Euphorbia mauritanica bearing many fruits

This Euphorbia mauritanica bush in the western Little Karoo near Barrydale has much to show for its seasonal reproductive efforts up to October. Clusters of well-formed, stalked fruits ring most tips of the numerous, base-branched, erect pencil-stems. There is no fruit in the centre of each ring, as the male flower of the umbel is always positioned there.

The surrounding vegetation is largely small-leaved, while E. mauritanica is a stem succulent bearing only ephemeral leaves. These stems provide a different solution in low moisture lifestyles. While the leaves are short-lived, there are no spines on this Euphorbia, unlike so many of the other South African species (Frandsen, 2017; Smith, et al, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist).