Euphorbia silenifolia hiding the melkbol

Euphorbia silenifolia, in Afrikaans melkbol (milk bulb), is a stemless perennial.  Above-ground it is a dwarf plant growing to about 8 cm in height, from a sometimes large underground, tuberous root reaching 7 cm in diameter and elliptic in shape. The common name of melkbol refers to this large, out-of-sight structure. The caudex may be up to three-branched, with tufts of leaves growing stemless and slender-stalked, directly from each tip.

The pale brown, three-chambered fruit capsules in picture are occasionally seen. A green capsule may sometimes have small pointed, scattered protuberances, hairy or fleshy, upon its surface. 

The species distribution is in the Western Cape from Namaqualand to the Cape Peninsula and eastwards through the Eastern Cape to East London. The photo was taken just below the west of Sir Lowry’s Pass during October.

The habitat is fynbos, renosterveld, transitional shrubland and thicket on flats and slopes in sandy, clay or loam soils at a wide range of altitudes. The plant is mainly winter growing in the higher rainfall regions, avoiding the semi-arid parts. Often deciduous, the plant may become invisible above-ground during the summer months. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; iNaturalist; www.bihrmann.com; www.llifle.com).