Aspalathus divaricata Thunb.

A procumbent, ascending or erect shrub or shrublet, from less than 0.1 to more than 1 m tall, with branches spreading and straight to slender, weak and diffusely branched; branches often reddish, from subglabrous to short-sericeous or short-villous on the young parts; floriferous branches leafy, sometimes with rather long internodes, but only rarely somewhat 'peduncle-like'. Leaflets (ovoid-) linear or subulate, usually 1-5 mm long and 0.25-0.7(-0.9) mm thick, green, glabrous, mucronulate to sharply spine-tipped. Inflorescences terminal, head-like or elongate, or unifloral to few-flowered or with up to 10 flowers, situated on leafy branches; flowers sometimes at intervals of up to more than 5 mm, sometimes radiating from almost one point (the branch apex). Flowers small or moderate in size. Bract conical, tooth-like, lanceolate or subulate, (0.3-)1-2.5(-3.2) mm long, glabrous at least on the adaxial side, mucronate to spine-tipped. Pedicel 0.5-2(-2.5) mm long, short-pubescent. Bracteoles (0.4-)0.8-2.5(-3) mm long. Calyx tube usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely puberulous; lobes triangular or narrowly triangular, (0.5-)0.7-2(-2.6) mm long, glabrous, green, ending in a mucro or spinelet sometimes making up more than half the lobe length. Petals light or bright yellow, or partly purplish or violet on the standard back. Standard blade (4-)4.5-8(-9) x (3-)3.5-6.5(-7) mm, short-sericeous at least on apical third (often on two-thirds) of the back. Wing blade narrowly ovate or narrowly elliptic, (2.2-)2.6-7(-8.5) x (0.8-)1.2-2.3 mm, glabrous. Keel blades upcurved at almost right angles near the middle, (3.3-) 3.5-6.5(-7) mm long (measured straight from base to apex), glabrous, obtuse, apical-upper part ± squarish, upper side strongly convex in the middle part, with or without prominent basal puckering. Pistil pubescent at least on upper parts, often most, of the ovary and the style base. Pod triangular-lanceolate, 6-11.5 x 2.7-4.2 mm, smooth, ± sericeous.