Euphorbia dregeana, the diklootmelkbos

Straight and erect, the thickish green stems of the diklootmelkbos (thick shoot milk bush) or dikboud (thick buttock) as Euphorbia dregeana is known to the people of its homeland, grow 2 m tall.

The small, pointed leaves are well-spaced, scattered or spiralling up the young stem parts. Leaves are negligible in this plant’s metabolism; there is much more equally green surface exposed to the sun on the durable stems. The leaves drop off early, leaving their whitish marks.

The yellow cyathia or false flowers grow in stem-tip clusters, transforming in time into small, chandelier-like groups of reddish fruit capsules (Frandsen, 2017; iNaturalist).