Odontophorus marlothii leaf pair

The pair of short, thickly succulent Odontophorus marlothii leaves face each other, connected at their base. They are sharply three-angled little columns or triangular in cross-section, formed by the large keels on the outside of each leaf. The upper or inner leaf surface is nearly flat or channelled, positioned close to its mate.

The sparsely spaced marginal teeth make the leaf pair resemble a set of jaws turned up to the heavens like some prehistoric animal awaiting food from the sky, or plants of the Faucaria genus, relatives in the large Aizoaceae family. The generic name is derived from the Greek words odus meaning tooth and phorus meaning bearer, referring to the dentate or toothed leaf margins.

Each new pair of leaves grows at a right angle to the previous (and subsequent) ones or decussate, from the slit between the mature pair. Leaf colour is grey, sometimes dark green, the variation moisture related. The leaf surfaces are covered in small, scattered, dark dots, in fact tiny, hairy tubercles (Frandsen, 2017; Smith, et al, 1998; Herre, 1971; iNaturalist).