About Drosanthemum lavisii L.Bolus
Drosanthemum lavisii L.Bolus is a slender, succulent shrub. Its leaves are small and slender, measuring 10–14 mm long by 1–3 mm wide. They are often slightly flattened, being a little wider than they are thick, and each leaf has a pointed, downward-curving hook at its tip. Like D. speciosum and D. pulchrum, this species has smooth leaf surfaces. Its flowers can be bright yellow, orange, pink or red. Drosanthemum lavisii can be identified by its recurved, hooked (uncinate) leaf-tips; this trait is especially prominent on new leaves, and is also found in D. edwardsiae and D. uniondalense. It can also be distinguished by the rough base of its calyx, which has 9 to 13 bladder cells along each ridge, a characteristic it shares with D. boerhavii. Drosanthemum lavisii is an endangered species that is endemic to the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Its distribution range stretches from Ashton, Bonnievale and Montagu in the north, south to Bredasdorp and the northern foothills of the Potberg mountain. Eastward, it grows through the Heidelberg and Riversdale regions of the Overberg, reaching as far as Albertinia. It grows along the inland transition zone between the Renosterveld and Fynbos vegetation types. This species prefers habitats of conglomerates and colluvial terraces with quartzite cobbles. Its substrate sometimes also includes silcrete, ferricrete or shales, and it is frequently found in Shale Renostervelds and Ferricrete Fynbos vegetation types. It grows in alluvial gravels among surrounding vegetation that includes small shrubs, Restionaceae, and a high density of grasses.
