Ruschia lineolata

Ruschia lineolata, sometimes called carpet of stars, is a creeping, mat-forming shrublet reaching heights to around 15 cm. The much-branched stems are reddish when young.

The succulent leaves are opposite and three-angled in cross-section, their surfaces smooth. The leaf-tips are acutely pointed. Old leaves are usually blue-green, young ones yellow-green. The leaves become 15 mm long and 5 mm wide.

The flowers grow solitary from leaf axils and stem-tips. They are usually purple or magenta but may also be white. The flower diameter is up to 2 cm. The specific name lineolata is derived from the Latin words linea meaning a line and its diminutive, lineola, referring to the small line occurring along the centre of each petal.

A cone-shaped cluster of stamens and staminodes is present in the flower centre. Flowering happens late in winter and early in spring. The fruits have five locules.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape, coastally south of the Langeberg Mountains from Caledon to Humansdorp and also in the western part of the Little Karoo around Barrydale. 

The habitat is shale ridges of dry streambeds and sandy or loamy soils in scrub, renosterveld and succulent Karoo. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century.

R. lineolata provides an attractive groundcover option to gardeners for dry, sunny places (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Smith, et al, 1998; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).