Muiria hortensae is found amongst quartzite pebbles and shares its habitat with other desert plants like Gibbaeum album and Gibbaeum petrense.
The genus Muiria consists of only this one species. Occasionally the plants hybridize with Gibbaeum album.
The distribution of Muiria hortensae is limited to a small area in the Little Karoo near the Langeberg mountain range.
As is the case with Lithops, Gibbaeum, and some other members of the Mesembryanthemaceae family, one or more new plant bodies are formed within an existing body every year. The new bodies burst through the old ones while the latter dries up and eventually remains visible only at the base of the plant.
Muiria hortensae. A cultivated specimen about to flower.
Muiria hortensae south of Riversdale. During the hot summer months the plants are protected by a white sheath.
Muiria hortensae with seed capsules.
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