Erica binaria E.G.H.Oliv.

Erect to compact dense woody shrub 300-600 mm tall, single-stemmed reseeder. Branches: numerous erect main branches continuing vegetative growth or terminating in an inflorescence, numerous secondary flowering branches 1-10 mm long, all pubescent with spreading hairs. Leaves 3-nate, erect to subspreading, 4.0 x 0.6 mm, oblong to oblong elliptic, apex subacute, adaxially flattened, abaxially rounded and narrowly sulcate, edges acute, mostly glabrous but occasionally pubescent especially towards the margins and apex, ciliolate and with minute shortly stalked glands; petiole adpressed, 0.5 mm long, glabrous, ciliolate. Inflorescence: flowers 3-nate in 1 whorl, terminal on main branches and mostly secondary short branchlets; bract fully recaulescent as abaxial lobe of the calyx; bracteoles 2, fully recaulescent as lateral lobes of the calyx. Calyx unequally 4-lobed, ±1.0 x 1.5 mm, cyathiform, 2/3 (1/2) as long as the corolla, glabrous, yellow-green; lobes subequal with abaxial lobe sometimes slightly longer and broader than others and slightly imbricate laterally, all triangular, ±1/2 the calyx, apex acute, narrowly sulcate 1/2 its length, more or less flat, ciliolate and with occasional minute glands, occasionally puberulous apically. Corolla 4-lobed, 1.0-1.5 x 1.5 mm, obovoid, glabrous, yellow-green with red tinge; lobes 1/4 the corolla, erect to incurved, broadly triangular, subacute, entire or minutely erose. Stamens 8(6), included to manifest; filaments free or fused at base, broad, oblong, straight, glabrous; anthers free, bilobed, oblong, dorsifixed near base, muticous; thecae erect, adpressed, 0.5-0.8 mm long, elliptic, with long hairs at base and papillae or rarely hairs at apex and adaxial edges; pore 1/3 the theca; pollen in tetrads. Ovary 2-locular, 0.6 x 0.7 mm, broadly ovoid, laterally flattened with a few slight longitudinal ridges and basal groove on either side, apex subacute, glabrous, colliculate especially on ridges, no nectaries; ovule 1 per locule, pendulous, placenta apical; style short ±0.2 mm long, lengthening somewhat in older flowers, glabrous; stigma manifest becoming exserted with age, ±0.8 mm wide, funnel-shaped becoming peltate with edges collapsing inwards with age, glabrous, red. Fruit indehiscent, drupaceous, 1.0 x 1.0 mm, broadly elliptic, laterally flattened with basal groove on either side; pericarp very hard dry, endocarp 2-layered much lignified, mesocarp thin with many crystals; seeds ellipsoid, soft with very thin transparent testa, cells slightly elongate with undulate-jigsawed non-thickened anticlinal walls, with a few pits only near apex of seed. Flowering time: February to May at Stellenbosch, October to December at Jonaskop.