Authors: Haw.
Shrub 20-120cm tall and up to 1m in diameter; sometimes severely grazed to leave a gnarled, leafless base with the peduncles arising direct from the stubby branches. Otherwise stems slenderly virgate, simple or branched, minutely viscid, nearly glabrous (though with scattered stellate hairs). Leaves 1.2-2.6cm long, subsessile or shortly petiolate, often soon shed, cuneate-obovate, truncate or rounded (on the same plant), denticulate towards tips, glabrous, viscid, veins impressed. Stipules often minute. Peduncles racemose, to 6cm long, one or two flowered (exceptionally to six); pedicels 5-8mm long,jointed,minutely bracteolate below the flower. Calyx 4-7mm long, sparsely hairy and ciliate, with narrow triangular lobes. Flowers opening sequentially, 1.2-2cm long, Pink, orange or scarlet (exterior usually darker); petals broadly obovate, Oxalis-like, three times as long as the sparsely hairy, deeply lobed calyx. Apr-May (also after rains; Aug-Oct for instance). Southern Namibia to S. Africa; Northern Cape (Namaqualand, east to Gordonia, south to Calvinia), among gneiss boulders on sandy plains with low, open scrub; coarse granite soil with Euphorbia and Sarcocaulon shrublets at (450) 900-1,000m.
In 1994 Panayoti Kelaidis collected seed on Hantamsberg, leading to its establishment in both British and North American gardens. N.B. Fieldnotes have been misinterpreted; the mountain in question is in the Northern Cape (not the Drakensberg Mts, 500 miles away to the east) and reaches a maximum elevation of 1,672m; quoting a collection site at '3,000m' is misconceived.
