Erica sparrmanii hairy flowers

The nodding flowers of Erica sparrmanii grow in terminal clusters on short side-branches. Their pedicels are short, only about 1 mm in length. The leaf-like, lance-shaped sepals are 6 mm long, covered in glassy bristles. The bracteoles are similar in shape, positioned closely behind the sepals.

The yellow to greenish yellow flowers have notably hairy, tubular corollas bulging in its centre, about 2 cm long. The small corolla lobes around the mouths are triangular and erect or in-curved. The eight anthers are included in the flower tube. They have short spur-like attachments, the stamens shorter than the greenish style. The ovary has an inverted cone-shape and a hairy surface, the stigma a pinhead, sometimes just visible in the flower mouth.

Flowering occurs mainly in spring and summer but often continues all year round. These flowers were photographed in March in Kirstenbosch (Manning and Helme, 2024; Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Baker and Oliver, 1967; iNaturalist; iSpot).