Tulista pumila... some red, some green

This stand of Tulista pumila plants, commonly known in Afrikaans as vratjiesaalwee (little warts aloe), grow in the Agtervinkrivier valley near Robertson. They were photographed in March at the end of the dry season.

Some plants have already responded to some rain, as have the adjacent green mosses on the ground. Others still suffer from the seasonal desiccation, being red with curled-in leaf rosettes. Long dry stalks remaining from last season’s inflorescences still protrude from some rosettes. When the green returns, photosynthesis brings food for growth and recovery.

The area is rich in these plants as well as in many other succulents hiding among the generally grey shrubbery that does not divulge its secrets of interesting diversity to travellers passing on the road at speed (Scott, 1985).