Grielum humifusum [Duikerwort]

[nfoto]

Rørslett, B. 2022.  Grielum humifusum Thunb. Neuradaceae. Duikerwort. South-African flowers photographed in ultraviolet (UV) and visible light. LINK

 

Duikerwort (Afrikaans) = Duiker Root

 

This is a small prostrate species endemic to the North Cape province of South Africa. It grows on dry, rocky soils and the roots are eaten by Duiker, a small antilope.

 

I found this flower on a rocky and sandy slope of the Cederberg Mountains. There is another slighty more common relative, Grielum grandiflorum (L.)Thunb. that can be mixed up with G. humifusum, but I decided on the latter because it did not feature the almost thread-like dissected foliage of the former species. So for now the specific identification stands. There are a few other alternatives though, such as G. sinuatum Licht. ex Burch for which I would access to a better flora to identify. G. humifusum itself is listed with a nominal race, var. humifusum, and var. parviflorum Harvey.

 

The distribution is very limited (map from http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/details.php?langue=an&id=175863), like many other endemic species of this region. I do not know how updated  these maps are, but anyway, this appears to be a rare species. The vars. parviflorum and humifusum seem to be more abundant, though.

 

 

Habit in visble light,

 

Close-up of the pale lemon-yellow flowers,

 

The rendition of the flowersw in ultraviolet (UV) is very dark,

 

The bright central spots likely are the nectaria.

 

 

All images on this page are copyright Birna Rørslett and may not be used without explicit permission of the author.

 

 

[colinbm]

It must have been fun to go to Africa, do you have to keep looking behind you to make sure something isn't thinking about making you dinner ?

[Andrea B.]

Very Eschscholzia-like in its UV version. I always love the delicate looking flowers which have such a black little heart in UV.