Delosperma lavisiae

Delosperma lavisiae, sometimes called the Drakensberg sheepfig, is a ground-covering, branched succulent with pink flowers. The flowers have single whorls of petals and lax, pale yellow to whitish clusters of stamens and styles in their centres. Petal shape is oblong with variable tapering towards or rounding of petal tips. The flower diameter is about 2,5 cm.

The leaves are paired and erect. Leaf colour is beige with a little green when the plant is seasonally stressed as here, brighter green with ample rain. The leaf shape is elliptic with pointed tips. The upper leaf surface is slightly concave, the lower one keeled.

This is a much used garden plant, valued because it grows easily with good flowers and foliage, is drought resistant and grows in various soil types, best in full sun. 

The distribution of D. lavisiae is the eastern Free State, inland KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho. The plant grows in grassland at medium and high altitudes. The plant is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

The photo was taken in January in the Mkhomazi Wilderness Area in the Drakensberg (Smith, et al, 1998; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).