free parts; the second-pairs are fused for 4/5, forming an oval body 2.5-10 cm long and 1.5-3.5 cm wide.
The thick and soft internodes are 1-1.5 cm in diam.
Yellow or white flowers appear in May-July (Oct.-Dec. in the northern hemisphere) and are up to 4.5 cm in diam.

Restricted to a small area in the Richtersveld, where it occurs on S to SE slopes with quartzitic stones.

In cultivation a strict summer rest should be respected.

Crassula macowaniana (papierbasplakkie)

Usually this is a robust, much-branched shrub up to over a meter tall, but in the Richtersveld it is sometimes only a few centimeters tall with creeping branches.
Its Afrikaans name (paperbark Crassula)  refers to the flaking bark covering the branches.
The leaves are variable in shape and size, linear to sword-shaped, green to brown or reddish, 25-60 (-80) mm long, and 3-15 mm wide. They have acute tips, but often these become dry and fall off (see last picture).
The flowers are white (often tinged pink), tubular, and 2.5-4 mm long; they appear in Oct.-Dec.
This species occurs from southwestern Namibia to near Clanwilliam, among boulders and on rocky, N-facing slopes.

Pelargonium rapaceum (Bergaartappel, Bergpatat, Norretjie)

Occurring from the northern Richtersveld to the Eastern Cape Province, this is one of the most common of the tuberous Pelargoniums and also the one with the widest distribution. It is found in a wide range of habitats, from stony slopes and flats to farmland that has been left fallow; it can even quickly colonize disturbed areas.

The tubers are often partly exposed and usually turnip-shaped (= rapaceum); usually there is only a single tuber, but sometimes a string of additional tubers is formed so that the plants can become quite large.
The  softly hairy leaves are up to 40 cm long and 4.5 cm wide.
In October – February the plants produce branching peduncles with up to 50 flowers which are about 2.5 cm in diameter, white, cream, yellow or pink and most unusual in resembling little pea-flowers.

 

 

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.

 

A jewel in the Crassula crown: C. deceptor

Some forms of this species are among the most beautiful that Crassula has to offer and in such a big genus with many attractive species, that’s quite something.  As the pictures show, the plants are variable in many respects, especially shape, size and arrangement of the leaves.

When not in flower, the plants are up to 8 cm tall, often with several short branches.  Each branch forms a short, 4-angled column up to 2.5 cm in diameter, bearing closely packed leaves which are 0.6-1.5 (-2) cm long and 0.3-1 (1.5) cm wide.
The leaves are acute or obtuse, flat or slightly concave above and very convex below, somewhat boat-shaped and densely covered with hard, almost spherical papillae.
Old leaves will shrivel a lot, but stay attached to the branches.
In December-March the plants produce miniature flowers in small clusters on peduncles 2-8 cm long.
The species is widely distributed in south-western Namibia and in north-western South Africa as far east as Kakamas and south to Vanrhynsdorp, usually on gentle slopes or on rocky outcrops, often among quartz gravel.

Cheiridopsis denticulata (C. candidissima)

Forming dense clumps of up to 25 cm tall and 40 cm across, this may well be the most robust species in the genus.
It has silvery white to pale bluish grey (sometimes grey-green) leaves up to 11 cm long and 1.5 cm thick; they are triangular in cross-section and sometimes toothed (to quote “Plants of the Greater Cape Floristic Region”: absent one year but fiercely present the next). When no teeth are present, plants may be easily confused with C. robusta.
The flowers are big (up to 7 cm in diameter), on long, sturdy stalks. They may be white, cream-coloured or pale yellow, are often purplish at the tips and on the outside and appear in August-September. The fruits have 12-20 compartments.

The species is widespread on sandy flats and slopes (also often growing in dry river beds) in Namaqualand (from the south-eastern Richtersveld south to Bitterfontein).


#1: mid May 2007

            # 2,3 and 4: mid July 2011


#5: late August 2007

            # 6 and 7: late August 2016

 

 

Aloe falcata

Usually this species forms dense groups of 20-40 cm tall rosettes (stemless or short-stemmed), which face outwards and often almost lie on their sides.
Each rosette has about 20 incurved leaves of about 30×7 cm; they are green to greyish green and firm in texture, with rough, sandpaper-like surfaces and margins with reddish-brown teeth.
The nodding, 4 cm long flowers are dull red to pale scarlet (rarely yellow), appear in December and are arranged in branched inflorescences up to 60 cm tall.
This beautiful species occurs on arid, sandy flats from the Richtersveld to Loeriesfontein, Calvinia and Klawer.  Unfortunately it does not thrive outside its natural habitat.

Falcata means sickle-shaped, referring either to the curved flower stalk or to the leaves curving inwards (both possibilities are mentioned in literature).

All pictures were taken just south of Vanrhynsdorp late July 2017, apart from the last one, which shows a plant growing near the office buildings of the Tanquana Nat. Park.

Monsonia (Sarcocaulon) multifida

One cannot help but wonder how these little beauties survive the cruel conditions in their homeland, a small area on both sides of the Orange river, some 10-60 km from the sea, where they grow on rocky ridges and in stabilised sandy places amid large sand dunes.
From November to May the plants are dormant and leafless and in this period they are often sand blasted by very strong winds and sometimes buried in sand drifts for weeks or even months.
Winter is the growing period, with most activity going one from June to September.

The plants have a deep, swollen root system and are up to 4 cm tall with one or a few horizontal branches; these are whitish to blackish-brown and 1-2 cm thick. The branches are spineless or have blunt remains of leaf stalks up to 0.6 cm long. Flowering may occur in most months (except Jan.- Febr. and May-June). The flowers are 2.5-3 cm across and white, pale pink or magenta with a dark red throat; rarely they are completely white.