Tylecodon reticulatus subsp. reticulatus mature plant

This Tylecodon reticulatus subsp. reticulatus plant growing near Calitzdorp has dull olive-green, succulent leaves. They are oblong, round-tipped, curved and deeply channelled. The plant has an imposingly thick, short stem with bark peeling in shades of brown to yellowish.

On top there are thin, wiry inflorescence panicle leftovers that have become white and woody, tipped with dry, open fruit husks. The dark brown, bell-shaped remains of the five carpels that formed each fruit are now reduced to hard, open husks, cup-like frames that point up.

The hard mesh over the leaves serves the plant as a herbivore deterrent, sometimes reinforced by the loose calyx rings trapped below the husks and dancing in the wind (Smith, et al, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; iNaturalist).