Aspalathus acuminata subsp. acuminata flowers

Both the Aspalathus acuminata subsp. acuminata flowers in picture have some whitish in the corolla, the yellow parts of the younger one turned brown in its aged partner.

The banner petals are raised at the top, their tips at this stage here hooded, while the rounded keels below are folded, much longer than the short lateral wings starting off in bright yellow as does the inside of the hood.

The green-brown calyces with granular surfaces are similar in spite of their age difference, appearing like reptile mouths attempting to swallow something a little too big for them.

There are tiny green bracts at the pedicel bases; the old pedicel may have elongated. The young, cream-coloured spine on sentinel duty may have a faintly hairy surface, as do the young stems.

The lateral leaflets of the trifoliolate leaves on the upper stem in picture are smaller than the central one, alternating up the creamy branchlets. Mucros protrude conspicuously from the leaflet tips (iNaturalist; www.fernkloof.org.za).