Glottiphyllum carnosum life of lounging

The growth habit of reclining, stem-tip leaf fans on their sides, may be useful in minimising damage to a Glottiphyllum carnosum plant should passersby step on it. Evolution may have shaped them this way for another reason though.

There may be two plants here, or a subterranean link. The photo was taken in September near Calitzdorp when conditions were arid, these leaves among the better-off (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Smith, et al, 1998; iNaturalist).