Othonna dentata old shrublet

Othonna dentata is here a much-branched shrublet growing among Kleinmond rocks not far from the sea.

The leaves grow in smallish stem-tip rosettes, all pointing upwards. This indicates that leaves drop off this plant briskly after their season of service, the lower stem parts all bare, grey and quite thick for the size of the plant.

It is of interest that the branching here appears dichotomous, rather than axillary. This means that the branches form as a result of an equal division of the bud at the stem-tip. Two symmetrically equal branches grow, instead of a subsidiary, skew branch off the main stem as would ensue from an axillary bud.

Most of the inflorescences are also branched on this bush, the individual flowerheads still having fairly long, bare individual stalks. Branching in the panicle, the inflorescence, is also not axillary (Mustart, et al, 1997; Bean and Johns, 2005; Burman, 1985; Encyclopaedia Britannica).