''Glottiphyllum oligocarpum'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

plant, in the family

Aizoaceae The Aizoaceae, or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is d ...

. It is indigenous to arid areas of 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 ...

, in 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 ...

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

It produces its leaves in two ranks (distichous), having many prostrate leaf-pairs per branch. Each leaf is covered with a white, waxy layer, which can be rubbed off. The leaf is thick with smoothly rounded margins. The stems branch until the plant forms a clump The stalk-less fruits have soft, conical bases, and fall off the plant when they dry, becoming tumble fruits and spreading the seeds. The fruits have high valves and no awns with a maximum of eight locules. This species resembles its close relative ''

Glottiphyllum nelii ''Glottiphyllum nelii'' is a species of succulent plant, in the family Aizoaceae. It is indigenous to the arid Great Karoo region, South Africa. Description The leaves are shiny, green and distichous (produced in two parallel ranks), with smoot ...

'' which overlaps it in range, but mostly grows to the north in the

Great 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 ex ...

. However ''G.nelii'' has shiny leaves, without any pale, waxy covering, and often has translucent lines along its leaf margins. ''G.nelii'' also has fewer branches and fewer leaves per branch.

Distribution

This species occurs in open quartz flats, in the arid north-east of the

(the "Steytlerville Karoo") and the south eastern corner of the

.Heidrun E.K. Hartmann, Horst Gölling: ''A monograph on the genus Glottiphyllum (Mesembryanthema, Aizoaceae)''. In: Bradleya. Band 11, 1993, p.40

References

oligocarpum Taxa named by Louisa Bolus {{Aizoaceae-stub