Pelargonium acetosum

Pelargonium acetosum, commonly known as the sorrel-leaved pelargonium and in Afrikaans as the suurmalva (sour pelargonium), is a bushy shrub growing many slender branches to heights around 1 m. It is here seen scrambled into other shrubbery. The stems are smooth and succulent when young.

The species distribution is in the east of the Western Cape, in the Little Karoo from Oudtshoorn eastwards to the Eastern Cape around the Kouga River to Uitenhage and inland in the Karoo.

The habitat is karoid scrub and dry grassland on stony slopes, favouring clayey soils. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

The plant is browsed by game and stock, while people also eat the sour leaves and buds (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://pza.sanbi.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).