Kedrostis capensis (Sond.) A.Meeuse

Perennial. Stems annually produced from a tuberous subglobose or napiform up to 10 cm thick rootstock, when young suberect and short, but later prostrate and attaining a length of not more than 40-50 cm, herbaceous, usually rather slender, angular-striate, covered like all vegetative parts with short white curved hairs, very rarely quite glabrous. Leaves usually secund, almost invariably firm, greyish green, ovate to oblong in outline, the first-formed undivided to pinnatilobed or palmately lacerated with a truncate-hastate to broadly and shallowly cordate base, up to about 4 cm long and 3 cm wide, but later usually very deeply palmatifid with 5-7 oblong, lanceolate or linear, entire, toothed or occasionally pinnatilobed segments, up to 7 cm long and about 5 cm wide, the segments often linear (if so 2-3 mm wide); the lateral ones shorter than the central ones, the lowermost usually much smaller often bilobed, the typical pubescence of curved white hairs usually confined to the margin on upper surface, but thinly dispersed on the lower and usually slightly paler lower surface; petioles 4-15 mm long. Tendrils reduced or short or wanting. Flowers monoecious, sometimes appearing before the leaves, the male ones in (sometimes short or contracted) racemes or fascicled (by reduction rarely solitary), the female ones solitary in different axils. Male flowers: common peduncle often rather stout, up to 6 cm but usually under 4 cm long, few-flowered or occasionally up to about 20-flowered; more or less hairy to subglabrous or hairy towards the apex; pedicels filiform, very slightly thickened towards the apex, shortly hairy or puberulous, up to 3 cm long, usually with subulate-filiform bracteoles at the base; receptacle 3-6 mm long, shortly hairy like the pedicels or rarely subglabrous, sepals triangular or triangular-ovate, sub-acute to acute, erect or erecto-patent, 1-2(-3) mm long, usually hairy; petals pale yellow or greenish yellow, ovate, oblong, obtuse to subacute, 3-6(-8) mm long, densely papillose. Female flowers: pedicels short, in fruit not exceeding 1 cm; ovary ovoid, usually hairy; staminodes 3-5, linear or ligulate. Fruit subglobose to ovoid or oblong, shortly rostrate, ultimately glabrous, 1.5-2.5(-3) cm long and 1-1.5 cm in diam., few-(to10)-seeded. Seeds thick, about 5-6 x 4-5 x 3-4 mm.