P. schlechteri

P.schlechteri is a beautiful pelargonium with an inflorescence of bio coloured mauve,maroon or purple flowers edged with beige or white. The leaves are ovate in shape,thicker at the base with a leathery texture.

It is believed that this plant was named after the botanist and taxonomist Rudolf Schechter who collected plants during his expedition to Africa from 1891 and later to Indonesia & Australia, Rudolf is said to have discovered 1000 species of orchids and wrote many books on botany.

Pelargonium schlechteri is native to South Africa in North Drakensberg, Kwazulu Natal, Mpumlanga and the Eastern Cape where it grows in high altitudes, close to streams or among large rocks.

Pelargonium luridum

Pelargonium luridum has graceful clusters of cream,beige,yellow,pink or red flowers on long stalks which are night scented. It is a tuberous plant and the leaves grow from ground level without stems, The leaves are feather like and change slightly with age, when young they are more ovate in shape and when mature are divided more into leaflets. The name P. luridum is derived from the Latin word meaning smoky yellow, this refers to the colour of this plants petals and is native to a wide area of South Africa, Cape province,Natal,Orange Free State and Transvaal usually in grassland and damp areas. In the early 1800’s this plant was listed as a geranium by Henry Charles Andrews an English botanist and botanical artist who illustrated & published five books on botany from 1797-1888.

A root of P. luridum was sent to England from South Africa to Robert Sweet, an English botanist and horticulturist who mentions in his works about a plant that had not flowered, although a little later when the plant grew bigger and bloomed he knew it was the same species as Henry Charles Andrews and changed the botanical name geranium to pelargonium luridum which was mentioned in the colvill catalogue 1822.

Pelargonium quarciticola

Pelargonium quarciticola is a new species discovered in the year 2000 by Ulrich Meve & Elizabeth M Marais. It has white, cream to light pink flowers and darker pink veins on the obovate upper and lower petals with yellow pollen and somewhat sticky semi succulent feathery leaves which become reddish brown in the Sun. This plant is native to the quartz fields of Knersvlakte in the Western Cape of South Africa usually in the North where it grows in quartz gravel. The caudex is turnip shaped and can grow up to 2 cms and the whole plant can grow to 5 to 10 cm in height when flowering. P. quarciticola is part of the Hoarea (Sweet) section, although the leaves of this particular plant do differ from others in this section.

Seed catalogue

The 2019 seed catalogue is now available to view & download via this link http://www.pelargoniumspeciesworld.com/page23.html