Glottiphyllum surrectum

Glottiphyllum surrectum, sometimes called the rising tonguefig, is a compact leaf succulent that forms small mats or clumps of spreading branches and erect leaves, reaching 8 cm in diameter.

The decussate leaf-pairs are semi-cylindrical and sharply pointed, in picture ending in dry, mucro-like tips. There is a thin waxy coating on the brown-green leaves. The leaves are up to 6 cm long and 1 cm wide.

The yellow flowers are short-stalked, about 2 cm in diameter. Flowering happens in autumn and winter.

The fruits are soft but woody-based capsules comprising six to eight locules topped by raised valves and large closing bodies.

The species distribution in the Western Cape is in the Little Karoo from Ladismith to Oudtshoorn and just to the north of the Swartberg Mountains near Laingsburg and Prince Albert. The photo was taken at the Sanbona Wildlife Reserve.

The habitat is gravelly clay slopes among variable shrubveld and arid scrub vegetation. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Frandsen, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Smith, et al, 1998; iNaturalist; Wikipedia; http://redlist.sanbi.org).