Gazania lichtensteinii leaves

The Gazania lichtensteinii leaves in picture display the plant’s response to moisture shortage. Purplish discoloration and excessive curling down of some leaf margins are among the signs.

The sparse, hairy leaf covering mainly on the lower surfaces is an inherited attribute of the species acquired and repeated genetically by many generations of ancestors; a handy gift to offspring that must live through drought for the sake of producing yet another generation. Why? This is who we are. We’re part of life.

The longer, solitary white hair occurring at the tip of every leaf tooth, a mucro, is much bigger than the surface hairs. Is it functional? Maybe it was during some ancestral stage as a defensive spine; probably no longer, but not yet disappeared. Christmas decorations, those departing relics as long as they last!

The leaf midrib is prominent upon the lower surface, showing discoloration earlier than the blades. Despite the times, the leaves curve or angle up manfully, mostly erect. Maybe the stance contributes to plant temperature reduction. Leaves living here would avoid the luxury of cooling off by excessive shedding of moisture.

A burning body will squirm without (or before) cognitive input to attempts at finding relief, whatever its animal or plant endowments (Manning, 2009).