Exomis microphylla var. microphylla

Exomis microphylla var. microphylla, in Afrikaans known as the hondebos (dog bush) from the earlier hondepisbossie (little dog urine bush), is often just a small, rounded shrub of around 30 cm, although it sometimes reaches heights around 90 cm. Another Afrikaans name, brakbossie, is ambiguous as the meaning may either be dog-of-mixed-breed bush or brackish bush, a bush affected by salty water or soil. Exomis is a monotypic genus comprising only the one species with two varieties. Previously in the Chenopodiaceae family, it now forms part of Amaranthaceae.

The mostly thickly succulent, small leaves are densely massed along the much-branched stems, only rarely allowing a glimpse of the stems. The leaf midribs are usually conspicuously sunken on mature, flattened leaves, too bulging to show this feature on the partly grown young leaves. The leaf shape is ovate to oblong, sometimes twisted or bent, with entire margins. Leaf surfaces have a whitish grey, mottled appearance, sometimes bluish or greenish, and ending in red tips. Many different leaf sizes are present simultaneously on a stem, as can be seen on this plant photographed at Onrus by the sea, close to the high tide mark.

The succulent-leaf form shown here seen near Hermanus is probably E. microphylla var. microphylla. The variety with less leaf succulence much seen in the Eastern Cape is probably E. microphylla var. axyrioides. This distinction is unclear.  

The species distribution is in the Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula northwards to around Clanwilliam and eastwards to Hermanus and the Eastern Cape as far as Kariega (Uitenhage). There is a possibility the species occurs in the west of South Africa as far as Namibia.

The habitat of the species is stony scrub slopes, often coastal. The habitat population of the species is presumably of least concern early in the twenty first century, as is that of var. axyrioides.

Leaf decoctions of the plant using water or milk are known in traditional medicine for treating a variety of ailments including epilepsy and cramps (Van Wyk and Gericke, 2000; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; https://redlist.sanbi.org).