Cyphostemma uter

Cyphostemma uter, commonly known as the butter tree, the kaoko kobas or odre, is a deciduous, succulent shrub or small tree, seldom exceeding 2 m in height. This is not a South African plant, occurring naturally in the northwest of Namibia and in Angola. The photo was taken in northern Namibia.

C. uter grows from a conspicuously cone-shaped, swollen caudex. The stem is up to 30 cm in diameter, the basal caudex double that. The bark is pale cream and smooth, peeling in papery thin pieces, the underbark green.

The simple, succulent leaves are alternate, or clustered. The leaves are often deeply lobed when young, becoming trifoliolate to five-foliolate when mature with variable intermediate stages. Petioles of mature leaves are winged, the terminal leaflet bigger than the laterals. The blue-green leaflets are hairless but have prickles along the midribs on the lower surfaces. The leaflet margins are coarsely toothed. The base of the lateral leaflets are symmetrical, running smoothly into their petiolules. Leaf diameter is about 8 cm.

 The inflorescences are branched, flat-topped heads growing from stem-tips or leaf axils. The main peduncles are covered in scattered prickles. The flowers are small, greenish cream, grouped in cymes, appearing from late spring through most of summer. The fruits are ovoid berries.

The habitat is hot and dry, stony slopes in grassland, mostly facing east at elevations from 100 m to 450 m.

The plant is grown from seed but is notoriously hard to grow (Mannheimer and Curtis (Eds.), 2009; iNaturalist; https://llifle.com).