Aspalathus quartzicola C.H.Stirt. & Muasya

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Aspalathus

Characteristics

A prostrate mat-like shrub to 20 mm tall, with a gnarled stem up to30 mm thick; resprouter. Branches closely packed, dense, hugging the ground; young branches minutely and sparsely scabrous. Leaflets linear, tubular, 3.5-4.0 x 0.2-0.3 mm, succulent, erect, glabrous, arranged in dense clusters on short brachyblasts. Inflorescences 1-or 2-flowered, terminal on short shoots arising along each branch. Flowers 8-9 mm long, white, standing proud of leaf clusters, pedicel1 mm long; bract 0.7-0.8 x 1 mm, tooth-like, at base of peduncle, tip black-haired; bracteoles 1 x 0.5 mm, at top of peduncle, tip black-haired. Calyx campanulate, glabrous; teeth sharply demarcated from tube, subulate-linear, terete, 1 mm long, stiff, green; tube 2 mm long, longer than teeth, pale yellow. Petals white. Standard blade broadly ovate, 4 x 3-5 mm, glabrous with acute somewhat incurved and thickened apex, auricles prominent; remains attached in fruit; claw 1.5 mm, broad, straight. Wing blades 4 x 2 mm, glabrous, white, held erect like fairy wings, upper margin inrolled; petal sculpturing present, indistinct, lamellate along upper inrolled thickened edge; claw 3 mm, straight. Keel petals 3.5 x 1.8-2.0 mm, blades fused, claw 3 mm long, ribbon-like; white, tips purple to violet; blade glabrous, auriculate, pocketed, upper margin almost straight, lower convex. Hypanthial disc present,2 mm high, prominent. Androecium 6 mm long, 5 basifixed anthers,5 versatile. Pistil 4.5 mm long; ovary 1.5 mm long, glabrous, stipe0.5 mm long, ovules 4; style upcurved 1.6 mm near end from point of flexure. Fruits 7-8 x 3 mm, borne erect, obliquely ovate, glabrous, glossy, apex acute, reticulately veined, bright green when young, pale brown when mature; seeds 2.0-2.3 x 1.8-2.0 mm, tan with dark brown blotches.
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Growth form shrub
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Sexuality hermaphrodite
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Mature height (meter) 0.02
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Cultivation

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Distribution

Aspalathus quartzicola world distribution map, present in South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77130034-1
WFO ID wfo-0001336272
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Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Aspalathus quartzicola