Curio articulatus stems to be noticed

Stem sections of Curio articulatus may look as bead-like as here. The constrictions or joints are often unevenly distributed, long smooth stem sections sometimes being common. The thick stems of up to 1,5 cm in diameter usually lie flat on the ground or crisscross each other rather than growing erectly.

Young pale green stems don’t always sport the purple adornment seen on the upper stem in picture, while the brown and grey colouring of the lower one does not mean the stem is dead.

This plant was photographed near Oudtshoorn in April after a dry summer. The watery nutrition reserves of this stem succulent stand the plant in good stead during dry seasons, although it promptly discards leaves when dealing with such challenges (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010).