Aspalathus pinguis Thunb.

An erect or ascending, rather sparingly branched shrub (0.2-)0.3-1 m tall, with erect, rather straight, tail-like branches densely white-villous on the young parts and with leafy branch ends. Leaflets extremely variable in length and shape: from subglobose or oviform to linear, shorter than 1 to longer than 25 mm, subterete or somewhat angular, obtuse to acute (or mucronulate), straight or ± incurved, bright green, glabrous. Inflorescences unifloral (or bifloral), on lateral short-shoots, distributed along the branch ends for a variable distance below leafy branch tips. Flowers rather small to fairly large, ± succulent. Bract situated on the pedicel near its base or at a short distance from it, triangular-ovate to subulate, 0.3-1.5 mm long. Pedicel 0.3-5 mm long, densely short-tomentose. Bracteoles 0.2-1 mm long. Calyx tube cylindrical-campanulate, glabrous; lobes triangular, 0.6-2.4 mm long, green, glabrous, acute. Petals bright yellow or rarely partly red, rather carnose, firm, glabrous or almost glabrous. Standard blade 5.5-10 x 4.5-7.3 mm, acute and ± incurved at the apex, margins generally firmly incurved, base of back laterally pubescent. Wing blades (4.5-)5-7.5 x 2-2.8(-3) mm, glabrous, often very slightly upcurved, either with a main fold and diffuse minute folds on the base, or without a main fold and with few to several rows of minute folds. Keel blades ± arched or angled, (4.6-)5-6.5 (-7.5) x 2.5-3.7 mm, glabrous, with concave upper margin. Pistil pubescent on basal upper part of the ovary; ovules 2-8. Pod triangular-lanceolate, 10-18 x 4-6 mm, glabrous or ± pubescent on basal upper parts.