Cliffortia ilicifolia leaves

Cliffortia ilicifolia leaves, or most of them, are broad and short with at least two pairs of angular lateral teeth ending in thin spines, as does the leaf-tip. The pale green to bluish blades have characteristic, almost parallel veins running into tips of teeth or straight into margins.

When the branches elongate, some lower leaves, opposite or alternate, don’t always have the same marginal toothing or size (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Privett and Lutzeyer, 2010; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984).