Euphorbia hamata

Euphorbia hamata is shown here after blooming with some of its still green tomato-like fruit, presented invitingly on well-shaped bracts. The spreading shrub has many of these stocky stems with their frequent branching and swollen node protuberances. Short-lived leaves have dropped off the nodes earlier.

Bump into one of these stems and the white latex will promptly appear. The Afrikaans colloquial name of beesmelkbos (steer milk bush) is thus explained if one adds that cattle find the plant palatable.

The photograph taken in August after the rainy season gives a greener impression of this E. hamata garden plant than would normally be seen in habitat.

Sandy flats on the arid west coast are a harsh habitat, but the species has resources for thriving here. The plant colouring would in drier times be pale grey-green (Van Jaarsveld, et al, 2006; www.aridlands.com).