Euphorbia ephedroides

Euphorbia ephedroides, commonly the horse-tail euphorbia, is a much-branched succulent shrub reaching heights from 40 cm to 1 m or slightly taller. Smaller plants are more common, in some places found in large stands. The specific name, ephedroides, indicates resemblance to ephedra, a Greek name for a genus including plants known as horsetails.

One form of the plant has stiff branches forming a rounded bush (sometimes called subsp. ephedroides), another softer with branches tending to be prostrate or suberect, markedly constricted at irregular intervals (sometimes called subsp. imminuta). Three subspecies are recognised, but there is doubt as to whether the subspecies should be regarded as varieties.

The species is found in the north of the Northern Cape in the Richtersveld, southwards into Namaqualand to Steinkopf and eastwards into Bushmanland to Pofadder, possibly in the northwest of the Western Cape. Not endemic to South Africa, the species also occurs in southern Namibia.

The habitat is succulent Karoo and Nama Karoo on sandy flats and rocky slopes. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Frandsen, 2017; Smith, et al, 2017; Williamson 2010; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).