Aspalathus hispida Thunb.

A decumbent, ascending or erect, rather sparingly ramified shrub or shrublet, from less than 0.15 to more than 1 m tall, with young branches reddish to pale yellowish, puberulous. Leaflets linear, 1-8 mm long, straight or slightly curved, subterete, rather pale or dull (rarely clear) green, acute (or obtuse), sparsely patent-puberulous or glabrous. Flowers distributed along 30-120 mm of the branch ends, small, inconspicuous. Bract subulate or linear, 0.1-1(-1.8) mm long, weak, sparsely puberulous. Pedicel ±0.5 mm long or less, pubescent. Bracteoles toothlike or subulate, less than 0.8 mm long. Calyx tube campanulate-tubular, sometimes purplish, sparsely patent-puberulous; lobes broadly subulate to linear, 0.4-3(-5) mm long, straight, dull green, subterete, subglabrous or basally puberulous, acute. Petals pale yellowish or nearly white, but then at least keel apex (and often standard back) dull violet. Standard blade elliptic or obovate, 3-4.5(-6.8) x 2-3(-3.8) mm, obtuse or acute, apical half often reflexed above the middle, back puberulous at least on apical half (appressed or spreading hairs). Wing blades linear-elliptic, 2-3.2(-3.8) x 0.7-1.3 mm, glabrous or with some puberulous pubescence on lower part; with one row of transverse small folds on upper half; wings attached to the keel pouches. Keel blades narrowly lunate, 2.5-4.2(-5) x 1.2-1.8 mm, with slightly convex upper margin, glabrous or sparsely appressed-puberulous on lower apical parts. Wing and keel claws slender, often attached for up to 1 mm of the base to the staminal sheath. Pistil sericeous on the ovary and (sparsely so) basal parts of the style; style less strongly upcurved than usual in the genus. Pod rhombic-ovate, 3-5 x 1.8-3.5 mm, greenish or greyish until ripe, sparsely short-tomentose.