Brachylaena rotundata lower stems

The lower stem parts of Brachylaena rotundata are covered in dark, grey-brown bark. It is rough from being deeply and unevenly, longitudinally fissured. Usually growing a single stem, the shape in picture, branched from low down, is less common. The main trunk is often not very straight.

Young branches are red-brown or purplish and grooved. They are covered in light-coloured lenticels and initially hairy. These hairs are white before they turn brown and later disappear.

The shaded leaves in picture are greener than the paler to whitish blades in the crown, exposed to sun. Coppice leaves are often larger than the rest. Midribs are whitish in their lower parts here, the ascending lateral veins visible, as is the irregular marginal toothing (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997).