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Plant Highlight: Cheiridopsis speciosa
By Brian Kemble
About the genus
Cheiridopsis is a genus of succulent plants in the Aizoaceae, or Ice Plant Family, with all of the speies native to the winter-rainfall region in western South Africa and the neighboring southwesern corner of Namibia. Opinions vary as to how many species should be recognized, but the book Mesembs of the World, publiched in 1998, lists 33. They are a variable group, but many of them have fat, fleshy finger-like leaves, as is the case with Cheiridopsis speciosa.
Area of occurrence
Cheiridopsis speciosa comes from northern Namaqualand, an arid area in the northwesern part of South Africa with dry summers and occasional rains during the winter months. The average annual rainfall in the area is about 3 inches (77 mm) Typical daytime temperatures in mid-winter average about 63° F (17° C), with overnight lows often near freezing. Cold spells can see the temperature drop to as low as 28° F (-2° C). In mid-summer, daytime temperatures climb to about 86° F on average, or 30° C.
About the plant
As is usual for the genus, plants of Cheiridopsis speciosa grow as low-growing tufts that are never more than a few inches high. A mature clump may be up to a foot across (30 cm). Each head in the clump consists of pale blue-green or gray-green leaf-pairs that are fused together at the base, separating like two diverging thumbs higher up. Where the two “thumbs” meet, a slit separates them. As the hot and dry summer conditions set in, the leaves wither and form a dry protective sheath around the central growing point. When it is time to wake up in the fall, a new pair of leaves emerges from the slit, breaking through the sheath. The leaves are up to 1.7 inches long (43 mm) and about .4 inches wide (10 mm).
About the flowers
Like other Cheiridopsis species, C. speciosa has showy brightly colored flowers that emerge in the winter, opening in the middle of the day and closing in the late afternoon. These have short pedicels (the stalk of the individual flower), so that they are produced at the base of the plant (not hovering above like little parasols, as is the case with some other members of the Ice Plant Family). The open flowers are up to 2⅓ inches in diameter (6 cm), with up to 100 petals arrayed around the outside, and up to 200 stamens grouped at the center. The color is typically in the magenta to purplish-red range, but in some populations red-orange flowers may be encountered. In the Southern Hemisphere home range of the species, the peak flowering time is in July and August, but in Northern Hemisphere gardens our seasons are at the opposite time of the year, and flowers come in December to February.
About the fruits
The fruits of Cheiridopsis speciosa are rounded capsules with 10 chambers, or locules, that contain the tiny seeds. As the seeds ripen, the capsule browns and dries, with 10 slits in its domed top indicating the 10 locules within. The capsule’s diameter is between .35 and .6 inches (9 to 15 mm). Only after rains do the capsules open, looking like 10-pointed stars and allowing raindrops to splash out seeds. When dry conditions return, the capsules close up again, waiting for another occasion when moisture will repeat the process.
Plants in cultivation
Cheiridopsis speciosa does well in Mediterranean-climate gardens where winter lows are not too severe and where rainfall levels are not too high. Like many ice plant relatives from the winter-rainfall region, it does not do well in places with significant amounts of humidity and rainfall in the summer months, and those who wish to grow it in such places must keep it indoors or in a greenhouse. It needs plenty of sun, and it does best in situations where it is not shaded during the afternoon in winter, during its flowering season.
