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Flowering Right Now – March 2018
Check out these beauties we found flowering in the Klein Karoo in the last couple of days. Remember to keep your eyes open and your cameras handy and send us pictures of the succulents you find in bloom in your area.
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Plant of the Month – Mar 2018
Euphorbia gamkensis (Marx 1999) Calitzdorp Euphorbia Our own Calitzdorp Euphorbia. Euphorbis gamkensis grows a large, more or less cylindrical underground caudex that may exceed 6 cm in diameter. Above-ground, a few rows of outwardly pointing thick, succulent stems grow on the often flat green top of the caudex. The outer row of stems are the […]
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Surviving in times of drought. How plants do it?
Text: Luise Granig This article appeared in the February 2018 Newsletter of the Johannesburg Succulent Society and are reprinted with their permission. I can imagine that most of us have asked that question when we’ve visited a region that is as dry as anything. Somehow, miraculously, the plants survive. Ok, they don’t grow fast. […]
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Flowering Right Now – February 2018
Buck Hemenway, Chairman of the Calitzdorp Succulent Society, shared some pictures of the succulents currently flowering in the Hemenways’ garden. These are indigenous to South Africa and while they are obviously happy to bloom in mid-summer in the garden, they are not necessarily all considered summer blooming plants. The Adenium comes from Mpumalanga which is […]
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Plant of the Month – Feb 2018
Portulacaria afra (Jacquin 1786) Spekboom (Pork Bush) Elephant’s food, isiCococo (Zulu) iGqwanitsha (Xhoza) This plant is very popular among succulent collectors and growers, worldwide and is often used for bonsai. It has now been shown to be effective in carbon sequestration (binding atmospheric carbon which is responsible for climate change), in semi-arid landscapes and thicket […]
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Plant of the Month – Jan 2018
Tylecodon cacalioides (Tolken 1978) (Krismisnenta, Krimpsiektebos) This plant is flowering profusely as this article is being written. We are just not used to seeing such beautiful, intensely colored flowers on succulent plants during the summer months. If you are driving between Oudtshoorn and George in the month of January, you will see them on both […]
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Plant of the Month – Dec 2017
Delosperma calitzdorpense L. Bolus 1950 If the name strikes a familiar tone, it is because this plant is known to occur near our town of Calitzdorp. We found a large number of them in the veld near Jakkalskop on our explorations with Priscilla Burgoyne in preparation for the Discovering Mesembs workshop recently. THE PLANTS The […]
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Discover Mesembs – Veld Walk & Seed Workshop
Join the Calitzdorp Succulent Society and Priscilla Burgoyne the Herbarium Curator at the Garden Route Botanical Gardens for a Veld Walk and Seed Workshop to discover and learn about the Mesembs (Vygies) in the veld of the Klein Karoo. Two sessions will be held in the area near Calitzdorp on Friday and Saturday 1 & […]
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Plant of the Month – Nov 2017
Stapelia hirsuta Stapelia hirsuta Linnaeus 1753 (AKA: star flower, carrion flower, aasblom) Known globally as African starfish flowers, and locally as carrion flowers, members of the genus Stapelia are usually characterised by their foul-smelling flowers reminiscent of the odour of rotting meat. The hairs, coloration and surface mimic decaying animal matter […]
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Plant of the Month – Oct 2017
Glottiphyllu regium Glottiphyllum regium N.E. Brown 1928 (AKA: Koeispene) Glottiphyllum regium is a clump-forming succulent and can attain a height of 13 cm and a width of 15 cm. It has a semi-fibrous, shallow root system typical of some succulents. The roots are not destructive and plants can be planted right next to structures. Branches […]
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