Conophytum ectypum

Conophytum ectypum is a dwarf succulent that grows a clump of leaves fused together in pairs, shaped like upside down cones. Each flat cone top has a slit in its surface, showing the slight incompleteness of the fusing or merging of the leaf pairs. Flowers emerge from these slits during autumn. Here the leaves are still hidden under the husks of the dried-out remains of the skin of last year’s leaves as the picture taken in April near Okiep in Namaqualand shows.

The young leaves have conspicuous veining, mainly running vertically on the leaf bodies. This veining is still evident in the ridges on these brown husks in the photo. Note the erect cylinder of the flower calyx here, the brown sepal tips visible about one third up the flower tube. The lower parts of the petals are also joined together, taking the tube higher to where the petals split and spread into the pink-purple corolla (Smith, et al, 1998; iSpot).