Erica sparrmanii

Erica sparrmanii is a sturdy to willowy, erect, shrub growing straight branches to heights around 1,9 cm. The single-stemmed plant reseeds after fire.

According to the Erica species classification presented by Baker and Oliver the plant forms part of the Dasyanthes section of the Syringodea subgenus of Erica. Dasyanthes species are characterised by flowers growing in terminal umbels, their corollas hairy and inflated. The yellowish flowers are distinct from the mainly pink ones of the other Dasyanthes species. Manning and Helme placed it among the Cluster Heaths that grow nodding, usually stalkless flowers with velvety or hairy corollas at stem-tips.

The distribution is from the eastern extreme of the Western Cape around Uniondale to the west of the Eastern Cape through the Langkloof to Humansdorp.

The habitat is dry fynbos flats and lower slopes. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Manning and Helme, 2024; Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Baker and Oliver, 1967; iNaturalist; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).