Agathosma alligans I.Williams

Shrubs 0.3-1 m growing out of very old stumps in minute crevices on massive vertical T.M.S. rocks. Branches spreading out from the cliff face, slender, short, brown or sooty, roughened with leaf scars. Branchlets erect, slender, villous, rough with stalked glands, well hidden by the leaves. Leaves 8-16 mm long including the petiole ± 1 mm long, 4.3-6.3 mm broad, elliptic, acute, spreading-erect, alternate, more or less glabrous; apex with a sharp point terminating in a gland; margins thickened, gland-dotted and villous-ciliate; base narrowing to a short and very hairy petiole; adaxial surface flat, sometimes villous on the midrib below; abaxial surface flat with numerous scattered stalked glands and a prominent nerve sometimes villous towards the base. Inflorescence terminal up to 5-flowered; flowers pedicellate, up to 20 mm diam., 15 mm long, pink becoming white. Bract one at the base of the pedicel of each flower, 4.6 mm long, 1.2 mm broad, oblanceolate-linear, glabrous, without gland dots; apex with a raised gland; margins villous-ciliate (the outermost may have gland dots on the margins above and a few stalked glands on the adaxial surface below). Bracteoles two at the base of the pedicel, 4 mm long, 0.7 mm broad, linear, glabrous except for a few hairs towards the base, without gland dots; apex with a raised gland; margins villous-ciliate. Pedicel ± 2 mm long. Calyx glabrous; lobes five, 8 mm long, 3.7 mm broad, elliptic or oblong, glabrous, wine coloured above, 3-nerved, tough almost woody; apex acute with a raised gland on the elevated rib; margins membranous, broadly translucent, villous-ciliate. Petals five, 16.5-17.5 mm long overall, 6-7 mm broad, glabrous, white or pale pink with a pink midrib; limb 8 mm long, broadly elliptic, margins wavy; claw 9 mm long, narrowing evenly to the base, very sparsely and minutely ciliolate above. Filaments five, 10 mm long, terete, wine coloured, sparsely and minutely pubescent. Anthers five, 2.3 mm long, 1.25 mm broad, wine coloured; apical gland minute. Pollen grains 53 µm long, 25 µm broad, elliptic, pale cream in colour, many deformed. Staminodes five, 3.5-5 mm long, glabrous, purplish, terete-acicular, gland-tipped and together with the filaments forming a palisade on the perimeter of the disc. Disc rising 2 mm up the style and clasping it, thin, translucent with an uneven fringe of stalked glands at the top; nectar is exuded at the lower perimeter of the disc at the base of the filaments and staminodes. Stigma 0.2 mm diam., capitellate, minutely 5-fid. Style 13 mm long, 5-fluted, slender, glabrous. Ovary 5-carpellate, 0.8 mm long, 1.1 mm diam., immersed in oil; apices incurved, glabrous; margins with stalked glands. Fruit 5-carpellate, enclosed within the persistent calyx, 8.5 mm long overall including the horn, 5.5 mm diam.; carpels 5.5 mm long, glabrous, green, gland-dotted and with stalked gland dots mainly to the sides and above; horn 3.5 mm long, finger-like with a few stalked glands; apex purple with 1-3 stalked glands. Seed 4 mm long, 1.5 mm broad, black, shining; aril (elaiosome) partly blackened.