Lachnaea filamentosa young leaves

When Lachnaea filamentosa leaves are young they overlap fairly closely as they ascend in skew, parallel rows, spirals up the stems. The leaves, shaped like Zulu warrior shields without the cattle hide colouring, they are faintly hairy, yellow-tipped, midribs and incurving lateral vein lines wide.

Stomata are present on both leaf surfaces of this species. That makes them amphistomatic rather than epistomatic leaves which have stomata only on the upper surfaces (Manning 2007; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; iNaturalist; Bredenkamp, C.L. & Van Wyk, A.E. (2003). Leaf anatomy of Thymelaeaceae with special reference to Lachnaea and Passerina. Unpublished doctoral monograph, University of Pretoria. Available at: https://repository.up.ac.za).