Pelargonium ovale subsp. ovale

Pelargonium ovale subsp. ovale, in Afrikaans the lepelblaarmalva (spoon-leaf pelargonium), is a tuberous rooted, low-growing shrublet that reaches 30 cm in height. The multistemmed plant resprouts after fire.

The tufted leaves are covered in silky hairs. The plant in picture, having done its flowering for the season by mid-October, has many fruits to show for its labours. The sepals are still clutching the bases of the fruits.

The distribution of the plant is in the Western Cape from Tulbagh and Wellington to the Eastern Cape around Kariega (Uitenhage). This plant was seen on the Rooiberg in the southern Cape.

The subspecies typically grows in grassy, moist fynbos and renosterveld on coastal mountain slopes in loamy or sandy soils. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2009; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).