Hybanthus capensis Engl.

Small hispid suffrutices from a perennial rootstock. Stems terete, ribbed when young. Leaves alternate, ovate to obovate (1.5)3(-7) cm long, (0.5)1(-3) cm wide, apex obtuse, base attenuate into a petiole, lower surface lighter coloured, margin shallowly crenate; stipules ovate-acuminate, membranous. Flowers declinate, on long thin pedicels, the sub-opposite bracts usually arising some distance below articulation. Sepals narrowly ovate-acuminate, fimbriate, the 2 lower slightly convex at the base. Petals white with lilac stripes, violet or mauve and a cream throat, the anterior 1.5 cm long, glabrous or tomentose near the base, without a pouch, claw short, lamina broadly spathulate; the other 4 somewhat longer than the sepals. Stamens short, with glabrous filaments, the connective-appendage oblong, obtuse to emarginate, orange. Ovary glabrous or pubescent, globose, style as long as ovary. Capsule pubescent or glabrous; seed obovoid with a small discoid apex and a distinct raphe and basal aril, smooth or faintly punctate.