Seriphium plumosum leaves, bracts and galls

The minuscule Seriphium plumosum leaves are densely clustered on the younger stems. Leaf dimensions are about 1 mm long and 1 mm wide, making the stems prominent as narrow, leafy cylinders without presenting a strong leaf identity. White rather than green is conveyed by the woolly covering of the undersized foliage.

The contrasting patches of golden brown bracts around the florets, rather than being the florets themselves, indicate at least where flowering is in the offing, not revealing floral features themselves.

The globular white entities in picture are galls and neither flowers, nor fruits.

One of the plant’s common names, bankrupt bush, is shared with some other karoid shrublets. The current negative economic climate in the country causes havoc in many citizen minds. This plant name at least offers identification with something in nature. Relief lies in shared grief being halved, at least emotionally.

Emotions so often defy logic! The message conveyed may also be that global warming causes widespread bankruptcy among plants of the Karoo (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist).