The young Mimetes chrysanthus stems are whitish, looking woolly. On mature plants the old, lower branches become leafless and grey. They are by then also hairless, becoming about 2 cm in diameter.
Stem-tip leaves are whiter from their hairy covering, also gradually lost. Flowering happens from the leaf axils at or near some stem-tips (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist; Wikipedia).