''Larryleachia cactiformis'' (also known as the cactus barrel milkweed) is a stapeliad succulent, native to the

Richtersveld The Richtersveld is a desert landscape characterised by rugged kloofs and high mountains, situated in the north-western corner of South Africa’s Northern Cape province. It is full of changing scenery from flat, sandy, coastal plains, to cragg ...

and

Namaqualand Namaqualand ( Khoikhoi: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoi people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River int ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, where it grows in rocky areas. ''Larryleachia cactiformis'' proves as difficult a member of the family Apocynaceae in cultivation as others in its genus.

Description

True to its name, ''Larryleachia cactiformis'' grows in the shape of a small cactus, with no leaves, spines or branches but ribbed with mammillae on 4-6 sided protrusions. It is greyish green in colour and starts spherical, then grows into a short cylindrical stem of 4-6 inches high, and sometimes taller in captivity. The flowers grow from 0.2 to 0.6 inch peduncles from the top, and are 1 inch in diameter when open. The corolla is pale yellow, fleshy, five pointed, shrivelled on the inside and decorated with dark red spots and lighter red tips. Seeds are flat and brown.

Varieties

The species has two varieties: * ''Larryleachia cactiformis var. cactiformis'' (Hook.) Plowes * ''Larryleachia cactiformis var. felina'' (D.T.Cole) Bruyns

Distribution and habitat

''Larryleachia cactiformis'' is found in the Richtersveld and in the Bushmanland region of Namaqualand in the Northern Cape, from Sendelingsdrift to Garies. It is found amongst

Fynbos Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...

and

Succulent Karoo The Succulent Karoo is an terrestrial ecoregion, ecoregion defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature to include regions of deserts and xeric shrublands, desert in South Africa and Namibia, and a biodiversity hotspot. The geographic area chosen ...

vegetation on quartz hills on the

Kamiesberge The Kamiesberg or Kamiesberge is a mountain range of jumbled granite inselbergs or bornhardts dotted over sandy plains and centered on Kamieskroon in Namaqualand in South Africa. This range is very like the Matopos of Zimbabwe in appearance. It ...

Cultivation

The usual problems for cultivation of ''Larryleachia'' apply to ''L. cactiformis'', primary of these being the need for year- round warmth and sunlight, and the dangers of

root rot Root rot is a condition in which anoxic conditions in the soil or potting media around the roots of a plant cause them to rot. This occurs due to excessive standing water around the roots.-Hydroponics Root Rot: What is It, How To Treat It, How ...

and mealy bugs.

Grafting Grafting or graftage is a horticulture, horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the roots ...

''L. cactiformis'' onto a

rootstock A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to ...

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure that plants use as storage organs for nutrients, derived from stems or roots. Tubers help plants perennate (survive winter or dry months), provide energy and nutrients, and are a means of asexual reproduc ...

of a ''

Ceropegia ''Ceropegia'' is a genus of plants within the family Apocynaceae, native to Africa, southern Asia, and Australia. It was named by Carl Linnaeus, who first described this genus in his ''Genera plantarum'', which appeared in 1737. Linnaeus referr ...

'', such as ''

Ceropegia woodii ''Ceropegia woodii'' is a flowering plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, native to South Africa, Eswatini and Zimbabwe. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the related '' Ceropegia linearis'', as ''C. linearis'' subsp. ''woodii''. Comm ...

'', and treating the plants against root mealy bugs should mostly alleviate these issues, though

propagation Propagation can refer to: *Chain propagation in a chemical reaction mechanism *Crack propagation, the growth of a crack during the fracture of materials *Propaganda, non-objective information used to further an agenda *Reproduction, and other forms ...

is still a problem as the plant does not offset or seed readily and grows difficultly and slowly from seedling.

References

*''The Complete Encyclopedia of Succulents'' by Zdenek Jezek and Libor Kunte (as ''Trichocaulon cactiforme'') {{Taxonbar, from=Q6491356 cactiformis Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces