Gibbaeum

Gibbaeum
Gibbaeum heathii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Core eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Aizoaceae
Genus: Gibbaeum
Haw., 1821
Species

21, see text

Gibbaeum is a genus of about 21 species of small succulent plants of the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to the Little Karoo region of South Africa. The name "Gibbaeum" comes from the Latin gibbosus (hunchback)

Description

Gibbaeum pubescens in natural habitat.
Gibbaeum shandii in flower.

These dwarf succulents are characterized by distinctively asymmetrical pairs of leaves, mostly globular or sometimes thick and arcuate. The sizes of the leaves of each pair are nearly always different. Gibbaeums grow in clumps and produce pink or white flowers in spring.[1][2]

Cultivation

Sunny exposure and well drained soil. Their natural range spans the boundary between winter and summer rainfall areas of southern Africa, and their growth period (emergence of new leaves and flowering) is therefore in summer for some species and in winter for other ones. However, overall most species can be watered primarily in winter. Temperature must stay above 10 °C in winter.

Propagation can be done by cuttings or by seeds. Many of the species hybridise easily - with each other and with the related Muiria genus.

List of species

References

Wikispecies has information related to: Gibbaeum
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