Tetragonia microptera

Tetragonia microptera, commonly known in Afrikaans as misbredie (dung stew(!)), a name shared with several other plants, is a prostrate annual growing stems up to 30 cm long. The species used to be known as T. cynocrambe.

The distribution is in the Northern Cape and Western Cape from Namaqualand, the Tanqua Karoo and south-eastwards as far as Knysna, as well as in Namibia. This plant was photographed at Naries near Springbok.

The plants grow on sandy flats, often on disturbed land like fields left fallow for a few years. Often seen in the open in full sun, the spreading plant usually succeeds in only sparsely covering its patch of ground. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Le Roux, et al, 2005; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).