Pelargonium alternans

Pelargonium alternans is a shrublet of up to 50 cm in height with woody, slightly succulent stems. The main stem may become 3 cm in diameter, often gnarled and twisted on old specimens.  

Leaves and stems are hairy, also endowed with glandular hairs. The leaves are pinnate and much divided or dissected into tiny lobes. The overall leaf shape is oblong to ovate. The leaf appearance is very uneven from the fine lobes and hairs. This has earned the plant the Afrikaans common name of blomkoolmalva (cauliflower pelargonium). Browsing by game and livestock contribute to the untidy appearance of the plant, although the variable and somewhat unpleasant scent may sometimes keep hungry animals away.

The night scented flowers are white or pink, usually with dark pink lines on the upper petal pair. The branched pink style protrudes well beyond the anthers around it. The needle-like fruits release seeds that fly to new sites with the help of hairy appendages. They then corkscrew their way into the earth where possible, using the twisting tails attached to the seeds.

The species distribution is in the Northern Cape in Namaqualand from around Kamieskroon to the Western Cape around Worcester and the Little Karoo. 

The habitat is succulent Karoo, fynbos and renosterveld on sandstone and quartzite outcrops. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Shearing and van Heerden, 2008; www.cactus-art.biz; http://redlist.sanbi.org).