Maria Moninckx and South Africa's Gasteria nigricans and Pelargonium lobatum

Few details have emerged concerning the father-daughter team outside of their conscientious, colorful botanical illustrations. Government records reveal that Maria, at the age of 47, married Martinus de la Ruel (1676-1759), a commissionair ("commissioner's agent"), in Amsterdam on April 18, 1723.

Fortunately, the obscurity of the Moninckx's personal lives is balanced by the resplendent profusion of their professional lives. Moninckx Atlas has survived the centuries intact and is respected as an authoritative source for botanical information during the Dutch Golden Age in the seventeenth century.

Two botanical illustrations, Gasteria nigricans, presumably dated between 1686 and 1702, and Pelargonium oblatum, presumably dated between 1698 and 1700, reveal the delicacy with which Maria executed her watercolors.

Gasteria nigricans came to be known in Afrikaans, the Dutch-derived language of South Africa, as hottentotsrys ("hottentot's rice") in recognition of the culinary use of the plant as a cooked rice dish by the Khoi, early southwest African natives. According to the Plant List of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, thirty-one synonyms --- of which five are listed as illegitimate, i.e., rejected and no longer used --- have been assigned to Gasteria nigricans. Sixteen of these synonyms, including all five rejects, place Gasteria nigricans into the Aloe genus. Fourteen synonyms are in the Gasteria genus.

From Aloe to Gasteria: Yesterday Gasteria nigricans, today Gasteria disticha var. disticha

Botanical descriptions often situated Gasteria nigricans in the Aloe genus because of the prominent succulence (Latin: succulentus, "having juice, sap") of its leaves. The leaves of Gasteria nigricans are puffy or swollen, not flat, because, as a succulent, it stores water in its leaves, thereby filling them out.

Nevertheless, the accepted genus is now regarded to be Gasteria. This genus was named in 1809 by French botanist Henri Auguste Duval (April 28, 1777-March 16, 1814) in recognition of the characteristic, stomach-shaped flowers of the genus. Gasteria is derived from the Greek word for "belly, stomach" (γαστήρ, gastēr).

As its stomach-shaped flowers are the defining characteristic of Gasteria nigricans, the succulent plant finds it home in the aptly named Gasteria genus.

Synonyms reflect different botanical descriptions of the same plant. In botanical nomenclature (Latin: nomen, “name” + calare, “to call”), different names for the same plant are gathered as synonyms, and the earliest or most accurate name is selected as the main scientific name, comprising the genus and species and any subspecies. Thus, Gasteria disticha var. disticha (Greek: δι, di-, "two" + στιχός, stikhos, "row, line"), referring to the plant's two-rowed leaf arrangement, and Gasteria nigricans ("blackish, becoming black"), referring to the plant's dark leaves, were found to refer to the same plant. The two rows of leaves fanning from the center of the base distinguishes this species from other relatives with leaves spiraling in rosettes from the center of the plant.

Gasteria disticha var. disticha is now regarded as the accepted name for the plant. Gasteria nigricans is considered to be a synonym.

Externals: What Gasteria disticha var. disticha looks like

The thick leaves of Gasteria disticha var. disticha grow in two distichous rows as basal tufts, layering upwards from the ground. Typical of Gasteria species, its leaves are described as lingulate (Latin: lingua, "tongue") because their shape is reminiscent of the rounded outline of a tongue.

Beginning in the spring, long-lasting flowers blossom in a graceful raceme (Latin: racemus, "cluster, bunch"), that is, a main shoot to which flowers are attached, each by its own pedicel (Latin: pediculus, "little foot"), or short floral stalk. Racemes, reaching about one foot (0.3 meters) in length, branch from a slender scape, that is, a flowering, generally leafless stem arising from a plant's roots, standing up about one foot (0.3 meters) from the base of the plant.

Flowers, about one inch (2.54 centimeters) in length, are colored pink to vermilion tipped with yellow green. The distinctive tubular shape that is reminiscent of a stomach, delicately bulges near the base and arches into a curve near the tip, with its six-parted opening.

Almost like prismatic floral bells, the flowers hang down as they unfurl, each suspended in pastel contrast to the dark basal leaves.

Seedpods change from green to brown at maturity.

Propagation: Three successful strategies for repopulation

Gasteria disticha var. disticha propagates easily from seeds and leaf cuttings. Additionally, Gasteria disticha var. disticha forms new plants through offsets, which are shoots that develop laterally at the base and form roots.

Habitat: Adaptable except blistered by full blazing sunlight

While humus rich, sandy soils predominate in its natural South African habitats, Gasteria disticha var. disticha is adaptable to rocky environments where it emerges from fissures or in the shade of large rocks or under the shelter of larger shrubs.

Gasteria disticha var. disticha prefers partial shade, although it survives in full, warm sunlight. A hardy but also sensitive succulent, Gasteria disticha var. disticha reacts with blistered leaves to unabatedly bright sunlight, absent any sheltering or shady reprieve.

The Gasteria species that were depicted in the Moninckx Atlas were all added to the Hortus Botanicus before 1700. The first live Gasterias were introduced into England in 1731, with Gasteria disticha appearing there in 1820, and secured their niche in gardens and greenhouses throughout the United Kingdom.

Gasterias are also popular in the New World, where, in California, their plentiful, sweet nectar is beloved by hummingbirds.

Ethnobotany

Nectar was sipped from Gasteria disticha var. disticha flowers by the Khoi, early southwest African natives. The Khoi also cooked the plant as a kind of rice.

Pelargonium lobatum is commonly known as vine leaf pelargonium.

According to the Plant List of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, an accepted name has not yet been determined for this species. Other synonyms include:

• Geraniospermum heracleiforme (Lodd.) Kuntze,
• Geraniospermum lobatum (Burm. f.) Kuntze, and
• Geranium lobatum Burm. f.

Two names which are unresolved, that is, indeterminate as to accepted or synonym status, are Polyactium lobatum Eckl. & Zeyh. and Polyactium sphondylifolium Eckl. & Zeyh.

A basionym (Greek: βάσις, basis, "step" + ὄνυμα, -onuma, "name"), which is a previously published binomial name (genus + species) from which a new name is generated for purposes of taxonomy (Greek: τάξις, taxis, "arrangement" + νομία, nomia, "method"), exists for Pelargonium lobatum: Geraniaceae Geranium lobatum Burm.f.

Native distribution

Pelargonium lobatum is native to South Africa, primarily dwelling along the sandy coastal flats of Western Cape Province, swathing inland over 90 miles (150 kilometers) to the foothills of the Piketberg Mountains and east to the George Local Municipality at the border with Eastern Cape Province.

Habitat: Easygoing but sensitive temperament

Pelargonium lobatum are adaptable to temperate environments. Their easy growth, prompted by heat and drought resistance, is sometimes stunted by external sensitivities, such as sudden freezes or excessive water.

The species was added to Hortus Botanicus in 1698 by commissioner Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen II, to whom the roots had been sent. Pelargonium lobatum was thence cultivated in England in 1710.

Pelargonium lobatum, with its dramatic coloring and foliage, is popularly planted indoors and outdoors in any temperate climate.

Propagation: Tubers, cuttings, seeds

As a geophyte (Greek: γεω-, geō-, "earth" + φυτόν, phuton, “plant”), Pelargonium lobatum propagates with new growth from its tuber, an underground stem enlarged for nutrient storage.

Successful propagation is also achieved through leaf cuttings and seeds.

Externals: What Pelargonium lobatum looks like

One of the striking features of this species is the size of its leaves, which is recognized by its species name, lobatum (Greek: λοβός, lobos, “the lobe of the ear or of the liver, the pod of a leguminous plant"). Its leaves often have an enormous diameter of around 12 inches (30 centimeters). Soft, velvety hair densely coats the leaves, which have variously incised edges. Much lighter than the upper surface, foliage undersides sometimes pale to a light greenish white.

Flowers open with five sepals and five petals into a pleasant star shape that presents a harmonious contrast of dark purple edged with creamy yellow. Arising above the plant's leafy canopy, six to 20 flowers radiate on their pedicels (Latin: pediculus, "little foot"), or short floral stalks, out from a peduncle (Latin: pedunculus, "footstalk"), that is, a central stem, in umbel-like clusters (Latin: umbella, "sunshade," diminutive of umbra, "shade").

In breezy sunlight, the flowers dance and shine like dark-centered stars with coruscating points.

Synecology: Species coexisting with Pelargonium lobatum

Synecology (Greek: σύν, syn, “with” + oικoλoγία, ecologia, “house” + “study”) identifies consistently coexisting faunal and floral communities vis-à-vis a species' habitat. Pelargonium lobatum emits a sweet fragrance in the evening to encourage pollination by nectar-loving fauna. Nocturnal pollinators that are attracted to its aroma are hawk moths (family Sphingidae).