Euphorbia vandermerwei

Euphorbia vandermerwei is a branching stem succulent that grows from a fleshy rootstock, reaching 30 cm in height. The plant in picture shows spiny stems across different life stages, variously coloured and constricted into long, uneven sections.

The cyathia grow solitary on new growth of the four stem ridges close to stem tips, emerging from the indentations between the spine shields. The cyathia are thickly globular, squatly cylindrical and spreading slightly at the top, with reddish bracts. Each cyathium contains five male or staminate flowers surrounding the one female or carpellate one that will develop into a fruit containing the seeds. Five crescent-shaped to kidney-shaped and partly red, nectar-producing glands surround the cyathium in a fleshy yellow ring, solely there for assuring pollinator diligence.

The plant is a range restricted South African endemic, found in Mpumalanga near Mbombela and White River

The habitat is rocky on granitic, bushveld hills. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Smith, et al, 2024; iNaturalist; http://mygreenhouse.hwoodgroup.net/; http://redlist.sanbi.org).