Curio radicans leaf curvature

Curio radicans cultivated here far beyond its natural distribution in the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden is well satisfied with its foreign living conditions.

The tapering leaves are not as uniformly erect as often seen, their pointed tips angled and curved variably. The strip-like dark windows along the succulent leaf cylinders appear narrow, fold-like. Sunlight enters here and travels through the translucent jelly-like leaf content to allow photosynthesis in cells positioned along the inside leaf surfaces.

Sturdy purple stalks, about 10 cm long, hold the narrow flowerheads well above the foliage. The single row of long, narrow, pointed bracts serve to clasp the bunch of protruding white disc florets firmly. Flowerheads become about 5 mm in diameter (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010).