Stilbe ericoides

This Stilbe ericoides plant was caught too early to see the flowers. Blooming occurs from mid-autumn to early spring. The photo was taken late September in the Harold Porter National Botanical Garden. This means that belated resolve must have grabbed the shrublet to have a last hurrah for the year.

This Botanical Garden lies about in the middle of the indicated distribution area of the plant in coastal south-western Cape. So, seasonal shift due to being planted in alien country cannot be blamed for this dilatory performance. Maybe the planting was so recent that the plant has barely got its bearings to start producing, judged by the bare soil in the photo.

Stilbe ericoides is a multi-stemmed shrublet, erect or straggling, with velvety branches and whorls of four ascending leaves. The globular flower spike is about formed here, but the pink flowers are still in bud. Some records indicate mauve and white flowers as well, but this may be from other Stilbe species. The habitat is fynbos sandy flats or limestone hills (Manning, 2007; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984).