Adromischus marianiae

Adromischus marianiae is a variable perennial succulent reaching 10 to 15 cm including the inflorescence. The plant is anchored by tuberous roots, grows slowly and branches to form spreading clumps.

The leaves of A. marianiae are oblanceolate to elliptic, usually thickly succulent. The leaf edges have white or brown ridges that are often raised. Leaf surfaces are covered in small warty protrusions and may be spotted or unspotted. The plant is commonly known in Afrikaans as the brosplakkie ("brittle little slab", fairly literally descriptive of the leaves).

The resemblance to Gasteria creates some doubt as to identification; pictures of the plant show a somewhat bewildering diversity.

The species distribution is in the northwest of the Western Cape and through Namaqualand in the west of the Northern Cape to the south of Namibia. This plant with its blackened old leaves was photographed during August, outside the flowering season in the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden at Worcester. 

The habitat is succulent shrubland, strandveld and grassland, often on gravelly slopes and flats or among Namaqualand boulders, the plants often sheltered under bigger plants. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Van Jaarsveld, et al, 2006; Le Roux, et al, 2005; http://redlist.sanbi.org).