Erica monadelphia

Erica monadelphia, commonly false tassel heath, is an erect shrublet growing stout branches from a persistent rootstock, reaching 60 cm to 90 cm in height. The plant is closely covered in short side-branchlets.

The hairless leaves in whorls of three overlap densely, growing in ascending vertical arrays up the stems. The leaf-shape is needle-like or linear, triangular in cross-section (trigonous) and grooved. Leaf length is up to 5 mm.

Baker and Oliver classifies the species under the Didymanthera section of the Syringodea subgenus, meaning that the plants grow tubular flowers at stem-tips that are hairless with exserted anthers. Manning and Helme groups it with Sunbird Heaths characterised by large tubular or urn-shaped flowers, corollas over 10 mm long, often slightly curved and ending in small rounded lobes flaring or erect around the mouths.

The flowers of E. monadelphia grow nodding on short stalks (about 3 mm). They are crimson-red with little colour variation. Both the short bracteoles at the flower base that clasp the calyx and the slightly longer sepals inside them are pinkish red, folded over the base of the corolla. The tubular corolla is darker, from 10 mm to 13 mm long. The corolla lobes are erect and short. The filaments have a characteristic kink below the eight anthers that are exserted with their upper parts and the style. Flowering happens from midsummer to mid-autumn or upon resprouting after fire.

The species distribution is along the southern coast of the Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula to Potberg.

The habitat is coastal sandy slopes. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Manning and Helme, 2024; Marais, (Ed.), 2017; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Baker and Oliver, 1967; iNaturalist; www.redlist.sanbi.org).