Othonna quinquedentata thin and tall

Othonna quinquedentata may reach maturity as proven by a tall inflorescence also when branching as little as the plant in picture.

The young fynbos veld is still short here after a fairly recent fire. The O. quinquedentata suffrutex is quick to take command, aided by a well-developed and fire-protected root system. Seedlings can for long not compete with this. It does wonders for this competitor in the race for height, about like an undetected false start in a short distance footrace.

Some may think the species is too obsessed with height, given the demands of its environment. Its height will count for something when the veld doesnt burn and all get tall, competing for sunlight.

Not that the wispy O. quinquedentata body begrudges its neighbours access to sunlight. Unlike Diogenes who wanted from Alexander only to remove his shadow, so that the philosopher could continue sunning himself, the neighbours here will not complain about Othonna shadows, especially when the wind blows.

The ancient Greeks never told us what they used as sunblock. Maybe the hole in the ozone layer created the demand for such a product only when life received the plethora of solutions for problems created by earlier human technological solutions.