Euphorbia mammillaris resembling an unruly crowd

This Euphorbia mammillaris plant of many heads contrasts with the surrounding vegetation. Colouring and robust substance in the forceful succulent's command of its usurped terrain are very unlike the offerings of the soft herbs around it. The accumulation of close-knit stems signals strength and durability. The stems achieve a diameter of about 5 cm.

It must be quite a few years since the first one elongated in this spot. "It takes all kinds to make a world", echoes the diversity principle. Ecologies comprise unlike residents that share life as members. They all contribute wide-ranging, mutually beneficial attributes that strengthen the wider, thriving community in its entirety. Milton's words, "they also serve who only stand and wait", can be understood in several ways when observing the living world. 

This euphorbia is in Afrikaans sometimes referred to as the voetangel (foot sting). The old, hardened peduncles of the pseudanthia, the false flowers or multiflowered units that resemble solitary flowers in form and function, end up as spines serving to protect the plant's vulnerable, reproductive, floral parts. So, be careful, the unused weapon serves its purpose when all remain unharmed, while the careless will be reminded by increased signal. De Voetangel is also a restaurant in the Netherlands; the way the marketing angle works there is unclear.

This euphorbia clump was photographed near Oudtshoorn at the end of September among spring flowers. It shows new growth at many stem tops after the rain, the evidence underpinned by the young red spines on top. Flowering arrives for this species normally only by autumn and through winter. This is when the red spines, not yet voetangels, may surprise. In flower, the stem-tips turn into a colourful affair with pink, purple, yellow and lemon green on show in the mix of parts.

Tiny green leaves appear on the new growth tubercles, but drop off quite soon (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Smith, et al, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Baczynski and Classen-Bockhoff (2023): Pseudanthia in angiosperms: a review. Annals of Botany; iNaturalist; www.cactus-art.biz).