On Another Day - Conophytum hunting in South Africa.

[FlorentG]

Chris, you say there is no more than 3 Conophytum species on Rosyntjiesberg. Actually there is more. There is at least 5 if I remember well.
On top of the ones you found, there is a tiny (TINY !) form of C. pagae on the top of the mountains as well as a giant form of C. jucundum ssp ruschii.


You ask if C. angelicae sheds its sheats during winter. Well, in August, they were almost cleared of their sheats. Almost.



C. pagae, tiny form



Giant C. jucundum rushii



You have to be crazy to hike in the Rosyntjiesberge.



But it is extremely rewarding !

[ChrisR]

Thanks for that Florent - it's adds interest to my post. I'd say you have to be more crazy to go to the TOP of Rosyntjieberg, but at least we saw the 3 best conos up there

I've evey admiration for your enthusiasm and energy - it must be easier in winter when not so hot. Were the nights almost freezing to sleep out though? We went in April to see conos in flower of course and we have been at that time of year many times but it was never as hot as this time. You must have been glad to see a bed and shower when you left there!

[FlorentG]

Hi Chris,

It was 3°C and very windy in the morning when we camped up there, almost on the top. It is for sure nicer in winter. I cannot imagine how it is in summer !
But still, in the middle of the day, the weather was quite hot (>25°C) and we had to carry quite a lot of water.

I cannot wait to be back in SA !

I hope to read more of your last exploratory trip soon !

Florent

[FlorentG]

I wonder if this is not Cono. Rosyntjiesberg n°6 !

[ChrisR]

Well it's another Cataphracta Florent and different to the tiny pageae thing you showed previously.

[FlorentG]

And this is the Conophytum growing on Oemsberg (with C. jucundum rushii and C. bilobum), probably related somehow.



Oemsberg is also impressive. You can easily get trapped in those deep valleys. Mostly Unexplored territory !!



We slept in what I think is the famous Oemsberg Amphitheater (on the second night) (see G. Williamson's book on Richtersveld). Many birds.

Florent

[ChrisR]

It's a cute little thing....and due to the spotting I suspect would be called stevens-jonesianum under Steve Hammers classification. But where you draw lines between all the Cataphracta - pageae, breve, stevens-jonesianum (and the the older names like udabibense and johannis-winkleri) is often a mystery to me. I'm sure if you could see them all together from multiple populations the convergense would be obvious. The flowers don't help much either!

I'd like to hear what Terry thinks about it.

[FlorentG]

Exactly ! Every Cataphracta population I see is different ! There are dwarf forms and giant forms, and sometimes even a great intra-populational variability !

Now I realize that Conophytum is no better than Haworthia (and than any other plant genera) when it comes to building a nice hierarchical classification.

[Apicra]

Wow, Florent! Carrying water & food for 3 or 4 days across terrain like that looks like serious hard work!

The Rosyntjiesberg C. pageae, tiny form, seems to have the right proportions for C. breve; whereas the spots on the Rosyntjiesberg no. 6/Oemsberg Cat. seems to point to C. stevens-jonesianum, as Chris says.

In general, Cono species are much better differentiated than Haworthia/Tulista because they are so edaphically (geol/soil) specific. Perhaps the Cats. are an exception being widespread, primitive(?) and tolerant of a wide range of substrates.

Best wishes,
DT

[FlorentG]

That's true. One just have to look at the mess of Conophytum [ectypum & relatives] populations around Rietkloof/Anenous Passs to be convinced of how over-differenciated they can be.