vygies Archives - Page 8 of 21

Brianhuntleya intrusa

On seeing this species for the first time, one would be excused for mistaking it for an Antegibbaeum. It was first described as a Ruschia, but in 2003 a new genus was established just for this one species. Since then, two more species have been added. If you are interested in the whole complicated story, you should read A Gordion knot in Ruschioideae by H. Hartmann and I. Niesler in Bradleya 30/2012, p. 33-60.

The plants form dense mats 7-10 cm high with persistent leaves 5 to 6 cm long and 0.7-0.8 cm wide.
They flower in June-August; the flowers have long stalks (to 5 cm long), are to 3.5 cm in diameter and open for only a few hours in the afternoon. After pollination they turn into
tumble fruits.
Although the species grows only in the Robertson, Swellendam and Worcester districts of the western Cape, it is locally abundant there, usually in full sun on gentle shale slopes, at an altitude of 200-250 m. In this area most of the rainfall occurs in winter.

briaintr-2456

briaintr-9245

briaintr-9247

briaintr-9239

briaintr-9238

Oophytum oviforme

Old plants of this species form clumps with up to 20 egg-shaped (=oviform) bodies, which are 1-2 cm tall and 1-3 cm in diameter.
Especially when flowering, the very dense stands in which they grow present an unbelievable show. The white to rose-pink flowers appear in August-September.

The plants occur on quartzitic flats and slopes in the southern Knersvlakte, where the rainfall is on average about 125 mm per year (mainly in winter).

oophDSC_0110

oophDSC_0111

oophovif-2530

oophovif-2533

oophovif-2539

Cleretum (Dorotheanthus) bellidiforme

In many parts of the world this extremely variable annual is a popular garden plant.
The plants are low-growing, usually less than 10 cm tall, with narrow, spatula-shaped leaves.
In nature the beautiful flowers appear in August-September, usually in shades of white, pink, reddish-purple or red, but sometimes also in yellow or orange. They are 2-4 cm in diameter.
This species is widespread in disturbed sandy soils in the winter rainfall area of South Africa from Namaqualand to Riversdale.

Cleretum papulosum

Not long ago the genus Cleretum had only three members. Because there are no clear characteristics for separating Cleretum and Dorotheanthus, in 2012 it was decided to combine the two genera. This means that the species in Dorotheanthus have been transferred to Cleretum, which as a result of this now contains 14 species.

C. papulosum is a trailing annual with strap- to racket-shaped leaves to 3 cm long.
The small yellow flowers appear from July to October.
The plants are widespread from Namaqualand and Bushmanland to Mossel Bay; they are
often locally abundant on sandy/loamy soils, especially in disturbed spots.

Mesembryanthemum (Sceletium) tortuosum (part 1 of 2)

It’s a bit of a pity that the former genus name has been dropped, as it aptly suggested the way in which the persistent old, dry leaves form a sceleton protecting the new leaves.
The creeping or scrambling plants have imbricate leaves (overlapping like the tiles of a roof); which are to 4 cm long and 2 cm wide, with the tips turned inwards.
The flowers are white to pale yellow, pale salmon or pale pink, about 2-3 cm in diameter; they have a short stalk and appear in July-October.
It is a widespread species, occurring under bushes or in the open from Namaqualand to Montagu and Aberdeen in both winter and summer rainfall areas; often on quartz.

As in other members of the genus, the plants contain the alkaloid mesembrymine and have medicinal properties. The fermented leaves are widely used as a sedative and to relieve pain such as toothache and stomach ache. The concoction can also cause drunkenness.

Mesembryanthemum aitonis

Like so many other members of the genus, this species is a pioneer and therefore usually found in disturbed places.
The plants occur in the southern and eastern cape region, in both summer and winter rainfall areas.
They are creeping or upwards growing annuals or biennials, depending on the water supply. The stems are round or -as the pictures show- somewhat angular; they have flat and more or less spatula-shaped leaves which are very variable in size, to 5 cm long and 1.5 cm wide.
The flowers are 0.5-2 cm in diameter, white, sometimes with a pinkish tint; they appear from September to January.

Trichodiadema peersii

According to the literature, this is a more or less erect shrub up to 9 cm tall.
The leaves are 5-8 mm long and 4 mm wide and thick, tipped with a diadem consisting of 4-9 bristles*.
The white flowers are about 3.8 cm wide and appear in spring and summer: Sept.-Dec.; they produce fruits with 5 or 6 compartments.
The plants occur in the Willowmore district.

* In some of the plants shown here, the diadems have many more bristles. Because all other characteristics agree, I take it all pictures represent the same species.

Conophytum meyeri (part 1 of 2)

When a species has many synoniems (16 in this case), one cannot help but wonder what that means. There may be a couple of reasons for the plethora of names, but in this case the most likely one is the species being so highly variable. Understandably, this makes it often difficult to positively identify it. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the species often grows together with C. bilobum and hybridizes with it, resulting in swarms of plants with intermediate characters.

The plants form small or large cushions (up to 30 cm in diameter), which may be straggly or neatly domed.
The bodies are up to 2.5 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter, heart-shaped to nearly spherical, usually slightly bilobed and sometimes slightly keeled. The keel lines are often red, the fissure zone has small, windowed patches on either side and the skin is pale green to yellowish green or greyish green, smooth or velvety-papillate and often spotted.
As a rule the flowers are yellow (rarely pure white), with petals often drooping. They appear in March -June.

The plants occur mostly in the western Richtersveld on granite, gneiss, sandstone or quartz slopes -often in shade.

All 3 pictures taken 6 Oct. 2011.

Cephalophyllum tricolorum

I suppose that few people will get excited about a Cephalophyllum without flowers, but when flowers are present, it is quite a different story. In this case, the flowers are up to 5 cm in diameter, with yellow petals and orange stamens with brownish to purple tips. They appear from June through September.
The plants are to a meter in diameter and have a very compact centre and creeping branches. The leaves are rather long (8-12 cm) and round with trigonous tips; dark green to greyish.
The fruits have stalks that don’t last very long and are classified as tumble fruits.

The species occurs in dry fynbos and low open karroid bush on sandy to loamy soils from the Knersvlakte to Nieuwoudtville and Clanwilliam. Most of the rainfall occurs in winter (100-200 mm per year).
Because the plants can quickly colonize a site, it can be a very useful species, but unfortunately it is reluctant to flower in cultivation.

Tanquana prismatica (part 1 of 2)

There are only three species of Tanquana; the other two being T. hilmarii and T. archeri (which I have never seen). All three used to be called Pleiospilos because of the dotted leaves, but actually the two genera are not closely related.
Over time T. prismatica may form clusters of up to 30 branches. The leaves are unequal, egg-shaped in young plants but more oblong later, with a length of 2.5-4 cm.
The strongly scented flowers are to 4 cm in diameter and appear from February to May.

The plants are not uncommon on stony flats in the Ceres-Laingsburg area, where they receive 100-150 mm rain per year, mainly in winter.

Below are some pictures to give you an idea of the conditions in the plants’ habitat.