Senecio barbertonicus

Senecio barbertonicus, the finger-leaved senecio, is a succulent shrub that branches much from the base and higher up to form a rounded shape up to 2 m tall. Leaves dropping off old stems leave notable scars or persistent rough bits on the otherwise bare, lower stems. The plant is evergreen and hairless.

It grows in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and northern KwaZulu-Natal, as well as Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. This Senecio is common on the Magaliesberg where this specimen was photographed. The specific name indicates the district of Barberton as another part of the species distribution.

The habitat is bushveld on sandy slopes and granite outcrops (Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982; Van Wyk and Malan, 1997; www.plantzafrica.com).