Aloidendron ramosissimum

The maiden quiver tree, Aloidendron ramosissimum, common in the coastal areas and arid valleys of the Richtersveld, is a smaller relative of the real quiver tree (A. dichotoma). Maybe San maidens had mock bows and arrows? Or the small branches of A. ramosissimum, being so similar to those of the real quiver tree, led to the name in jest.

The vegetation of the Richtersveld is both strong in its adaptation to harsh conditions and weak against disturbances of the delicate equilibrium within which it functions. Subsistence farmers goats and too many visitor SUVs very easily leave their marks on the landscape. There are already too many such marks. In this environment, what has been disturbed once takes years, sometimes generations to recover.