Gibbaeum heathii

Gibbaeum heathii is a species of succulent plant in the genus Gibbaeum, endemic to South Africa.

Gibbaeum heathii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Aizoaceae
Genus:	Gibbaeum
Species:	G. heathii
Binomial name
Gibbaeum heathii (N.E.Br.) L.Bolus
Synonyms
Gibbaeum blackburnii L.Bolus Gibbaeum comptonii (L.Bolus) L.Bolus Gibbaeum dubium (N.E.Br.) H.Jacobsen Gibbaeum luckhoffii L.Bolus Mesembryanthemum heathii N.E.Br. Rimaria comptonii L.Bolus Rimaria dubia N.E.Br. Rimaria heathii (N.E.Br.) N.E.Br. Rimaria luckhoffii (L.Bolus) L.Bolus

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.^[1]

Distribution

This species is indigenous to an arid area of the Western Cape Province, South Africa, and specifically around the Little Karoo districts of Montagu, Ladismith and Swellendam, where it grows on hot open rocky plains. It favours loam among rocky quartz gravel.^[2]

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.

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