SUMMARY.
Penrock Nursery has, for some time, been building up stocks of attractive rare and ornamental geophytic and xerophytic pelargoniums. The different species are grown from seed mostly produced under controlled conditions in the nursery. Some very rare species are available such as Pelargonium heterophyllum, Pelargonium ochroleucum and Pelargonium radicatum.
The different species produced in the nursery are discussed in this newsletter. There are also photographs of the unusual and beautiful species which can be accessed by people wishing to view them. Penrock Nursery also has available some out of print specialist literature on pelargoniums and sarcocaulons which is listed at the end of the Newsletter.

Pelargonium caroli-henrici is a narrow endemic found in a small area of southern Namaqualand near Bitterfontein.

NEWSLETTER.
Geophytic and succulent pelargonium species make very attractive container subjects. The majority of them are found in the winter rainfall western Cape, the western part of the Northern Cape and the south western part of Namibia which also experiences winter rainfall.

The Section Hoarea of the Genus Pelargonium contains the majority of tuberous species with the most beautiful flowers. These plants apart from having attractive flowers are often characterised by very ornamental leaves such as Pelargonium radicatum.

RARE AND ORNAMENTAL SECTION HOAREA PELARGONIUMS RAISED IN THE NURSERY.
Penrock Nursery has produced some of South Africa's rare pelargoniums for the past decade. These are grown from seeds sown in the autumn and early winter months in South Africa, in April and May. Germination is ideal at this time of the year.

Two species produced in the nursery have become very rare in the wild namely P. heterophyllum and Pelargonium nephrophyllum. Both species are narrow endemics. P. heterophyllum is restricted to the Darling area near Cape Town. Its habitat has been progressively destroyed by wheat fields. The flowers are particularly attractive, cream with undulate margins to the petals. Each petal has a large dark olive red brown blotch.

This species is difficult to hand pollinate and rarely sets much seed in the nursery. The stocks of young plants are consequently rather limited.

P. nephrophyllum is found growing in gravelly sandy soil near van Rhynsdorp, a town in southern Namaqualand. Much of its habitat has also been put under the plough. This species has the unusual habitat of producing its large shell pink flowers, blotched with apricot, in the autumn before the beginning of the growing season.

The northern and western Cape continue to yield interesting discoveries of undescribed pelargoniums. These are mostly rare narrow endemics or else species that occur in small populations growing on specific aspects of hillsides either in sun or semi-shade. One such species is a plant with tripinnately compound leaves so far only known from one isolated mountain near Villiersdorp in the Western Cape. This pelargonium flowers in mid-summer at a time when the leaves have withered completely. The enormous white petalled flowers are as large as those of Pelargonium oblongatum. The petals usually have a large longitudinal crimson blotch. Occasional flowers are also found which lack blotches.

Another unusual species is found growing in sparse renosterveld in the foothills of the Klein Roggeveldberge north of Matjiesfontein in the Western Cape. The plants have elongate pale yellow flowers with prominent dark brown feather markings on each petal. The flowers have the extraordinary characteristic of being strongly aromatic. This is usually associated with pelargonium foliage.

Pelargonium ochroleucum is another rare species which is only known from a small area of arid karooid scrub country inland from Port Elizabeth, near Lake Mentz. This species is very rare in nature but fortunately readily propagated from seeds produced in cultivation. The flowers which are produced as the leaves start to wither have a most unusual combination of lemon yellow and white petals.

Pelargonium radicatum is one of the most ornamental of all the Section Hoarea pelargoniums. It has been found occasionally in a few localities in the Western Cape and Namaqualand. It has recently been found at two sites north west of Springbok.

The species produces broad grey blade-like leaves in the winter followed by very large umbels of rich creamy yellow flowers in early summer, as the leaves wither. Each petal has a prominent red stripe.

The nursery also produces numbers of the more familiar Section Hoarea pelargoniums. Amongst these are the large golden yellow flowered P. oblongatum found around Komaggas west of Springbok. Pelargonium leipoldtii, Pelargonium petroselinifolium, and Pelargonium parvipetalum also feature amongst the stocks in which plant enthusiasts have taken a regular interest.

Pelargonium heterohyllum is one of South Africa's rarest plants and is only known from a small area around Darling in the Western Cape.

UNUSUAL PELARGONIUMS OFFERED BY THE NURSERY.
Pelargonium barklyi is one of the most unusual species in the Genus Pelargonium. It produces large unusual rounded leaves with purple zones during the winter months. These are followed by cream flowers held aloft on long petioles which appear at the end of the winter and in early spring.

Pelargonium hystrix in the extreme south western corner of the Ceres Karoo produces very long stipules. These harden to form ornamental white spines during the summer dormancy. The pelargoniums produce very unusual long petalled cream flowers in the early summer. The nursery has some seed grown stocks of this species which are popular amongst collectors of rare plants.

In recent years a peculiar pelargonium has been discovered in parts of the winter rainfall western Karoo. It has a fleshy tuber like a brachystelma which gives rise to one or more branches. The branches bear succulent leaves like those of Pelargonium carnosum, in the winter months. Flowers are produced form December to April when the countryside in which the plants grow is hot and dry.

This unusual plant is known from two sites north of Matjiesfontein and also from a single locality with similar karooid countryside near Loeriesfontein, further north. These habitats are all in the winter rainfall western Karoo.

PELARGONIUM INCRASSATUM CULTIVARS.
Penrock Nursery has, for some years, been producing selected P. incrassatum cultivars. These have salmon pink, dark pink, cerise and purplish coloured flowers. Selections have been made in favour of plants with large floriferous umbels which flower for long periods of time.

The P. incrassatum cultivars make ideal and unusual pot plant subjects for general horticulture.

TIMES OF THE YEAR AT WHICH PELARGONIUMS ARE AVAILABLE.
Pelargoniums are lifted in the nursery and packed for various retail and wholesale orders from late March until early June. This is in the southern autumn and early winter, shortly before the growing season. Plants are also made available from late September to early November at the time when most winter rainfall species are entering dormancy in South Africa.

Penrock Plants specialises in supplying nurseries abroad with pelargoniums and also packs up retail orders for collectors. Detailed wholesale and retail plant lists are available directly from the nursery. These are emailed to interested parties on request.

Pelargonium ochroleucum is one of the rarest Section Hoarea Pelargoniums. It has a unique combination of yellow and white flower petals.

OUT OF PRINT SPECIALIST LITERATURE ON PELARGONIUMS.
The following publications are available from Penrock Nursery.
Journals of the South African Pelargonium and Geranium Society.
Hystrix Volume 1 No. 3 December 1989. A few copies of this journal are available.
Hystrix Volume 1 No. 4 June 1990. A few copies are available.
Hystrix Volume 2 No. 3 December 1992. A few copies are available.
The Natural Habitat and Cultivation of some Southern African Geophytic Pelargoniums by Charles Craib. Hystrix Natural History and Cultivation Series Volume 1 No. 2 November 1993. This publication is readily available at present.
The Sarcocaulons of Southern Africa by Charles Craib. Hystrix Volume1 No. 3 May 1995. 55 copies available.
The South African Pelargonium and Geranium Society was closed in October 2004. The journals are copywrite of the Society and therefore cannot be reprinted.

Books. Geophytic Pelargoniums. Field and Cultivation Studies of Pelargonium Section Hoarea. Author Charles Craib with illustrations by Gillian Condy. Umdaus Press, Pretoria, 2001. One copy of this book is available signed by the author and artist. For the details about the journals and books please click here

PHOTOGRAPHS OF PELARGONIUMS OFFERED BY PENROCK NURSERY.
Please click here if you would like to view photographs of a number of pelargoniums offered by Penrock Nursery. Most of the photographs feature pelargoniums in flower.

BOOKS AND JOURNALS OFFERED BY PENROCK PLANTS.
A few specialist books and journals on the Geraniaceae and other plant families are offered by Penrock Plants. The publications listed below are available at present.

The prices are for only the publication. Postage and packaging are quoted separately. Prices are quoted in U.S. dollars.

BOOKS.
Geophytic Pelargoniums. Field and Cultivation Studies of Pelargonium Section Hoarea by Charles Craib with illustrations by Gillian Condy. Umdaus Press Hatfield, Pretoria, 2001.
Copy number 727 and Copy number 758 are available signed by author and artist. Mint condition. $350.00 per book, excluding packing and posting.

JOURNALS.
1. Hystrix Volume 1 No. 3 December 1989. A few copies of this journal are available. $30.00 per copy.
2. Hystrix Volume 1 No. 4 June 1990. A few copies are available. $30.00 per copy.
3. Hystrix Volume 2 No. 3 December 1992. A few copies are available. $30.00 per copy.
4. The Natural Habitat and Cultivation of some Southern African Geophytic Pelargoniums by Charles Craib. Hystrix Volume 1 No. 2 November 1993. This publication is readily available at present. $25.00 per copy. $15.00 for 10 or more copies.
5. The Sarcocaulons of Southern Africa by Charles Craib. Hystrix Volume1 No. 3 May 1995. 55 copies available. $45.00 per copy.