''Gibbaeum heathii'' is a species of succulent plant in the genus ''

Gibbaeum ''Gibbaeum'' is a genus of about 21 species of small succulent plants of the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to the Little Karoo region of South Africa. The name "Gibbaeum" comes from the Latin ''gibbosus'' (hunchback) Description These dwarf su ...

'', endemic to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Description

This is a small compact succulent, with rounded leaf-pairs that are covered in a fine down. It offsets and eventually can form a large clump. This highly variable species has a large number of different varieties.

Distribution

This species is indigenous to an arid area of the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

Province,

, and specifically around the

Little Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...

districts of Montagu, Ladismith and

Swellendam Swellendam is the fifth oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, and Paarl), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them b ...

, where it grows on hot open rocky plains. It favours loam among rocky quartz gravel.

Cultivation

''Gibbaeum heathii'' requires extremely well-drained loamy soil, and some protection from all-day full sun. It is adapted for a very arid environment, and should receive only occasional water all year round.

References

heathii Endemic flora of South Africa Taxa named by Louisa Bolus Taxa named by N. E. Brown {{Aizoaceae-stub