Aizoaceae (Mesembryanthemaceae) Archives - Page 8 of 22

Leipoldtia schultzei

These plants are easily mistaken for a Lampranthus or a Ruschia. Their fruits however mostly have 10 compartments, whereas in Lampranthus the number is always 5 and in Ruschia usually 5, sometimes 6.
They form untidy mats or sprawling shrubs, sometimes with some erect branches to 70 cm tall.
The magenta flowers are 0.6-3 cm in diameter and appear mainly between autumn and early spring: April-September.
The plants occur widespread from Namaqualand to Humansdorp and Uniondale and are often locally abundant in flats and slopes with gravel, sand or loam. They are not browsed by stock or game, so when a great many of them are growing together, this indicates past disturbance and overgrazing of the veld. In the southern part of the distribution area, the plants will grow quickly on disturbed ground, e.g on road sides.

Gibbaeum (Muiria) hortenseae

These peculiar and very distinctive plants form little clumps of soft and velvety-hairy* leaf-bodies which are about 4 cm tall and 3 cm in diameter.
During the long resting period, the bodies are completely enclosed in the dry sheath-like remains of the previous pairs of leaves.
Because the leaves are completely united, the flowers have to rupture the tops of the bodies in order to emerge. They are about 2 cm in diameter, white to mauve and appear from November to Januari.
The plants are locally abundant on quartz outcrops, but are known from only one location (west of Barrydale in the western Little Karoo), in a highly saline area. They grow together with G. album -see first picture- and sometimes hybridise.

In his book Flowering stones and Midday flowers, Gustav Schwantes dedicates nearly 3 pages to this species and he is clearly highly impressed by it, as witnessed by the following remarks:
“The plant exhibits the highest expression of leaf succulence in the whole plant kingdom.
There is nothing of greater interest among the Mesembryanthemaceae than this living creature which is so unusual in shape and structure”.

*the hairs are among the longest in the family.

Drosanthemum curtophyllum

It is often rather difficult to identify Drosanthemum species, but in this case the name is a useful pointer (curtophyllum = with shortened leaves).
The plants are shrublets 10-30 cm tall, with branches that are mostly erect, rooting when growing in sand.
The leaves are not just short, but also comparatively fat: 3-5 mm long and 2-4 mm wide.
In September-October the flowers appear; they have white, pale pink or bicoloured petals up to 7 mm long.
The plants occur from the coastal belt in the Namibian Sperrgebiet to Nuwerus in Namaqualand, mostly in sand or gravel, but also in granite.

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Cephalophyllum tetrastichum

Described in 1989, this is still a species that is little known about.
It is only found in sand between rocks in the salt spray zone of South Africa’s northwest coast (near Port Nolloth).
The leaves are trigonous*, placed in four rows (=tetrastichum) and often with a black cover, probably caused by a fungus.
As the flowering time is not mentioned in the literature, it may be of interest to know that the photos below were made in late August and early September.

* trigonous = three-angled in cross-section

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.

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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).

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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.