Euphorbia ramiglans now E. caput-medusae

Stem tubercles of Euphorbia ramiglans as well as the leaves are like what one finds on E. caput-medusae, the proper species name today for both plants and some other euphorbias of the region (among them E. muirii and E. tuberculata).

The stem-tip rosette of narrow, ascending leaves is dark green to purple. Leaves appear upon the youngest tubercles emerging at the stem-tip during the winter-rain induced growing season. They disappear soon. Note the globose, dry fruit capsule in picture splitting along its seams.

One would have thought that two-legged offspring of the mythical snake-haired Medusa might by now be extinct, due to incompatibility of the modern social environment. But last Saturday night in the Mall somebody or something was spotted…

The least one says about that the better, as it would be bad form to upset the sensibilities of our younger and more delicate readers (Frandsen, 2017; Williamson, 2010; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).