Gibbaeum nuciforme

Gibbaeum nuciforme used to be called G. cryptopodium until fairly recently. It is a clump-forming dwarf succulent with semi-translucent, globular leaves occurring in attached pairs. In dry periods they may be partly underground and just the tips of the leaves are visible.

The Aizoaceae or mesemb family is a very large one that includes this Gibbaeum or hunchback genus of semi-desert plants (gibbosus is Latin for hunchback), with their chunky, unequal leaf-pairs.

This species is a natural resident of the western Little Karoo and slightly into the Great Karoo in the Western Cape.

Its habitat is quartzite outcrops, the plants growing in the open among pebbles. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; http://redlist.sanbi.org).