Pelargonium tetragonum young buds

Pointed green Pelargonium tetragonum buds are still bowed on curved pedicels in the afternoon sun here in the Barrydale Little Karoo. Pointed bracts are present where peduncle splits into pedicels, well behind the buds. When opening approaches, the pedicels will stiffen, presenting the bud tips angled up for the dramatic, though soundless parting of the petals.

The sprawling mass of green, ridged and jointed stems looks young and vibrant here after winter rain. It allows prodigious flowering as well as the occasional leaf, a feature mostly lacking from this Pelargonium species, definitely in the dry seasons. Stem succulence serves this plant as a reservoir for survival moisture to last it through the arid times sure to come where these plants grow (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist).