The Kaoko klipblom flowers mainly during summer and autumn but sporadically at other times of the year, is pollinated by insects, and the seeds are wind dispersed. The plant grows in granite fissures, mostly out or reach on cliffs and boulders. The stem base is slightly swollen, and well wedged in the crevices.

It has remarkable dual seed production and dispersal strategies, which act as a back-up or insurance policy ensuring its long-term survival. Aside from wind-dispersed normal seed, plants develop thread-like branches which also produce seeds to bury deep in the dark crevices (autochory). Should the mother plant die, the larger seeds of its cloned offspring, already buried deep within the crevice, should germinate and grow into normal plants, replacing the mother plant and thus continuing growth when conditions improve.

The only difference between the two fruit types are that the normal seeds are produced following cross pollination from adjacent populations (out-crossing), whereas the crevice capsule's seeds are the result of self pollination, thus identical to the parent plant genes.

How does this plant bear capsules without flowers? The thread-like (filiform) branches were carefully examined to reveal tiny nectar glands in the leaf axils and these modified nectaries form small, self-fertilized (cleistogamous), inconspicuous flowers. The nectaries glands are typical of the Pedaliaceae family (normally produced at the base of the pedicles).

This is the first record in the world of this cliff-dwelling dispersal strategy. It is the long-term environmental pressure (aridity, disturbance) which led to this remarkable adaptation (survival strategy). Dewinteria petrophila is one of the most advanced of all cliff-adapted plant species. Additionally, the seeds are covered with mucilage which is thought to help with water uptake.

Parallel vegetative dispersal adaptation is prevalent amongst other cliff- and crevice-dwelling succulent and bulbous plants. Succulent and succulent bulbous plants are more prominent on cliff faces and many species are only found there. Their succulent nature enables them to cope with dry periods, and explains why so few herbaceous plants are found on cliffs. Other cliff dwellers also have a dispersal back-up system: Many bulbs form vegetative bulbils (Cyrtanthus montanus, Ornithogalum juncifolium var. emsii, Oxalis fergusoniae, O. pocockiae). Many of the members of the Crassulaceae such as Adromischus have brittle leaves which easily become detached and root where they land.