All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Encyclopaedia of Succulents. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.

The shape of this strange plant looks somewhat like a small Astrophytum myriostigma quadricostatum. It is thought to be one of rarest succulents and sought after by succulent enthusiasts.

In Somalia it is protected by the locals, being some kind of sacred medicine:
“They kill you if you take it with you”

Description: 

Habit:  It is a stem succulents with mostly solitary erect stems.
Stem: Light green to light brown, cylindrical to conical, 3–13 cm long, 4–5.5 mm wide, quadrangular, with angles sharp-edged, glabrous, latex colorless;
Roots: Fibrous.
Inflorescence:  Along the angles of stem, often in vertical rows along every angle, 5–20-flowered, 1–2 flowers open synchronously.
Flowers: Corolla 30 mm long, campanulate, fleshy, cream, maculate with finely spotted red-brown triangular lobes, apically acute, spreading, marginally revolute:
 

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Synonyms:

• Caralluma crassa Nicholas Edward Brown 1935.
• Drakebrockmania crassa (N.E. Br.) A.C. White & B. Sloane.

Distribution:  Northern Somalia. (Somaliland)
Habitat:  They are found in the drier parts of northern mountains, in grit with little water and some sun, individuals are found growing very far apart from one another and never in large populations. This plant is now endangered and it isn't clear how large the original population was or what effect the removal of plants has had on the species.
 

Stems quadrangular mostly unbranched.

All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Encyclopaedia of Succulents. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.