Dinteranthus pole-evansii Seeds - Rare Indigenous South African Mesemb Succulent

Dinteranthus pole-evansii Seeds

South African Indigenous Mesemb

Mesembs is a common popular term used for succulent members of the family Aizoaceae, which are often placed in a separate family of their own, Mesembryanthemaceae. They are sometimes also referred to as vygies, fig-marigolds, ice plants, midday flowers, living stones or flowering stones. They display remarkable variation in leaf architecture, flower colour and form as well as fruit structure. Therefore these plants fascinate many plant lovers of all ages and have become popular amongst collectors of succulent plants. They make excellent potted plants. Dinteranthus are a group of stemless succulents indigenous to South Africa from the Cape Province, close to the Orange River where they get mostly summer rain. This genus is closely related to Lithops and have similar requirement. The genus Dinteranthus was named after Moritz Kurt Dinter (1868-1945), who did much research on the Namibian desert, the Latinized suffix, anthus, means flower, therefore it means Dinter’s Flower. There are 4 species in the genus. The miniature globular plants have fat leaves which are separated by a shallow or deep fissure; the greenish-grey surfaces could be rough or smooth with indentations and horny ridges or covered with dark green or purple spots. The leaves have a distinct keel along the lower surface which give the leaves a triangular or boat like appearance. The flowers, which arise from within the fissure, are light to dark yellow in colour; they are borne on a short, stout pedicel. Flowers appear from late summer to midwinter (February to July in SA). Once successful pollination has occurred, 6-15 locular fruit capsules appear; seeds are small and slightly course in texture. The plants are distributed in the north-western parts of the North Western Cape in South Africa and the southern part of Namibia (Prieska in the south-east, Sperlingspütz in the west and Karasberg in the North. The quartz patches in which these plants grow provide are ideal, the plants seem to blend in among the quartz pieces. Dinteranthus pole-evansii is solitary or clumping, the leaves are united for about half their length. The wrinkled, light-grey outer surface is rounded, slightly keeled and unspotted. The flowers (30 - 40 mm) in diameter are yellow and bractless. Plants enjoy strong light and will not tolerate overwatering. They require a summer rest and minimum temperatures of 5°C.