Aspalathus cliffortioides Bolus

An erect or ascending shrub, fairly densely branched, up to ±0.6 m tall. Young branches short-tomentose, reddish. Leaves of long-shoots opposite or subopposite. Leaflets linear, 11 (usually 5-9) mm long, subterete, straight or slightly incurved, acute-acuminate, pale green, smooth and glabrous or with sparse spreading hairs from ± prominent hair base. Flowers solitary or in pairs on the branch tips or solitary on lateral short-shoots. Bract usually trifoliolate, occasionally unifoliolate; leaflets similar to leaflets of vegetative leaves, (3-)10 mm long. Pedicel short. Bracteoles similar to bract leaflet. Calyx tube tomentose; lobes lanceolate or linear, (4-)4.5-9.5 mm long, usually with prominent green margins and prominent midvein, acute-acuminate, glabrous and smooth or with scattered hairs from ± prominent hair base tubercles. Petals yellow. Standard blade obovate, 8.5-11(-12.2) x 7.5-9.5(-10.5) mm, densely sericeous on the back, with an apical, subterete, pointed cusp 0.8-2.2 mm long. Wing blades narrowly ovate or obovate, 5-7(-7.8) x 2.5-3.2 mm. Keel blades lunate, 6.5-8.5(-9) x 3.2-4 mm, glabrous, with nearly straight (or slightly S-curved) upper margin. Wing and keel claws adnate for 1-2 mm to the staminal sheath. Pistil: ovary ovate, ± long-pubescent. Pod triangular-ovate, 5-5.5 x 2.5-3 mm, sparsely sericeous, brown when ripe.