h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This weekend on the hills to the east of my house I made a sighting that was, for me, a dream come true! I saw, for a first time, a kind of plant I’d been wanting to see for as long as I’d been interested in plants. It was a Brachystelma circinatum! Now I wasn’t aiming to see this specific species, but any Brachystelma at all. The reason being that Brachystelmas count among South Africa’s weirdest, most unique, and rarest plants! I’ve been keeping my eye out for them ever since learning of them. In my region there are several species that I might find but until this weekend I simply didn’t. I *once* found a tuber that might have been a Brachystelma’s, that had been dug out by animals. I planted it, but it didn’t sprout. But I’ve still been looking. At the University of Limpopo I’ve seen a plant in cultivation, Brachystelma barberae, which is the best known species.

So what are Brachystelmas? They’re relatives of carrion flowers (Stapeliads), which are also favourites of mine. See this:

http://www.h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/brunel/A23934404

And this:

http://www.h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/brunel/A87805650

Brachystelmas differ from them by growing from those weird tubers, while carrion flowers have above-ground succulent stems (occasionally forming creeping, buried rhizomes); Brachystelmas bear leaves while most carrion flowers are leafless. Both groups often have smelly flowers that attract flies or beetles by mimicking rotting meat. But what is interesting about the Brachystelmas is that they are so incredibly diverse in flower shape. In fact, the flowers of different species of Brachystelma can differ more from each other than do the flowers of different genera of carrion flowers! (Note for the taxonomically disadvantaged: a genus is a much larger group than a species, species being contained in genera. So what I’m saying is that the individual species of Brachystelma differ more between them than do the much larger ‘species containers’, the genera, in the Carrion flowers.)

Many Brachystelmas have ‘cage-like’ flowers, where the petal tips remain attached to each other, opening up in between them. Others have flattish flowers, others have tubular flowers, others have cup-like flowers or even hollow, ball-like flowers with a small opening at the one end. In addition to their varied shapes they have also varied colours, markings, and smells!

What makes Brachystelmas so hard to find? Firstly, they’re very rare. They occur at low densities. They’re not like some plants that grow in large colonies, where you can find dozens, hundreds or thousands together. You find them scattered here and there (if you find them at all, that is!). Also they’re small plants, and for half of the year or more, they’re entirely buried underground. They only send up stems and leaves during the warm, wet months. They mostly grow in grasslands, and while the grass over here frequently grows four foot tall or more, Brachystelmas are seldom more than a couple of inches in height.

So then, it was for so long a goal of mine to find these exquisite weirdosities in the wild. And this weekend, I finally did! It was just one plant, and when I saw it … almost physically stumbling upon it … I exclaimed out loud, for the benefit of the birds … “a Brachystelma”! It was just a few inches tall and wide but unmistakable, covered in little flowers. I got down and took some photos of it … here they are:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Brachystelmacircinatum1b_zpse3afc2c7.jpg

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Brachystelmacircinatum2b_zpsd7c040c1.jpg

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Brachystelmacircinatum3b_zps4db73f72.jpg

At the time I didn’t know which species it was, but when I got back home I looked it up. It’s a Brachystelma circinatum! In this one the flat tuber is buried, and I was not going to dig it up! But here are photos I found on the ‘net of a specimen in cultivation, which is raised to expose the tuber so you can see what it looks like; there’s also a close-up of the flower’s ‘corona’, the yellow structure at the centre:

http://full-sun.blogspot.com/2013/06/brachystelma-circinatum-rsa-pretoria.html

Brachystelma circinatum is one of the most widespread species, occurring from the Eastern Cape of South Africa northward, and also in Namibia (perhaps Botswana also). So even at low densities it can still be considered safe. After seeing the one, I kept my eyes peeled for others, but found none. Still, there might be a handful more in those hills.

Brachystelmas are very sought after by succulent collectors ... which is not so good since many are removed from the wild. They can only be grown from seed, and I don't know how much seed they set in cultivation. I've been unable to obtain any Brachystelma seeds from my sources so far (Silverhill Seeds and the Kirstenbosch botanic gardens). I would love to have a little Brachystelma BUT I am NOT going to take one from the wild (unless an animal has dug it up for me and perhaps even not then ... it would be better to replant it right there and hope it survives). Only if I am EXTREMELY lucky and stumble upon one with ripe pods and seeds ... and then I'll only take a few seeds. These things need all the help they can get in the wild being so rare and wide apart, I wonder what pollinates them. This one, at least, did not seem to have any stink to it!

So anyways … my first Brachystelma! Now that I’ve seen this one I’m sure I’ll start seeing more. I’d be happy of course to find more of this species, but it would be very exciting to find some others! In South Africa alone there are about a hundred different known kinds, and perhaps a few species still waiting to be discovered.

I know how happy this made you I wonder if this organisation might worth a look

http://www.operationwildflower.org.za/

Wow that is a neat organization, Peanut --great find.

Thanks Elektra

Hi Peanut and Elektra! Peanut, thanks a lot for that link. I know of these folks but wasn't aware they did work as close to me as this! I knew of the De Hoop Dam but didn't know there was a plant rescue project ... I wish I'd known earlier since I'd have loved to be part of it! I'll contact these folks.

I thought you probably would have heard of it but am glad that it worth another look