Acrodon bellidiflorus

Acrodon bellidiflorus is one of the tooth-leaved mesemb genera. The generic name, Acrodon, is derived from the Greek words acros meaning sharp, extremity or tip and odus meaning tooth. So the Acrodon genus is named for the toothed leaves, a feature shared with Faucaria, Carruanthus, Hammeria and five more genera.

The genus comprises six species endemic to the Western Cape, mainly the southern coast. A. bellidiflorus is the only member of the genus found in the Little Karoo across the mountains to the north as well.

It grows in gravelly soils in seasonally moist places. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Smith, et al, 1998; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; http://redlist.sanbi.org).