Conophytum using old leaf sunblock

This Conophytum plant is snugly lodged between rocks on an outcrop in the semi-desert of the Northern Cape. The plant branched into several succulent leaf pairs and flowered against forbidding odds. The dry remains of the old leaf skin husks still surround the new season’s green growth as protective coverings.

Conophytum leaf pairs are typically fused into conical units. Flowers emerge singly from the centre of these tiny cones. The erect stamen clusters in picture are more or less withered, but still erect with help from the succulent sepals around them (Smith, et al, 1998).