Aspalathus spinosa subsp. spinosa

Aspalathus spinosa subsp. spinosa is commonly known as the dancing thorn and earlier scientifically as A. horrida, presumably on account of its spines doubly referred to in the name. It is an erect shrub reaching heights from 20 cm to 1m, occasionally 2 m.

Usually multistemmed, the plant resprouts after fire. Its rigid, main branches are often few in number and rod-like, dominant in the sparse, open shape of the shrub.

There are three subspecies of A. spinosa, the other two only occurring in the Western Cape. This plant, subsp. spinosa, is widespread in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape where it is absent in the furthest inland dry parts of these provinces but spills over into the southwest of the Northern Cape in Namaqualand and the southeast of KwaZulu-Natal. The photo was taken in the Kouga.

The subspecies habitat is varied, often lowland fynbos, renosterveld and scrubby grassland in clayey or sandy soils. It is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Pooley, 1998; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://www.worldfloraonline.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).