Succulents, with their unique shapes and resilience, have captured the hearts of plant enthusiasts worldwide. Among these, African succulents stand out for their diversity, adaptability, and captivating beauty. From popular houseplants gracing windowsills to rare, endangered species clinging to life in arid landscapes, these remarkable plants offer a glimpse into the tenacity of life in some of the harshest environments on Earth.
Aloe dichotoma growing in the arid Richtersveld National Park, South Africa.
A Glimpse into the Succulent Karoo Biome
The heart of South Africa holds the Succulent Karoo biome, an immense, desolate, and mercilessly dry landscape. Beneath the vast sun-scorched sky, seemingly endless plains shimmer in the heat. The only sound is the breeze wheezing through dust-dry twigs and low-growing shrubs. This landscape appears hostile to life itself, but plant life is tenacious.
The world’s only entirely arid biodiversity hotspot, the Succulent Karoo biome stretches from Luderitz in Namibia in the northwest, down and across the West Coast of South Africa, and then south-eastwards towards the Little Karoo, a plateau basin. Around 40 percent of the succulent species in the Succulent Karoo biome are endemic, growing only in small patches in this dry landscape and nowhere else in the world.
The species filling it may be small, understated, and often hidden from plain sight, but in the Succulent Karoo biome, plant life is tenacious. It is important to note that small numbers of plants have long been illegally removed from the region by over-enthusiastic collectors, but organized criminal groups have driven a significant spike in poaching recently.
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Popular African Succulents and Their Unique Characteristics
Let's explore some well-known African succulents and their distinctive features:
Jade Plant (Crassula Ovata)
When talking about popular succulents, no other plant is as world-renowned as the Mozambican native Jade Plant. From China to New York, this beauty can be found on the window sills of living rooms of different sizes, crossing cultures, and language barriers as a symbol of good luck. Apart from Mozambique, the Jade Plant still features prominently in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa.
The scientific name Crassula Ovata perfectly describes this succulent. The Jade Plant has many characteristics of a Bonsai tree, with a thick trunk and wide, olive-green leaves. It prospers indoors and will retain water well, producing small white or pink flowers in the right conditions.
Zebra Haworthia (Haworthia Fasciata)
This eye-catching African succulent stays true to its name, the Zebra Plant. Indigenous to South Africa, the Zebra Plant can go without water for long periods as it stores water in its thick leaves and stems. It forms in a rosette of leaves that grow between 4” and 8” tall.
The succulent Plant has an ingrained stress detector; the plant ‘gets stressed’, and the leaves change color. Its leaves turn red after more than 6 hours of direct sunshine. You can tell if your succulent has sunburn as it will have brown marks on the leaf’s surface facing the sun. If the leaves start to turn yellow or transparent, your plant may be drowning. How unique is that?
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Ruby Necklace (Othonna Capensis)
This distant sunflower family member has its roots in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The Ruby Necklace, not to be mistaken by jewelry, This succulent has bean-like foliage that extends from vibrant, ruby-red stems. The succulent bean-like leaves vary in color from green to purple, depending on how much sunlight it is exposed to.
The Ruby Necklace’s popularity, amongst other succulents, has grown because of the adaptability of its vines for trailing and spilling. This fashionable plant not only looks attractive but is also fairly easy to maintain. It requires very little water, and only when the soil completely dries out. The flowers of the Ruby Necklace are a great attraction for pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, making it prominent as an environmental protector.
Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia Milii)
Hailing from the island of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean, the Euphorbia Milii behaves like the ‘femme fetale’ of the succulent world. Not only does this plant have striking, clustered flowers growing on evergreen shrubbery, but it also has long, sharp thorns all around its stems. The yellow, white, or pink flowers grow in red bracts that resemble petals and in tropical locations, the plant flowers all year round.
On the contrary to its beauty, the succulent plant produces a poisonous sap that can irritate when it comes to contact with skin and eyes. This succulent also causes severe stomach aches, vomiting, and inflammation of the throat and mouth if ingested. That being said, the Crown of Thorns is legendary for being a magnificent natural barrier planted as a low hedge, to keep out vermin and unwanted rodents.
Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata)
The Sansevieria trifasciata is one of the most unique species of plants that tracks its heritage between tropical West Africa, Nigeria, and the Congo. This wild-looking plant also goes by the alias The Snake Plant or Mother-in-law’s Tongue mainly due to the shape of its sharp leaf margins.
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This tenacious African succulent can tolerate neglect, abuse, and most unsuitable growing conditions. It is content when placed in direct sunlight and it can go for more than 6 weeks without water. Despite its crazy appearance, this succulent’s popularity has risen as more and more people discover the health benefits associated with this plant. NASA was trying to find a way to purify the air in space stations and they approved the Snake Plant as an outstanding air purifier.
Other Notable African Succulents
- Aristaloe Aristata: Also referred to as The Torch Plant, Lace Aloe, or Guinea-Fowl Aloe, it takes the shape of a perfectly formed rosette, with thick, lance-shaped leaves.
- Kalanchoe Tomentosa: Commonly known as the Panda Plant, Chocolate Soldier, Pussy Ears, or Plush Plant, it originates from Madagascar. The leaves are usually greyish-green and covered all over in tiny hair-like structures that give the leaves a furry look and feel.
- Aloidendron Eminens: It is an upright tree 10-15 m tall, looking somewhat untidy because of its irregularly branching. It occurs in sheltered, well-wooded ravines and on steep rocky limestone slopes North of Erigavo (Ceerigabo), between about 1500 and 2000 m.
- Aloe Peeblesii: From southern Ethiopia and South Sudan to Rwanda and Tanzania, this Aloe is widely distributed on sandy stony soils in grassland and open dry woodland.
The Threat of Plant Poaching
Experts from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) attribute the rise in succulent demand to the Covid-19 pandemic. SANBI estimates that around 1.5 million wild plants have been removed from this sensitive arid environment over just the past three years. Most of these plants are long-lived (20 to 50 years) and very slow-growing, making it almost impossible to find large specimens outside the wild.
The biggest poaching target in the area has been plants from the group Conophytums, of which there are 190 species in South Africa. The name Conophytum comes from the Latin word conus, which means cone, and the Greek work phytum, which means plant. Conophytum range between 0.25 and 2 inches in length and resemble small, plump, split pebbles.
Since 2022, 85 percent of Conophytum species have been listed as either endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN. These succulents play crucial roles in their ecosystems, providing shelter for wildlife and acting as a ground cover that combats erosion.
Conservation Efforts and How You Can Help
To address the growing threat of plant poaching to the natural landscape, endangered species, and local communities, the South African National Botanical Institute (SANBI), the WWF, non-government organizations, and government agencies came together in 2021 to create the National Response Strategy and Action Plan. Together they pioneered a two-pronged approach to tackle the illegal succulent trade in South Africa while simultaneously promoting sustainable socio-economic development.
Among other objectives, their plan aims to establish well-managed succulent collections outside their natural habitats; streamline regulations to enhance compliance and sustainable use of succulents; involve local communities in conservation efforts; and explore options for a legal succulent market that fosters socio-economic development.
In the meantime, plant-lovers around the world can help anti-poaching efforts by avoiding illegally obtained plants. That means shopping at commercial nurseries, which generally get their plants from ethical growers who have permits to collect and propagate plants legally. They can also report those selling plants that show signs of being collected from the wild.
According to SANBI, telltale signs include succulents that are unusually large or have non-uniform growth; incomplete root systems; indications of scars, dents, and holes on plants; signs of natural damage such as from sun exposure; plants that are accompanied by lichens and seeds; and plants that are packaged unprofessionally.
Succulent Karoo Biome.
## Euphorbia GrandicornisEuphorbia grandicornis is a representative of the large group within the genus of shrub-like succulents with spine pairs, also referred to as the diacanthium section. Plants belonging to this group usually have 2 spines that are facing outwards from the edge of a shield. Another example of a member of this group is E. canariensis. Sometimes there are 3 or 4 spines and sometimes only one (for example, in E.
In English-speaking countries, the plant is also called ‘Cow’s horn Euphorbia’. Other names that are widely used are ‘Big horned Euphorbia’, ‘Rhino thorn’ and even ‘Zig-Zag Cactus’. There is also a cristate form and this looks even much more ferocious than the normal plant.
We first come across the name Euphorbia grandicornis in 1889 in the first part of the 2-volume book ‘Pflanzenbiologische Schilderungen’ by the German professor of botany dr. Karl Immanuel Eberhard Ritter von Goebel. In a general story about Euphorbias, he discusses a number of aspects of E. grandicornis as if it were a well-known plant.
After von Goebel it was quiet until 1893. In that year, an article by a Mr. J.E. Weiss, Reader in botany, appeared in the periodical ‘Dr. Neubert’s Deutsches Garten-Magazin’ under the title “Empfehlenswerte Cacteen” (“recommendable cacti”). He took the concept of cactus rather broadly because the last ‘cactus’ discussed in his article is Euphorbia grandicornis.
That was done in 1897 by Nicholas Edward Brown in part 26 of Hooker’s Icones Plantarum. That is why the author’s citation which is always added to the species name in scientific literature, in this case is ‘Goebel ex N.E. Br.’. The description by Brown, who was employed by Kew Gardens near London, was based on a plant that had been cultivated there since 1876.
Nevertheless, there was apparently uncertainty as to where the plant occurred in nature, because in 1904 in Engler’s ‘Botanische Jahrbücher’ ( ‘Botanical Yearbooks’) in a monography on Euphorbia’s in the section Diacanthium the author, F. Pax, writes: “Vaterland unbekannt, vielleicht Africa” (Native country unknown, maybe Africa). The origin of the plant is unknown. However, it is not plausible that it was only recently introduced, because the large specimen in Kew mentioned above, indicates that it is an old inhabitant of our greenhouses.).
Brown and others later compiled the part about the Euphorbiaceae in Sir William T Thiselthon-Dyer’s ‘Flora Capensis’. This part appeared in 1915 and here E. grandicornis is also treated. The last line I find quite funny: “Distribution: Easter Region: Zululand, stone! Marriott! I suspect Marriott is a name, but I haven’t been able to find any information. But especially all those exclamation marks intrigue me.
In modern literature, it is made clear that the range is quite large: South Africa (Kwazulu-Natal), Swaziland, Mozambique, Kenya. There the plants grow at low altitudes (up to 400 m) in small groups between grass or shrubs. They have 3 or 4 ribs and can be up to 2 m tall. It seems that large plants often succumb to their own weight. The variety sejuncta (described in 1970 by Leach), which remains smaller and sometimes grows lying down, has 2 or 3 ribs and is known only from a site in Mozambique. There it grows in the company of Aloe chabaudii, Euphorbia corniculata and E.
In a sunny location, a plant that is preparing to flower stands out because of the vivid red colour of the developing cyathia. These appear on the uppermost and therefore youngest, segments of the stems. There are always 3 cyathia together, but often only the middle one will fully develop. It only produces male flowers (stamens). The two outer cyathia are bisexual. First, the male flowers develop and when they dry out, the female flower (pistil, fig.
All cyathia are bright yellow in colour. This type of inflorescence with a central male inflorescence flanked by 2 bisexual cyathia is often found in Euphorbias, for example in E. Ripe fruits are about 8 mm in diameter and purplish-red in colour. Fruit formation in a E. grandicornis in Jan Celliers Park (Pretoria, South Africa).
A well-drained mixture with little organic material and a lot of additions such as lava, pumice, clay chunks, etc. is recommended. It’s best not to use peat. Give ample water from March to September. In winter, the temperature should be at least 12 °C, but preferably a little higher. Propagation is by cuttings, which root quite easily, or by sowing.
Seed is fairly well available and it is fascinating to see how a wildly thorned plant develops from the delicate seedling with its 2 cotyledons. In frost-free areas, E. grandicornis is recommended for hedges. Pruning is well tolerated. Goats eat the corners off but leave the thorny sides alone.
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