Euphorbia glanduligera, the Namib milkweed

Euphorbia glanduligera, the Namib milkweed, is an erect shrublet growing slender branches without spines. The branches are smooth, cylindrical and green with sparsely scattered, opposite leaves. The leaves are long and narrowly oblong; the margins are slightly rolled in and the tip is pointed. Leaf colour is blue-green, the midrib whitish, leaf texture fleshy.

This young plant was spotted just south of the Gariep River between Kakamas and Keimoes in the Northern Cape. A mature plant will become taller than 1 m and much branched with cyathia around many of the branch tips.

The Namib milkweed is common in the western parts of Namibia, especially the coastal areas, the Namib Desert. It also occurs in at least Botswana and Zimbabwe. In South Africa the distribution of this species just spills over the border in the Northern Cape, North West and Limpopo (iSpot; Encyclopedia of Life).