The sandy home ground of Euphorbia caput-medusae may sometimes become too much when the dry, loose sand starts covering stems. Premature burial may trigger invigoration in these many-stemmed plants of the sandveld coast of Namaqualand. The photo was taken south of Port Nolloth.

Tiny leaf rosettes are still present at the stem-tips angled outward, i.e. more leafless, old tubercles are visible on the inside facing the centre (Grenier, 2019; Smith, et al, 2017).