South African succulents Archives - Page 20 of 47

Avonia papyracea (part 1 of 2)

Even if one has no knowledge of Latin, it is probably easy to understand that papyracea means papery. This refers to the thin, white scales that cover the stems.
These scales are in fact modified stipules: outgrowths of the base of the leaf stalk. By reflecting and diffusing light, they act as sunshades. This effect, combined with controlled aeration*, reduces evaporation. The scales are also able to trap dew.
*It has been noted that in hot, dry conditions the scales tightly overlap each other like roof tiles, whereas in cooler and therefore damper weather they can open out to some extent so that the leaves are more exposed.
As Gordon Rowley in “Anacampseros, Avonia, Grahamia” (1995) remarks, it seems surprising that such an efficient adaptation has, apparently, evolved only once.

The scales are about 5 mm long and wide and hide the minute leaves.
The stems are usually about 5-8 cm long and 0.7-1 cm thick, arising from a thickened tuber. As in other Avonia species, the stems that carry flower buds grow more or less horizontal, but become erect on the day of flowering and stay that way until the seeds have been dispersed.
The scented flowers are creamy white and appear in late spring and early summer.
There are two subspecies: subsp. papyracea occurs throughout the Little Karoo and is also found in the Great Karoo, whereas subsp. namaensis occurs in southern Namibia, the Richtersveld and Bushmanland. Both subspecies seem to feel most at home amongst white quartz pebbles.
According to the literature the main difference between the two is that in the first one, the edges of the scales are entire (without any teeth or other incisions) and in the second one saw-edged to toothed.
The following pictures show plants of subsp. papyracea.

Cephalophyllum curtophyllum

Depending on the local conditions these plants are compact or sprawling, often starting life under a shrub.
In spite of the name (“with short leaves”), with a length of 3.5-5 cm the leaves are by no means the shortest in the genus.
The flowers are about 4 cm in diameter and purple with white stamens or (more rarely) cream-coloured with purple-brown stamens; they appear from June though September.
The plants occur from the Cedarberg to the western Little Karoo on open slopes or in dry, open scrub.
This species is probably more variable in flower and growth form than any other Cephalophyllum.

Cephalophyllum curtophyllum

Bulbine triebneri

Until very recently I had never heard or seen this name; it is not even mentioned in the Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants (2001). Strangely enough I had seen plants of this species on several occasions, but nobody seemed to know what it was. According to some people it was a white-flowered form of B. frutescens, while others said it had been described “not long ago” as a new species. Searching through the literature did not yield concrete information either.
Ten days ago I was on a fieldtrip with members of CREW, the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (crew@sanbi.org.za). In the plain between Ouberg and Anysberg we came across several specimens of a white-flowered Bulbine and Marion Maclean casually mentioned the name Bulbine triebneri.
After returning home I found out that Ernst van Jaarsveld had described the species in 2001 as B. alba, but that in 2008 the new species was sunk into the older B. triebneri (Bothalia 38,1).
Of the over 70 species of Bulbine this is the only one with white flowers. It differs from its nearest relative, B. frutescens also by the soft, glaucous, more or less round leaves.
Plants are found in the Little Karoo and the southern Great Karoo, where it is locally abundant on shale ridges and scree. The species also occurs in the Eastern and Northern Cape and in southern Namibia.

In the Bothalia article it says: “The most interesting feature of this species is that the
flowers seemingly open only in the very late afternoon for two to three hours at most.”
In spite of this, the first of the pictures shown here was taken at 7.20 AM and the other three between 12.39 and 13.33 PM.

Bulbine triebneri

Until very recently I had never heard or seen this name; it is not even mentioned in the Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants (2001). Strangely enough I had seen plants of this species on several occasions, but nobody seemed to know what it was. According to some people it was a white-flowered form of B. frutescens, while others said it had been described “not long ago” as a new species. Searching through the literature did not yield concrete information either.
Ten days ago I was on a fieldtrip with members of CREW, the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (crew@sanbi.org.za). In the plain between Ouberg and Anysberg we came across several specimens of a white-flowered Bulbine and Marion Maclean casually mentioned the name Bulbine triebneri.
After returning home I found out that Ernst van Jaarsveld had described the species in 2001 as B. alba, but that in 2008 the new species was sunk into the older B. triebneri (Bothalia 38,1).
Of the over 70 species of Bulbine this is the only one with white flowers. It differs from its nearest relative, B. frutescens also by the soft, glaucous, more or less round leaves.
Plants are found in the Little Karoo and the southern Great Karoo, where it is locally abundant on shale ridges and scree. The species also occurs in the Eastern and Northern Cape and in southern Namibia.

In the Bothalia article it says: “The most interesting feature of this species is that the
flowers seemingly open only in the very late afternoon for two to three hours at most.”
In spite of this, the first of the pictures shown here was taken at 7.20 AM and the other three between 12.39 and 13.33 PM.

Glottiphyllum depressum (part 2 of 2)

A young plant

Cheek to cheek with Gibbaeum gibbosum

Glottiphyllum depressum (part 1 of 2)

In spite of its name, the leaves of this plant are not always lying flat on the ground. This does not come as a complete surprise in a species which is probably more variable in its leaf characters than any other Glottiphyllum. This variability is reflected in the long list of synonyms. It seems likely that the very wide distribution of this species (compared to its siblings) is at least partly responsible for the wide range of characters.
In each pair, the leaves are slightly different in size (in the seedling state this difference does not exist); they may be up to 8.5 cm long and the tips often have a more or less distinct hook.
As in all other Glottiphyllums (apart from some albinos) the flowers are yellow; they appear in mid winter (July-August).
The plants occur from the southern Ceres Karoo through the Little Karoo to Humansdorp and are often the only Glottiphyllum in the area. They normally grow under shrubs in shaley sandstone or on loamy soils.

The first picture shows no less than 4 species apart from G. depressum:
Antegibbaeum fissoides, Adromischus fiicaulis ssp. marlothii, Crassula tecta and C. congesta ssp. laticephala.

Stapelia grandiflora var. grandiflora

Because they may form large clumps to over a meter in diameter, plants of this species are often quite conspicuous in the field. They occur widespread in the Great Karoo and from Calitzdorp to the Eastern Cape and into the Free State, usually among bushes on lower stony slopes or under trees on flats.
The stems are up to 30 cm long. As the name implies, the flowers are often quite big too (mostly 8-15 cm, but sometimes up to 22 cm in diameter); they are usually silky hairy and appear mainly from March through May. The buds are rounded, which is typical for this variety (see last picture, showing a plant in cultivation).
The first 3 pictures were made near the Calitzdorp Dam, 6 April 2010.

Antimima pygmaea (part 2 of 2)

It may be of interest to see what Prof. Schwantes in his magnum opus Flowering Stones and Mid-Day Flowers (1957) has to say about this “most remarkable and interesting species”: “This forms annually only two pairs of leaves to each growth which, however, are differently shaped. This phenomenon is called dimorphism of the leaf. The pair of leaves that appears at the beginning of the rainy season from out of the dry sheath is united into a long sheath at the base but developed normally above into widely separated, yawning, broad leaf tips. This pair of leaves with its comparatively broad surfaces that catch the light and absorb carbon dioxide as nourishment, provides food during the growth period. When the end of this period approaches there pushes out of the channel formed through the uniting of these normally developed leaves a peculiar, elongated, cylindrical structure which consists of two leaves joined right up to the tip. The very short ends are separated only by a slit, which shows that the growth actually consists of two thick leaves. Growths which consist of such closely united leaves are called plant bodies (corpusculum). The object of this close union can only be to reduce the evaporating surface as much as possible and to protect the young growth within from being dried up. The plant’s struggle to make the leaf pair as nearly spherical as possible is here obvious; as is known, the sphere is the form with the smallest surface area. Within these leaf pairs or plant bodies the next pair develops, which once more is less completely united. Inside the body a channel running its whole length remains open; the slowly developing leaf pair is fitted into this and draws from the plant body food and water until it has dried up to a parchment-like skin which completely surrounds the young pair so that not even the tip projects. In this condition the growth, well protected by the skin, lives through the dry period and when the rains begin the deeply buried pair of leaves quickly emerges from the skin surrounding it. In Ruschia pygmaea quite distinct leaf pairs are produced for the dry and for the rainy seasons, one of which has a large surface for assimilation, while the other serves for the protection of the resting pair.”

23 June 2010

1 Oct. 2006

1 Oct. 2012

29 Jan. 2012

18 Feb. 2007

Antimima pygmaea (part 1 of 2)

There are not many plants that look better or more interesting in the resting state than during active growth, but this species is certainly one of them.
The plants form low, densely branched mats to 15 cm in diameter.
The leaf pairs are dimorphic. One pair is almost fused almost completely, to 5 mm tall and 3 mm wide, developing into a conical body which turns into a dry sheath protecting the subsequent leaf pair during the dry period. These white bodies become slashed with time and are typical for the species.
The plants occur on shaly slopes in a smallish area between Worcester and Laingsburg.

Irrespective of the statement in the first sentence of this post, the plants are quite cute when in flower. The flowers are up to 18 mm across and appear in winter (July-August).