Fenestraria rhopalophylla

Fenestraria rhopalophylla

Fenestraria rhopalophylla

Commonly called "Baby Toes" has small club-shaped leaves with fenestrate ends and form large clumps by offsetting. Flowers colours range from pure white to rich golden yellow.
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Description

Commonly called "Baby Toes" has small club-shaped leaves with fenestrate ends and form large clumps by offsetting. Flowers colours range from pure white to rich golden yellow.

 

Family: Mesebrianthemaceae (Aizoaceae)

Scientific name:  Fenestraria rhopalophylla (Schltr. & Diels) N.E. Br.

Common NameBaby Toes, vensterplant (window plant)

Origin:  Coastal South Africa from Namaqualand in the Northern Cape to Luderitz in Namibia.

Habitat: Grows in areas with sandy or calciferous soils. The plants occur in very dry areas with winter-rainfall of only 100mm or less. In the wild, the they grows mostly buried by sand. The transparent fenestrateleaf tips are often above the sand and allow light into the leaves for photosynthesis.

 

Fenestraria rhopalophylla
Commonly called "Baby Toes" has small club-shaped leaves with fenestrate ends and form large clumps by offsetting. Flowers colours range from pure white to rich golden yellow.

 

 

 

Description: Evergreen mat forming geophyte,  mainly subterranean with just the tips of the leaves appearing above the soil
Stem: Not present or very reduced.
Leaves: Club-shaped flat or rounded on top, often partially buried with translucent, window-like tips on top to admit light. They are smooth and have a waxy layer.
Roots: Thick
Flowers: Medium-large, white to yellow, solitary or in groups of up to three. They are borne on long pedicels, five sepals with membraneous margins are present, many petals occur in one to several whorls, fine stigmas spread up from the centre of the flower.
Flowering time: From mid-winter (or autumn) to early spring.

Fenestraria is a monotypic genus comprising only one specie and one subspecies. On each leaf of this plant there is a transparent window-like area at the top, it is for these window ( in Latin “fenestra”) that the genus name is derived from.

F. rhopalophylla appears very similar to Frithia pulchra, though the leaves are a slightly different shape and F. rhopalophylla has yellow flowers, compared to the pink flowers of F. pulchra. 

 

Cultivation: It is a winter grower but relatively easy to grow, it need light sporadic watering during its winter growing period and requires only very light sprinkling in summer as it is extremely rot prone if kept too moist when the heat turns off its growth cycle. Water regularly in spring and autumn, soak the compost fully but allow it to dry out perfectly between waterings. Nearly all problems occur as a result of overwatering and poor ventilation especially when weather conditions are dull and cool or very humid. It does well in full blazing sun, as well as whit some shade in summer. Hardy to -4°C.
 

Propagation: Seeds, or division.