Northern Dead Man's Tree

kirkii: named after Dr John Kirk, who accompanied David Livingstone on his Zambezi expedition of 1858

Shrub or small tree with fleshy stems and branches. Milky latex present. Leaves spirally arranged, crowded near the ends of branches, c. 11-18 cm long, thick and fleshy, green, often tinged purple-red, more or less broadly obovate, subsessile, pubescent on the basal part and the margins above, more densely so below; midrib prominent below. Flowers in sub-umbellate axillary and terminal heads, yellowish-green, unisexual on the same tree. Fruit acutely lobed, c. 6.5 mm, pale brown, thinly pubescent, dehiscent.

Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe.