The ice plant family (Aizoaceae, aka Mesembryanthemaceae) consists of about 1900 mostly succulent species in 138 different genera, of which about 96% are native to southern Africa, with a few Australian and Pacific Rim species thrown in. One of these genera is Cheiridopsis, which contains around 100 species of mostly low and clumping growth forms. And within that number, certainly one of the most wonderful is the aptly-named Cheiridopsis peculiaris, a narrowly endemic ice plant native to only a small part of the Northern Cape Province in South Africa.

The plants have two different types of leaves. The first and most noticeable are the broad, thick, and somewhat ovately triangular pair of winter leaves, which lay mostly flat upon the ground to capture the winter sun by being wide and ground-hugging. Being designed this way, they are able to gather the relatively weak-intensity cool-season sunlight and retain warmth with the help of the soil and rocks, both of which elevate photosynthetic efficiency. The second leaf pair are the more upright and slightly conical summer leaves, which produce the flowers which sit atop the flat winter leaves. But these summer leaves actually persist all year, while the winter leaves die back in the summer months.

What happens is this: Starting in the autumn, after the first rains arrive in the South African deserts, the big winter leaves activate into growth and push up through the smaller summer leaves, replacing them entirely. At this phase the plants generally have only the two winter leaves, not more, and are busy making energy for the upcoming bloom season. Sometime in early spring, the smaller summer leaves appear atop the winter leaves, alongside one or two flower buds. By mid to late spring, the plant blooms and sets seeds with both sets of leaves present.

As spring ends and the long, dry, and rainless summer commences, the plants withdraw the water and nutrients from the broad winter leaves for survival, over time withering them to nothing more than papery husks. The small summer leaves do not die however, although they are dormant and may be quite shriveled under the stress of desert heat and months without watering. The desiccated remains of the winter leaf husks help protect the surviving summer leaves, which persist until the fall, and eventually are themselves replaced by the winter leaves again once rains and cooler temperatures permit new growth. In this way, the plants alternate leaf pairs on an annual cycle.

This particular pattern of paired summer and winter leaves that go dormant and active depending upon the season is actually fairly common in the ice plant family, but what makes Cheiridopsis peculiaris unique is both the large size and rather different shape of the winter leaves versus the summer ones, as well as the ruddy pinkish-red color. Few of the ice plants have this particular combination to the degree that this one does. Hence, the name.

Cheiridopsis peculiaris is one of the many ice plants in the so-called “living stones” group, an informal name for a category generally known to have cryptic coloration that blends in with the soil and rock of wherever they are growing. This crypsis helps the plants survive by camouflaging them against detection by herbivores, and their low stature means less exposure to extremes of temperature and drying via strong winds.

If these C. peculiaris plants weren’t in bright yellow bloom, would you even notice that they were there at all? Especially at a distance of greater than a few meters? And most especially, would you see them in summer-leaf mode, when they are about 80% smaller than in active winter and spring growth mode as seen here? If you were a grazing animal or a casual human observer, the answer is likely not, although succulent enthusiasts always seem to be paying attention to even the most well-hidden species. 😉

The beautiful yellow flowers are evident in mid-spring (September) and ripen into  capsules with small pellet-like seeds by early summer.

A tiny grasshopper nymph sits in the flower of a Cheiridopsis peculiaris. It is likely to  be a cryptic insect itself, morphing into a squat, blocky, ruddy-reddish brown adult that blends perfectly with the same rock chips the plants occupy. The pressures of avoiding detection and predation are equally prevalent upon both animals and plants, which is why camouflage is found in numerous species across biological kingdoms.

Cheiridopsis peculiaris was one of my favorite mesembs seen on my September 2009 trip to South Africa’s Namaqualand and Richtersveld regions.

With its most appropriate name and uniquely clean appearance, I was  charmed by this species. I had never heard of them before coming across them in habitat, and as such they were a wonderful surprise, totally unexpected.

Limited to a tiny area of the Northern Cape Province, it’s hard to time seeing the Cheiridopsis peculiaris in bloom, so we were pleased. Fortunately this narrow endemic plant is actually reasonably easy to grow in greenhouse culture, as long as its needs for strict summer dormancy (total dryness) and winter watering are met. If watered in summer dormancy, you may cause rotting, so respecting that requirement is important. In a container this should not be too difficult to manage. It seems counterintuitive to treat a plant this harshly, but this is what evolution has prepared them to do in order to survive, and understanding this fact is key to their success.

Thanks for visiting and reading!