''Anacampseros lanceolata'' is a species of

succulent plant 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'', meanin ...

native to the western

Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is ...

and

Overberg __NOTOC__ Overberg is a region in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Western Cape Province's south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the e ...

regions of

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 ...

.Dyer, R. Allen, ''The Genera of Southern African Flowering Plants''. , 1975

Description

Anacampseros lanceolata - Bonnievale area 2 - Copy

''An. lanceolata'' has branching stems, reaching around 8 cm in height. It has smooth, hairless, tapering leaves (2–3 cm long) with flat upper surfaces and acute-lanceolate tips. It grows relatively few, long bristly hairs between its leaves (axillary hairs). In subspecies ''lanceolata'', these bristles are shorter than the leaves, while in the subspecies ''nebrownii'' they are longer. It has a branched inflorescence with broadly ovate petals, 30-45 stamens per flower and angular seeds. The flowers are pink or white.

Distribution

This species has an extensive (but narrow) distribution along the western part of South Africa, from the border with

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

, through the Namaqualand and western

Great Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent i ...

, down to the Worcester area in the

Robertson Karoo Robertson Karoo is a semi-arid vegetation type, restricted to sections of the Breede River Valley, Western Cape Province, South Africa. It is a subtype of Karoo, Succulent Karoo (geographically an extension of the "Little Karoo") and is characteri ...

. The subspecies ''nebrownii'' occurs in the

region to the south, from

Bredasdorp Bredasdorp is a town in the Southern Overberg region of the Western Cape, South Africa, and the main economic and service hub of that region. It lies on the northern edge of the Agulhas Plain, about south-east of Cape Town and north of Cape Agu ...

in the west, to Uniondale in the east. This species, of the region's ''

Anacampseros ''Anacampseros'' L. is a genus comprising about a hundred species of small perennial succulent plants native to Southern Africa, Ethiopia and Latin America. The botanical name ''Anacampseros'' is an ancient one for herbs supposed to restore los ...

'' species, tends to favour relatively less arid areas, and is often found in Fynbos or Renosterveld vegetation. In slightly more arid habitats, it tends to be replaced by its close relative '' Anacampseros retusa''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17241038 lanceolata