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A new species of Crassula L., C. sandrae N.H.G. Jacobsen, a succulent from the Western Cape Province of South Africa, is described. It is intermediate in floral morphology and habit between C. tetragona L. and C. biplanata Haw. of the Section Acutifolia (Schonland) Toelken, differing from both, but is most similar in habit and inflorescence to C. biplanata.

A new variety, Astroloba tenax Molteno, Van Jaarsv. & Gideon F.Sm. var. moltenoi Gideon F.Sm. & Van Jaarsv., is described in A. tenax (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae). While in most characters very similar to A. tenax var. tenax, it differs consistently by being a stable, gigantic, nature-based form of the species. This variety, which geographically does not overlap with A. tenax var. tenax, the typical variety, can be easily separated on its size alone. A. tenax var. moltenoi occurs naturally in the south-central Groot Karoo, near Prince Albert in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The species is illustrated and a map is provided of its geographical distribution range.

Tylecodon celatus is named from plants found near Nuwerus, southern Namaqualand in the Western Cape. It is a cryptic semiscandent dwarf summer deciduous succulent with yellowish green to greenish flowers only known from the Farm Erdvarkgat growing on sandstone of the Flaminkberg Formation (Vanrhynsdorp Group). It is related to T. suffultus and T. similis from the same region.

Summary: A re-evaluation of the two cliffdwelling mesembs, Esterhuysenia grahambeckii Van Jaarsv. and E. lucilleae Van Jaarsv. was considered necessary as a result of distinctive differences in vegetative, flower and capsule morphology and the genus Roosia is described accommodating the only two known species. Both are obligatory cliff dwelling species from sandstone cliffs (Cape Supergroup), R. grahambeckii from the Rooiberg between Robertson and Worcester and Roosia lucilleae from several sites on sheer cliffs along the southern slopes of the Hex River Mountains.

Summary: Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi Raym.-Hamet & H.Perrier is recorded as naturalised in the Western Cape Province in South Africa's Klein Karoo, which is a recognised Centre of Endemism. The taxonomy, nomenclature, and biology of K. fedtschenkoi, a low-growing, shrub-like species that produces a multitude of plantlets on the margins of detached leaves, is discussed, and the species is described and illustrated.

Summary: Of the four generally accepted species of Tulista Raf. sensu stricto (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), three [T. kingiana (Poelln.) Gideon F.Sm & Molteno, T. minima (Ait.) Boatwr. & J.C.Manning, and T. pumila (L.) G.D.Rowley] usually have leaves adorned with tubercles of various shapes and sizes. The fourth widely accepted species, T. marginata (Lam.) G.D.Rowley, is predominantly smooth-leaved. It should be noted that T. opalina (M.Hayashi) Breuer, as well as T. minima var. poellnitziana (Uitewaal) Breuer, both tubercle-leaved entities, are sometimes also recognised in Tulista. We here record a population of T. kingiana that comprises warty- and smoothleaved variants in more or less equal number. It has been speculated that the more warty-leaved forms of the otherwise smooth-leaved T. marginata could be of hybrid origin, T. pumila possibly being the other parent of the western forms, and T. minima of the eastern. However, T. marginata has not been recorded near the T. kingiana population. A geographica...

Austrocylindropuntia vestita (Salm-Dyck) Backeb. (syn. Opuntia vestita Salm-Dyck) is for the first time recorded as naturalised in the Western Cape province in South Africa's Little Karoo, which is a recognised Centre of Endemism. This shrub-like species that has its branches densely enveloped in white, intertwined hairs is described and illustrated.

Bulbine spongiosa (Asphodelaceae), a geophyte endemic to sheer rock faces of Olifantsrivier, Badspoort (Western Cape), South Africa, is described. Tubers proliferate filling crevices. The leaves are ascending, distichous and fragile, the inner portions of which are distinctly spongy. The description of this taxon forms part of an extensive survey of cliff-dwelling succulent and bulbous-succulent taxa in South Africa and Namibia (Van Jaarsveld, 2011).

Drosanthemum badspoortensis is named from Badspoort in the Western Cape. It is an obligatory cliff-dweller with several unique features.

The stapeliad genera Piaranthus R.Br. and Huerniopsis N.E.Br. occur in semi-arid regions from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa to southern Namibia. They have been the subject of several taxonomic reviews since the initial discovery of members of the former genus by Francis Masson in the Western Cape Province in the late 18th Century.

Gasteria disticha var. langebergensis van Jaarsv. is raised to species level on account of the nuclear DNA content, as measured by flow symmetry. This investigation revealed a closer relationship to the diverse G. carinata complex and G. retusa. The habitat and ecology of this and other related species are also discussed.

Astroloba spirella (Haw.) Molteno & Gideon F.Sm. (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), which is based on Haworthia spirella Haw., is a small, compact species that occurs in shrubby vegetation on rocky slopes in the western Klein Karoo, Western Cape Province, South Africa. The taxonomy and identity of A. spirella is clarified; it is shown that this name should be applied to populations of Astroloba Uitewaal that can be distinguished from their relatives by their true-marginate leaf apices, by the lack of tubercles on their matte-surfaced leaves, and by their non-rugose, non-inflated perianths with whitish lobes. The designation ‘A. smutsiana’, was previously sometimes applied to this species.

The natural distribution range of Tulista minor (Aiton) Gideon F.Sm. & Molteno (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), and by implication of the genus Tulista Raf., is extended in a westerly direction to Botrivier in the Overberg in South Africa's Western Cape Province. We also raise the challenges of inferring the original natural distribution range of Tulista species in regions with very little remaining natural vegetation.

Summary: Esterhuysenia grahambeckii, a new rare succulent cliff-dwelling member of the Aizoaceae (Mesembryanthema) is described from the upper south facing cliff face of the Rooiberg, near Robertson (Western Cape). Unique features include its linear petals, 25–30 mm in length, remaining persistent on the plants for some time, capsules that remain open after their first opening, the capsule valves without wings and locules with erect covering membranes leaving their seeds exposed to the view from above. Although its placement is somewhat uncertain it is here grouped in the genus Esterhuysenia, because it shares with the other five species the possession of a distinct mucro at the leaf tip. It is closest to Esterhuysenia stokoei from Dutoitskloof only in vegetative features, which include the soft textured leaves; however, the latter species differs in its smaller flowers, hygrochastic capsules and locules with covering membranes.

The shrubby mesemb species, Ruschia acutangula (Haw.) Schwantes, was recently rediscovered on the foothills of Jonaskop between Villiersdorp and McGregor, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The species has been lost to science for a long time, possibly since its first discovery more than 175 years ago. An emended description and its known distribution are provided here. The conservation status of R. acutangula is uncertain, and the species is probably threatened due to loss of habitat to farmlands and other developments.

Summary: A new species of Dorotheanthus Schwantes, D. ulularis Brusse is described from sandy places on limestone, near Gans Bay in the south-western Cape, South Africa. The relationships of this new species is discussed.

Quaqua N.E. Br. is re-instated to accommodate the ‘hard-stemmed’ species of Caralluma occurring in the western Cape Province of South Africa. This group is revised to include 13 species, 9 subspecies and 2 varieties, and all necessary name combinations are made. Q. armata subsp. maritima and subsp. pilifera, Q. parviflora subsp. bayeriana and subsp. pulchra, and Q. incarnata var. tentaculata are described as new.