Delosperma lehmannii is a succulent plant native to parts of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Sometimes called ice plant, it is grown as a decorative houseplant for its distinctive smooth, angular leaves. The specific epithet lehmannii honors the German professor of botany in Hamburg Johann Georg Christian Lehmann. Delosperma lehmannii grows in the eastern coastal strip of the Cape Peninsula over an area of about 70 km2 between Coega and Port Elizabeth. It grows on quartz soils in the Karoo. It tolerates aridity well and temperatures down to -5 °. Densely leafy, it forms a cushion with a tap root and some additional adventitious roots on sprawling, prostrate stems.Although it has not yet been subjected to an evaluation by the IUCN, the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) has classified it as a species at extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. In 2006, of the six registered populations, four were extinct due to the urban expansion of Port Elizabeth; in one of the remaining sub-populations near Coega over 60% of the habitat had been lost to mining.
Botanical profile.
- Plant Type
- Succulent
- Life Cycle
- Perennial
- Genus
- Corpuscularia
- Family
- Aizoaceae
- Hardiness Zone
- 9-11
- Mature Height
- 20 cm
- Mature Spread
- 30 cm
- Leaf Color
- Green, Gray, Blue
- Leaf Type
- Evergreen
- Flower Color
- Yellow
- Flower Size
- 2.03 cm to 3.05 cm
- Bloom Time
- Mid spring, Late spring, Summer
- Planting Time
- Spring, Summer
- Harvest Time
- Summer, Early fall, Mid fall
- Native Area
- South Africa
Other names.
