On the first and last Sunday of the month, there is a local flea market with a succulent seller who has really cheap and interesting plants. He mainly propagates pieces from his own large collection and I always pop past on my way to the class that I teach to see what he has on offer, as it always changes. This one was interesting and new to me so I bought although I didn't know what it was, only that it is a native plant. A succulent group that I belong to identified it as Cissus Quadrangularis, aka Devil's Backbone.
Despite it's name, this is actually a medicinal plant that has been used since ancient times in India for the treatment of broken bones and osteoporosis, which makes me think that perhaps it grows in Eastern parts of Africa because of ancient trade routes that existed between India and East Africa.
This is a small, rooted stem section and this plant is actually a type of creeper that grows long, segmented succulent stems and it doesn't make many leaves, which soon die off, leaving just the stem with wavy edges behind. I'm hoping that it will do well in my garden.
This is a macro of the young stem segment
