Our Succulents
The Klein Karoo forms part of South Africa’s Succulent Karoo Biome, which is identified as one of the country’s three biodiversity hotspots. It is situated in the Western Cape, between the Swartberg and Langeberg Mountains, and offers a rich centre of diversity for succulent plants. The climate is semi-arid with rainfall in winter and summer. The rocks and soil used in the conservatory display include Enon Conglomerate and Witteberg quartz.
The vegetation is Succulent Karoo, which is included in the Cape Floristic Region. As the name implies, succulents dominate in this region especially the families Mesembryanthemaceae and Crassulaceae. Small shrubs that can be seen in the Little Karoo bed include Plumbago tristis (Karoo plumbago or Karoo syselbos), Senecio acutifolius (serpentine bush or serpentynbos) and Crassula arborescens ( jade plant or beestebal). Senecio articulatus (worsies, which means little sausages) resembles a Euphorbia.
Prominent members of the Mesemb Family (Mesembryanthemaceae) growing in this section include: Gibbaeum species, known as haaibekkies in Afrikaans, which literally means little shark jaws, from the way the leaves resemble a gaping mouth; Glottiphyllum species, known as volstruisvygie or volstruiskos, meaning ostrich vygie or ostrich food, a genus of about 10 species mainly endemic to this region, with large soft green cylindric to flat very juicy leaves and conspicuous yellow flowers during winter and spring; Sceletium species, known as kougoed meaning chewing stuff, which have spreading stems with soft succulent leaves and white to yellowish flowers. In the past, they were fermented and used as a sedative by the local people.
In the mountains that surround the region, fynbos vegetation can be found at higher altitudes that receive higher rainfall. The vegetation found within the various fynbos habitats varies in composition including whether they are dominated by members of the Ericaceae or Proteaceae family or the degree of grassiness of the vegetation.
Less than 0.5% of the area of the Succulent Karoo Biome has been formally conserved. The biome has a high number of rare and Red Data Book plant species. The high species richness and unique global status of the biome require urgent conservation attention. Fortunately, there are few invasive alien plants.