Conophytum bachelorum

This is one of the few spring-flowering conos; usually flowering in May in the UK from sheathed bodies. The new heads which emerge in late summer are a rich mahogany in colour. It occurs on just one hill in the southern Richtersveld and the above plant was from the original collection made by Anthony Mitchell in the 1980s. For some years this was the only plant in cultivation until the species was rediscovered in the early 2000s and a seed collection made.