Pelargonium suburbanum subsp. suburbanum

Pelargonium suburbanum subsp. suburbanum is a sprawling shrublet reaching 30 cm in height.

The pink flowers grow in small clusters of up to six from leaf axils. The upper petal pair is longer and broader than the three narrowly oblong petals with rounded tips below. The upper petals curve back, sharply marked in dark purple from the petal base to over halfway up their length; the line markings mainly following vein lines. Flower diameter is up to 4 cm.

The distribution of the subspecies is coastal in the Eastern Cape from Humansdorp to Port Elizabeth. The habitat is Algoa dune strandveld and sandstone fynbos, the plants growing among low scrub on dunes and lowland flats. Annual rainfall in this area varies from 400 mm to 800 mm.

Maybe a plant with a name suggesting a suburban orientation was always on a hiding to nothing outside the garden environment: The subspecies is considered to be vulnerable in its habitat early in the twenty first century, due to habitat degradation from urban development and alien vegetation invasion.

The other subspecies of P. suburbanum, viz. subsp. bipinnatifidum, grows in the Western Cape and fares considerably better in the survival stakes (Manning, 2009; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; www.redlist.sanbi.org).