Euphorbia tuberosa

Euphorbia tuberosa is a dwarf plant annually becoming from 3 cm to 8 cm tall above-ground. The hardy, drought tolerant perennial grows from an underground tuber that may exceed 4 cm in diameter. A winter grower, the ground-level leaf cluster disappears during summer dormancy.

This stemless Euphorbia now includes E. crispa that has narrower leaves with very prominent midribs and strongly crisped margins. Both forms have for long been commonly known in Afrikaans as melkbol (referring to the subterranean tuber and the milky latex of the plant) or wilderamenas (wild radish or wild charlock). Both occur in the Western Cape.

E. tuberosa is distributed from Namaqualand to the Cape Peninsula, Matjiesfontein and Riversdale. The photo was taken on the Piketberg Mountain in August.

The habitat is fynbos and succulent Karoo, the plants growing on sandy and stony flats and slopes. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Frandsen, 2017; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://llifle.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).