Eriocephalus ericoides subsp. ericoides leaves

The leaf clusters of Eriocephalus ericoides subsp. ericoides spaced on these stems photographed near Oudtshoorn in April don’t manage to cover the stems. The leaves, clusters and all, are so small that the visible plant shape is dominated by the branches, not the many little leaves. The woody, pale brown to grey stems display longitudinal ridges in the bark.

The fleshy oblong leaves are up to 5 mm long, 0,5 mm wide. Leaf colouring varies between blue-green and yellow-green, the surfaces rough. Some browsing of the leaves does occur.

The plant, similar to several of the about 34 other Eriocephalus species of southern Africa, contains essential oils that differ in chemical composition among the species. This plant, for instance, contains notable quantities of camphor. These oils are sometimes of pharmacological interest, even economically important. Eriocephalus plants feature in ethno-medicine (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Wikipedia).