Succulent perennial of the Aizoaceae family, native to the rocky highlands of South Africa and Lesotho, where it carpets the outcrops and rocky slopes exposed to the sun, often at high altitudes where temperature variations are significant.
It forms a dense and creeping carpet, hardly exceeding 5 to 8 cm in height, with small, fleshy, and stubby leaves, of a bright green that can take on reddish to bronzed hues during periods of water stress or cold. This colorful foliage behavior outside of flowering is one of the most remarkable traits of the species in cultivation.
The flowers, solitary and numerous, are bright yellow to lemon yellow, with a well-visible orange heart; they open generously in the sun and close in cloudy weather. In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from November to January; in cultivation under our latitudes, it occurs from May to July depending on exposure.
It requires very well-drained, poor soil, in full sun, and tolerates moderate frosts provided the soil is perfectly dry. Ideal in rock gardens, between stones or on a sloping wall.
Sometimes found under this name is a form with distinctly linear and elongated leaves, closer to the botanical type described in Lesotho, but rare in cultivation.