Family: Aizoaceae
Habitat: South Africa, in arid environments.
Cultivation: Vanheerdeas should be places in a sunny spot, planted in a well-drained substrate and watered regularly during their growth season.
Curiosity:

KEY FEATURES

Vanheerdea is a genus of succulent perennial plants belonging to the Aizoaceae family. These plants, which are mainly native to arid areas of southern Africa, particularly from South Africa, are small and usually grow level ground.
They are very appreciated in the world of ornamental succulents because they are resistant, small, and have beautiful dark green or bluish-green leaves, sometimes streaked with purple, heart-shaped, a bit similar to the structure of the Lithops in short, but less round and more irregular and elongated: they may resemble crab claws. The heart or claw shape that we see, is actually not a leaf but a pair of leaves.These pairs of leaves are numerous and grow thickly in the ground, forming maps.
These pairs of leaves are numerous and grow thickly in the ground, forming like maps of leaves.

The beautiful flowers are often yellow, with lots of linear petals that form almost tufts, and sprout from the hollow between the two leaves of a pair, often in Spring (but it depends on the species). The fruits are instead capsule-shaped and contain many very small and spherical brown seeds.

VARIETY AND TYPES

Here are a few species of Vanheerdea. Check out our online store to find more ones!

• Vanheerdea divergens
• Vanheerdea primosii
• Vanheerdea roodiae

TIPS FOR GROWING

The cultivation of Vanheerdea is not so difficult.  Just follow these few tips and your Vanheerdea will thrive!

• Place your Vanheerdea in a sunny spot: it loves sun! Anyway, in Summer, it would be better to shelter it from sunlight during the hottest hours of the day.
• Vanheerdeas are resistant to cold temperatures: they hold up to -12ºC if the humidity remains low.
• Watering should be abundant during the growing season, which for many Vanheerdea is between autumn and spring.
• It is advisable to plant them in a very well-drained substrate or in a rocky garden, in a crevice between the rocks.
• Fertilization is not essential, as Vanheerdea are used to grow in their natural environment in soils that are very poor in nutrients.

The propagation of Vanheerdea is carried out mainly by seed.