Ruth Bancroft Garden Tumblr

Cephalophyllum pulchrum

Cephalophyllum is a genus in the Ice Plant Family (Aizoaceae) from the western part of South Africa, where the rain comes in winter and the summers are dry. Since this seasonality is the same as that found in other Mediterranean climate areas, such as California, these plants do quite well here. January and February are peak flowering months for Cephalophyllum, and several species have begun flowering in the last couple of weeks here at the Ruth Bancroft Garden. Note that they would flower at the opposite time of the year in their native South Africa, since it is in the Southern Hemisphere.

-Brian