Hermannia trifurca leaves

The leaves of Hermannia trifurca gave the plant its specific name. They are alternate, stalked and oblong with margins curving up on the sides, most margins entire in the photo.

The specific name, trifurca, informs us that the leaves have or may have three teeth at their tips. It is hard to find a leaf with one apical notch in picture, let alone three teeth.

An earlier scientific name of the plant was H. bicornis (Latin for two horns), maybe from the days when only two tips were counted beside a notch at the apex; horns overstate the situation.

The leathery leaves are mostly pale green, powdery or covered in fine, short hairs on the upper surface. Some curve slightly down from base to tip. Leaf dimensions are about 15 mm long and 3 mm wide.

The plant is rarely browsed by stock and game.

Young stem parts in picture are yellow-green suffused with brownish red; old parts are pale grey and woody with incidental gnarling (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Manning, 2007; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; iNaturalist).