Pelargonium praemorsum subsp. praemorsum

Pelargonium praemorsum subsp. praemorsum, previously P. quinatum, is a winter-growing shrublet branching much from the base and reaching heights to 1 m. The semi-succulent stems are brown and bending, shiny and jointed, zigzagging at the nodes. Old, lower stems become thick. There are sparse hairs on the stems as well as leaf stipules that harden like thorns.

The kidney-shaped leaves growing on short stalks are deeply five-lobed into narrow segments, the surfaces hairy and the margins toothed. The plant is sometimes commonly called the five-fingered pelargonium on account of the leaf lobes. The leaves have a spicy fragrance. They become about 2 cm long.

The subspecies is distributed in Namaqualand and the Richtersveld in the Northern Cape, southwards into the Western Cape as far as Clanwilliam and the Bokkeveld Plateau. It also grows in southern Namibia.This plant was seen at Naries west of Springbok.

The habitat is dry, rocky shale slopes in an arid winter rainfall region. The plants often grow sheltered by other plants or rocks. This plant is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

The other subspecies, subsp. speciosum, is more range restricted in the Richtersveld near the Gariep River, known at a place called Khubus. It has shallow leaf notches separating the leaf lobes, not deep incisions (Le Roux, et al, 2005; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; www.llifle.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).