Euphorbia gariepina

Euphorbia gariepina is a spineless, dwarf, stem-succulent branching much from the base, and reaching heights around 50 cm. The shrublet produces many stems of variable thickness. They are pale green and smooth. The overall effect is a dense, twiggy dome plant, hemispherical in shape.

The cyathia form stem-tip cymes on peduncles of about 4 cm long. A cyathium is unisexual.

The species occurs in the north of the Northern Cape, Namibia and southern Angola. Only subs. gariepina occurs in South Africa, subsp. balsamea only to the north. The photo was taken in Namibia.

The habitat is desert-like, rocky flats and slopes receiving little rain during winter. The habitat population of the species is deemed of least concern (Frandsen, 2017; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).