Lasiosiphon capitatus

Lasiosiphon capitatus, previously Gnidia capitata, is an erect shrublet that grows in rocky grassland in the eastern parts of South Africa. The plant is multi-stemmed and reaches 70 cm in height.

The stems are hairier higher up on the young parts. The leaves are blue-green, lanceolate or elliptic and may be hairy or not.

G. capitata has interesting Afrikaans common names: the gifbossie (little poison bush) or kerriebossie (little curry bush). (Edible or not?) It is not known whether the plant may be poisonous to livestock. The curry bush connotation may be derived from the flower colour. 

Flowerheads grow on long stalks. The calyx is hairy and five-lobed. Flowers are tubular with five yellow lobes and four small petal scales in the mouths. Flowering happens all through the year.

The species distribution is in the northeast of South Africa, in the provinces north of the Vaal River, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State.

The habitat is rocky grassland. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2009; www.ispot.org.za; http://redlist.sanbi.org).