Tylecodon ventricosus small stems

These young Tylecodon ventricosus stems producing leaves near ground level in habitat in the Little Karoo may well be the small tips of a mature rootstock, a swollen tuber, showing only a small part of the plant body above-ground.

The smooth, succulent leaves are typically obovate to oblanceolate and nearly oblong, channelled and variable in size. The leaves become up to 9 cm long.

Although small, the plant does sport a cylindrical inflorescence stem from last summer, the lower part of which is in picture. The photo was taken in May after rain (Smith, et al, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist).