Crassula deltoidea on the rocks

Crassula deltoidea will present its early summer flowers in what appears to be trying environmental conditions, exposed like this in Little Karoo veld. It grows a taproot in the gravelly, bare soil.

The plant gets to about 15 cm tall, its branches spreading 10 cm wide. The succulent leaves are pale and smooth, mainly grey, while the branched flower panicles are held above them, festooned in colour for the benefit of pollinators, while also appreciated by flaneurs of the veld (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; www.plantzafrica.com).