This Gloveria integrifolia branch ends abruptly in a thick, rough-surfaced spine. It is covered in similar bark to the old wood of the stem-tip, fissuring in short, longitudinal cracks.

The side-branchlet from which the leaf fascicle and flowers grow is thick, short and dark. It may change little from year to year as it performs these functions repeatedly (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Coates Palgrave, 2002; iNaturalist).