Euphorbia gariepina subsp. gariepina stem-tip flowering

The cyathia of Euphoria gariepina subsp. gariepina, the modified flowers found on Euphorbia plants in so many different guises, are in this species each cupped by two or three leafy, fleshy bracts. Each fully developed bract is ovate with recurving, acutely pointed tip and slight folding in of the lateral margins near the tip.

The cyathium subtended by its bracts is a tiny barrel-like body in which the seeds grow after pollination. This is a female plant on which each floral base is a chamber, the ovary in which the ova await the arrival of pollen of its species. Fruits can then grow, containing the seeds for the germination of new plants that sustain the species over generations.

On top of each ovary, as in picture, five pale yellow or yellow-green fleshy glands spread with rounded tips and tapering to the base. These glands are sometimes brick-red. In many euphorbias this is where nectar is produced as pollinator enticement. A creamy white spot can be seen in the centre on top where the female flower stigma has disintegrated and disappeared already.

The shrub grows many strapping lower branches that spread from the base and rebranch repeatedly higher up. It thus forms a dense, rounded bush of sturdy stems, fleshy, pale green and soon leafless. Small, sparsely scattered and spine-like dwarf branches are often present, stems that did not develop. Leaves last for only a brief period on new growth near stem tips, leaving small marks at the nodes when they drop off. 

All plant parts exude the common, often toxic milky sap or latex seen on Euphorbia when damaged. In the case of this species the latex also exudes a foetid odour (Van Rooyen and Van Rooyen, 2019; Frandsen, 2017; iNaturalist; JSTOR).