Rauvolfia caffra upper branches

Rauvolfia caffra leaves are mostly crowded at branchlet tips, soon to drop off lower down.

Young twigs that have dropped their leaves are brown in different shades, hairless and usually angled or winged. Also covered in leaf scars and lenticels.

The leaf-bearing, youngest upper stems are green and smooth, their lenticels more conspicuous. The milky sap or latex appears quickly when these parts are damaged (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002; Pooley, 1993).