March 17, 2024 – Presenter: Fred Dortort
Grit Dwellers, Quartzfields and Kokerbooms:
Succulent Plants of the Western Cape
At the March 17th meeting of the Monterey Bay Area Cactus
and Succulent Society, Fred Dortort will be presenting a
guided photographic tour of some of the plants he saw on
his trip to South Africa.
Fred is the author of The Timber Press Guide to Succulent
Plants of the World as well as numerous articles for the Cactus
and Succulent Journal. 
He’s made many trips to South Africa
looking for and photographing unusual, spectacular, and
increasingly, endangered succulent plants. For this
presentation he’ll be focusing on plants from the Western
Cape regions of the country, covering the Little (Klein)
Karoo, the Tankwa Karoo, parts of Namakwaland and the
Knerverslakte quartzfields, along with some other adjacent,
succulent-rich areas. Many of the succulents that grow here
specialize in very odd habitats, some of which extend for
miles and others for only a few square feet.
This last trip, in April and May, came towards the end of
the dry season, for most of this vast area is in the winter
rainfall zone. Many succulents are huddled down or even
pulled underground at this time, but many of them also
have decided on this time of year as their flowering season.
The “tour” is also going to feature a number of photos
from earlier trips, made in the South African winter and
early spring, when some of the same plants are at their
growing peak. The contrast may be quite enlightening for
those of us who strive to grow some of these choice, often
dwarf, species.
Over the past twenty-plus years Fred has had the opportunity
to visit some rarely travelled regions, in the company of
several highly knowledgeable people, and he is looking
forward to sharing some of the sights and plants he’s seen
with other succulent enthusiasts.
