Origin and Habitat: South Africa, western Cape.
Altitude: 650 - 750 m elevation above sea level.

• Euphorbia infausta N.E.Br. non N.E.Br.

• Euphorbia meloformis W.T.Aiton
• Euphorbia pomiformis Thunb.

• Euphorbia meloformis f. falsa (N.E.Br.) G.Marx
• Euphorbia falsa N.E.Br.
• Euphorbia infausta N.E.Br. non N.E.Br.
• Euphorbia meloniformis Lem.
• Euphorbia pyriformis N.E.Br.

• Euphorbia meloformis subs. valida (N.E.Br.) G.D.Rowley
• Euphorbia valida N.E.Br.

Description: It is a dioecious small species that offsets from the base. The plants in the wild differ from one population to another, but also from one plant to another. This has caused much confusion.
Stem: Spherical to obovoid, succulent, leafless and spineless up to 9 cm in diameter, more or less depressed at the apex, producing subglobose branches on its sides, glabrous, bright deep green, marked with oblique transverse darker green (or purplish) stripes, which are sometimes not very conspicuous.
Spines: The “spines” only found on male plant are the persistent hardened remains of the cymes.
Ribs: 8 to 2 vertical or spiral, somewhat acute, with nearly flat and slightly concave (not convex) sides, nearly even or faintly crenulate at the margin, with the leaf- or cyme-scars about 2-5 mm apart
Leaves: Rudimentary, soon deciduous usually less than 5 mm long, linear or linear-lanceolate, acute.
Flowers: cymes of the male plant erect or ascending (not depressed on the plant), at first with the peduncles simple, 1-2,5 cm long, and bearing only 1 involucre, finally developing at its apex 1–3 erect or ascending rays 6-24 mm long, each with 1 terminal involucre or with 2–3 involucres scattered along them, green, velvety-puberulous, often persistent and hardening; cymes of the female plant similar, but much shorter, always deciduous; involucre 2-4 mm in diam., cup-shaped, puberulous outside, light green, with 5 glands and 5 transversely rectangular or subquadrate ciliate lobes; glands 1-3 mm in their greater diam., transversely oblong, slightly convex, light green, minutely punctate; ovary sessile, glabrous; styles very shortly united at the base, with the free part 1 mm long, rather stout, two-lobed at the apex. The involucre and glands of the female plant are smaller than those of the male.
Fruit: Capsule.
Remarks: It is readily distinguished from Euphorbia meloformisSN|11997]]SN|11997]] (f. meloformis) by its more freely branching habit, less evidently banded stems, more distinctly crenate angles, especially on young plants, and particularly by the outstanding erect or ascending peduncles, which only branch at their apex and do not divide near their base into a trichotomous or dichotomous cyme pressed down on the top of the stem as in Euphorbia meloformisSN|11997]]SN|11997]].

Bibliography: Major references and further lectures
1) Urs Eggli “Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Dicotyledons” Volume 2. Springer, 2002
2)White, A., Dyer, R.A. & Sloane, B.L. ”The succulent Euphorbieae“ Abby Garden Press. Pasadena, California. 1941
3) Hermann Jacobsen ”A Handbook of Succulent Plants: Abromeitiella to Euphorbia” Blandford Press, 1960
4) Stuart Max Walters “European Garden Flora: A Manual for the Identification of Plants Cultivated in Europe, Both Out-of-Doors and Under Glass” Cambridge University Press, 1984
5) N. E. BROWN, J. HUTCHINSON and D. PRAIN. "Flora Capensis", Vol 5 Part 2, page 216 1925

Cultivation and Propagation: Like a sunny position. It does best in a mineral soil, good drainage is essential. Water sparingly during the summer months and keep dry in winter. It is a slow growing long lived plant and once established, it will be content in its position and with its soil for years. It can tolerate moderate shade, and a plant that has been growing in shade should be slowly hardened off before placing it in full sun as the plant will be severely scorched if moved too suddenly from shade into sun. It is propagated from seed sown during spring or summer.