Euphorbia rudis

Euphorbia rudis is a sturdy succulent that produces stout cylindrical branches above the thick, underground rootstock and short stem. The outer branches are forced continually further outwards by new ones emerging in the centre, even more than in this specimen. A mature plant forms a hemisphere that will eventually touch the ground. The plant grows to 25 cm in height.

The distribution of the species lies in the Richtersveld and to the east along the Gariep; also in southern Namibia. Succulent Euphorbia plants contain a white latex, poisonous in some kinds, merely causing irritation in others; all best avoided when surface damage allows this white liquid to emerge. This latex may also be used to distinguish between Euphorbia and cactus plants that don’t have it.

Some dry stalks, the peduncles of cyathia that were on the stem tops in of the younger plant when the stems had been much shorter, are to be seen below the leaves on the sides. This is not really a spiny species, the irregularly shaped “flower” stalks being sparsely distributed here (Williamson, 2010; JSTOR; iSpot).