Aptosimum albomarginatum

Aptosimum albomarginatum, in Afrikaans known as the witstamviooltjie (little white stem violin), is a much-branched, dwarf shrublet growing to heights from 10 cm to 40 cm, sometimes rounded. The woody stems are erect or spreading, white or pale brown, smooth to slightly hairy. Old bark becomes corky.

The alternate leaves are linear or obovate to spoon-shaped with spiny tips. Hairless above, a few long white hairs are present near the leaf midribs below. Leaf length varies from 4 mm to 25 mm, the width variable around 2 mm.

The specific name, albomarginatum, is derived from the Latin words albus meaning white and margo meaning edge, referring to the thickened, white, cartilaginous leaf margins, distinctive of the plant. The leaves may be deciduous.

The species distribution is in North West, the Northern Cape and Botswana. The photo was taken in the Kgalagadi.

The habitat is arid shrubland, bushveld, thornveld and duneveld. The plants are often found in comparatively moist areas around pans and along watercourses in calcareous soils. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

The roots are used in traditional medicine (with ostrich egg shell) and more to treat fevers and colds (Van Rooyen and Van Rooyen, 2019; iNaturalist; http://powo.science.kew.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).