Gomphocarpus fruticosus

Gomphocarpus fruticosus, commonly known in Afrikaans as the vleiklapper (marsh clapper or cracker), in olden times as tontelbos (tinder bush) and previously scientifically as Asclepias fruticosus, is a slender, erect shrub bearing milky sap or latex and reaching heights from 1 m to over 2 m. The roots are long, their reach deep. 

The opposite leaves are lance-shaped to narrowly oblong, almost linear and tapering to their tips and bases. Their pale midribs are conspicuous. Leaves vary much in size, little in shape. They become about 7 cm long, 1 cm wide. Leaves and stems exude a milky sap when broken.

The species distribution is widespread in South Africa, found in all nine provinces and throughout much of southern Africa.

The plants often grow in lowlands among several vegetation types, in clay or loam soils but may succeed in about any soil. The plant is common on disturbed land, sometimes invasive on fields fallow for a few years. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century.

All plant parts are toxic to livestock, containing heart glycosides. Poisoning rarely occurs as the plant is unpalatable, only browsed under unusual circumstances.

The tontelbos common name harks back to the days of the use of tinder boxes for which the seed plumes of this bush were used. This was a much more mundane and straightforward application than what the witch was after in Hans Christian Anderson's story called The Tinder Box. Read it! It's good for you, like eating cabbage (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Manning, 2009; Vahrmeijer, 1981; iNaturalist; https://www.storynory.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).