Page 14 - may2021

indigenous

For a desert, or arid area,

you’d expect Botswana to

have plenty of succulents, but
compared to our neighbour,

South Africa, we have very few.

However, hidden between rocks you do
occasionally come across varieties of
Asclepiad, like Stapelia gigantea and Piaranthus
atrosanguineus (top right). We have a few
species of Kalanchoe in Botswana, like
Kalanchoe rotundifolia (below left) which has
beautiful dainty orange-red flowers, and
around the country you can find lovely Aloes
and Euphorbias.

In the Central Kalahari, grows the famous
hoodia plant, Hoodia gordonii (right).
Cynanchum viminale (below right) is quite an
unassuming succulent, until it flowers, a
bunch of creamy-yellowish flowers bursting
off brownish green stem-like vines. It appears
to like rocky areas around the Kgatleng
district, as does the very attractive flowering
succulent, Pterodiscus ngamicus (opposite page).
Text & Photos by S.C

14