Aspalathus microlithica C.H.Stirt. & Muasya

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Aspalathus

Characteristics

Prostrate mat-like shrub, 10-20 mm tall, with a gnarled stem 5-8 mm thick; resprouter. Branches closely packed, dense, hugging the ground; young branches appressed short white strigo-villous. Leaflets 3.1-3.5 x 0.5-0.7 mm, linear-subulate, terete, apiculate, succulent, bright green, erect to spreading, glabrous, arranged in dense clusters of 9-12 leaflets on short alternately arranged brachyblasts. Inflorescences 1(2)-flowered, terminal on short shoots. Flowers 5-6 mm long, sessile, dark yellow, standing proud of leaf clusters; pedicel absent; bract 1 x 0.5 mm, naviculate, green, acuminate, densely villous inside; bracteoles 0.5 mm x 0.3 mm, pale green, situated just above bracts on base of tube. Calyx campanulate, strigo-villous; teeth 2.5 mm long, linear-subulate, terete, carnose, bright green, distinctly demarcated from tube, acuminate, identical to leaflets; tube 2.5 mm long, same length as teeth, pale yellowish green and purple veins with white appressed strigose hairs. Petals bright yellow, turning orange to red with age. Standard blade broadly ovate, 5.0 x 5 mm, glabrous with acute somewhat incurved and thickened purple apex, yellow turning orange, auricles absent; claw 1.5 mm, broad and flattish, straight. Wing blades 4.0 x 0.5 mm; blade 3.0-3.5 mm long, glabrous, yellow, upper margin inrolled with a thickened edge; claw 1.5 mm, upcurved; petal sculpturing present, distinct, lamellate near auricles becoming lunate towards centre, lamellate, upper basal and upper left central, comprised of 3-4 rows of up to 9 lunate pockets. Keel petals 5.0-5.5 x 2.5 mm, blades fused, scarcely auriculate, micropapillate along margin towards the claw, pocketed, lunate, upper margin concave-convex, lower convex, obtuse, hyaline below becoming pale yellow in upper parts, turning reddish brown with age; claw 1.0-1.5 mm long. Hypanthial disc present. Androecium 4 mm long, 5basifixed anthers, 5 versatile. Pistil 4.5 mm long; ovary 1.5 mm long, strigose on upper margin of straight part of style, ovules 2; style upcurved, height of flexure 2 mm. Pods and seeds unknown.
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Growth form shrub
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Sexuality hermaphrodite
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Mature height (meter) 0.01 - 0.02
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Nitrogen fixer rhizobia
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Cultivation

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Distribution

Aspalathus microlithica world distribution map, present in South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77130035-1
WFO ID wfo-0001336273
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Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Aspalathus microlithica