Euphorbia maleolens inner sanctum

The centre of the visible, flat part of the Euphorbia maleolens plant is populated by oblique tubercles. They are not all white-tipped as on the branches, some slightly protruding tips may never have produced leaves that left scars when dropping off.

These tubercles resemble an enthusiastic gathering of olive-green seals, rather than the obvious conclusion of an apparently less busy or actively used plant part (Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982; iNaturalist; JSTOR; http://www.llifle.com).