Orbea cooperi distribution and habitat

Orbea cooperi grows in the north-west of the Eastern Cape near Cradock, the northern Karoo, western Free State and southeastern part of the Northern Cape.

Growing among scrub or in grass it may easily be overlooked when not flowering, even when surrounding vegetation is short as in the photo. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

About half of the 56 Orbea species occur in the southern hemisphere (White and Sloane, 1937; www.llifle.com; www.redlist.sanbi.org).