The blob that has haunted me

"Sphalmanthus resurgens"

I photographed this amazing caudiciform in the greenhouses of Peter Liekkio north of Seattle. It is a plant that has haunted me for over 40 years as you will see!

Honestly, it's basically a blob with some delicate green leaves--why should it taunt me so!?

Phyllobolus (a.k.a. Sphalmanthus) photographed at the cemetery in Matjiesfontein

Here is one of dozens of photographs I took all over South Africa of plants closely related (if not identical) to Peter's blob: these have been known as "Sphalmanthus", and then "Phyllobolus" although lately they've been subsumed into the vastness of the genus "Mesembryanthemum" which is so polymorphic that it boggles the mind--let's stick to "Phyllobolus" if not "Sphalmanthus" for the nonce...

Phyllobolus (a.k.a. Sphalmanthus) photographed at the cemetery in Matjiesfontein

I am quite sure these little tufts of leaves sit atop a large bulb-like caudex, much like Peter's plant!

Phyllobolus (a.k.a. Sphalmanthus) photographed at the cemetery in Matjiesfontein

Taken a year later--another clump: how I would have loved to dig it up! I have a hunch the caudex would be the size of a soccer ball!

Phyllobolus (a.k.a. Sphalmanthus) photographed on the road towards Merwe from Sutherland

I think this may be very close to the plant I grew over 40 years ago which I picture last on this blog post.
 

Phyllobolus (a.k.a. Sphalmanthus) photographed in Namaqualand National Park 

Phyllobolus photographed near Nieuwoldtville ("bulb capital of the world" the sign says outside town)

A slightly different manifestation--no doubt with a big bulbous root as well..

"Sphalmanthus resurgens"

This was scanned from a slide I took about 40 years ago on a row of test beds at Denver Botanic Gardens filled with a random sampling of South African succulents I was testing for hardiness: there were several hundred taxa--only a handful of which survived the winter: this was one--which I photographed and left to perish its second year. How I wish I'd propagated it!

And thereby hangs a tale--one worth your pursuing: I wrote about it in a blog post in 2011: I think you will enjoy following this thread: Click here to do that if you wish. What you will discover is that the very first species new to science that came through my hands was MISS-named because of this plant. Namely Delosperma sphalmanthoides: I assumed the little pink Delosperma sent to me by John Lavranos was another Sphalmanthus--and I shared it with John Trager of the Huntington under the wrong generic name--which was immortalized in the specific epithet.

And Steve Hammer tells me that Delosperma sphalmanthoides may not even be a Delosperma! But then, Sphalmanthus may not even be Phyllobolus! Who knows? Maybe the whole family will all just be subsumed by the genus Mesembryanthemum one day anyway if a super lumper has his/her way...

You can see, perhaps, why I am haunted?