Pachycarpus vexillaris

Pachycarpus vexillaris is a grasslands plant found in the southern reaches of the Drakensberg, as well as in the northeastern Karoo.

The common name of plants belonging to this, the Pachycarpus genus of the Apocynaceae family is thickfruit. This is a direct translation of the (Greek) scientific name: pachys meaning thick and karpos meaning fruit. Vexillaris is derived from the Latin word, vexillum, meaning a standard or processional banner, referring to the shape of flower parts.

P. vexillaris, the mountain thickfruit is mostly found at higher elevations. The summers are wet, the winters cold on these grassy mountain slopes (Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; JSTOR; iNaturalist).