Rare and Unusual Plants in Namaqualand
Catch up on the posts about the Garden Staff trip to Namaqualand here, kick-off our journey here on days one through three, and follow our explorations on days four through six.
Day 7
We began the morning near the town of Kleinzee, where a small rocky outcrop sunk into the landscape, putting many of the botanical miniatures conveniently at eye level. In the sands nearby were several more clumps of baby toes (Fenestraria rhopalophylla) which we had to take many more photos of.
It wasn’t just the bright flowers and architectural leaf arrangements that caught our eye, but also many types of ornamental fruits. Our next stop brought us in contact with Aloe krapohliana, the small Karoo aloe, growing near the top of a rocky hillside.
The Lessertia frutescens (cancer bush) was widespread throughout Namaqualand, although its form varied depending on its environment. Unlike the larger flowering bush we saw at Hantam Botanical Garden five days prior, this individual was much smaller and more compact, owing to the drier conditions in this part of the country. Rather than flowers, it graced us with equally ornamental inflated seed pods.
Numerous forms of Mesembs (Aizoaceae) were found throughout this hillside, from the spheroid, lithophytic Conophytum species to the finger-like Mitrophyllum dissitum, to the glistening and shrubby Drosanthemum leuderitzii. These plants have specialized cells just within their leaf surface which serves the dual purpose of storing water and refracting harsh desert light.
As the rainy season of Northern Namaqualand came to a close and the hours of desert sunlight increased, some plants were already experiencing a color change in preparation of dormancy. This Cheirodopsis robusta was turning into a rainbow, as the older leaves began to shrivel in the bright sunlight. Several species of Oxalis were observed in a range of colors we might think of as associated with fall – the chlorophyll is recycled into other nutrients, leaving behind the other leaf pigments until the plant fully returns to its bulb underground.
Near the top of our second mountain of the day we found an unusual Mesemb known as Schlectheranthus stylosus – the angular branching of the spines made it look like someone put a cage of chicken wire overtop the plant, maybe to protect it from rabbits. Here in the wild, the spines serve the same purpose of deterring herbivores who would want to take the moisture stored in its leaves.
Our last stop of the day took us off the kloofs (rocky hills) and onto flatter terrain with a soil type called Kalahari sand – coarse, quartz-derived soils associated with iron-oxide, giving it a striking red color. The plant that stood out most against this background was Wahlenbergia ingrata, a blue-flowering annual plant in the Campanulaceae family, which spread across the ground in loose mats.
The late-afternoon sun and otherworldly backdrop made for fun photography. We captured many species in full bloom before it was time to drive north towards Port Nolloth.
Day 8
Port Nolloth to Richtersveld
There are four main regions of Namaqualand, and we had been to three so far: The coastal zone, near the ocean; the rocky hills of the Klipkoppies; and the quartzite fields of the Knersvlakte. Today we headed towards the last and driest of the four areas: The Richtersveld.
The morning began with a hike into a large gorge with rocky crevices providing habitat for many succulent plants. One standout was a species in the Portulacaceae family, Anacampseros (namaquensis), which was covered in spiderweb-like hairs all over its leaves. These hairs are called trichromes, which many plants have on their epidermal layer – but few to the extent of this species. The hairs act to refract UV rays in the desert sun, deter herbivory, and help to collect fog and dew into water that can be used by the plant.
The walls of this gorge were loaded in several different forms of the genus Crassula, including C. tomentosa, a name which refers to the plant’s covering of short hairs. The species was beautiful both in and out of flower.
At the sandy bottom of the gorge was a lone flower of Huernia namaquensis – the Namaqualand carrion flower. Finding these large and striking blossoms of the Stapeliads always felt like a reward, as they were almost always obscured by other bushes and took special attention to find.
Continuing our drive North, we were compelled to stop by the road to photograph some mass floral displays. Grielum humifusum, perhaps the brightest in the show, is an annual plant in the somewhat obscure family Neuradaceae with the somewhat unfortunate common name of paper snotflower, or pietsnot (Afrikaans for “Snotty Pete.”) To answer the question of how a species can be snotty without having a nose, one must dig deeper, to the roots – these, apparently, are coated in a slimy texture. The root of this plant serves as a carbohydrate source for Nama and Khoi peoples, as well as for a small antelope known as the duiker. Interestingly, while most of the plants had a white center, about 10% had flowers with an attractive dash of pink.
From here we turned off road, into the blowing sands classic to this part of the Richtersveld. Despite being the driest part of the Northern Cape Province, roughly 30% of all of South Africa’s succulent plant species can be found here in this harsh landscape. One such plant was Monsonia patersonii, a spiny and succulent member of the geranium family.
Nearby was another plant with dusty-pink flowers – perhaps indicative of a shared pollinator. Lapeirousia barklyi, a corm in the family Iridaceae, was in full bloom, somehow all with immaculate flowers despite the harsh conditions. Unfortunately, this beautiful plant is now endangered and declining, due to mining, overgrazing, and new development in its narrow range of the Richtersveld and Southern Namibia.
Plants have gotten creative when it comes to ways to live in the desert. Many, like the lapeirousia barklyi, stay low to the ground and go dormant when conditions are at their driest. This is the case also for a curious species of pelargonium, P. sibthorpiifolium. The whole plant is no more that five inches above the surface of the soil, with the largest part of the plant being the tuberous underground stem.
If you must persist through the Namaqualand summer, the best way to survive is to reduce surface area, so there is less chance of desiccating due to water loss.
