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Old 15-06-2009, 05:43 PM
Homer Sparrow Homer Sparrow is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Sep 2007
Location: London
Posts: 15
Default Can anyone i.d. this plant pass from southern Africa?

I am posting from London, UK. I have this fleshy plant with a distinctive tuber at the base, which is clearly used to toughing-out extreme drought. It is slightly thorny, with distinctive red, almost crimson, new foliage and branches.

It has a very interesting habit: at sundown, the leaves fold into each other from the outside inwards. The result is a single, thick, leaf profile.

This habit may well be to reduce water loss by evaporation at night - a wild guess here.

But can anyone i.d it, please? Even a genus would be good.

http://www.thetripflare.org/xerophyte/


Many thanks in advance