Some of the thick stem-bases of the mature Senecio sarcoides shrub emerge separately from the sandy soil in the photo, connected only underground.

The bark is smooth, pale brown and shiny in patches where flaking or the roughness caused by scars of lost branches and leaves has not happened (Manning, 2009; Le Roux, et al, 2005; Manning and Goldblatt, 1996; iNaturalist).