Aspalathus hirta leaves and flowers

The leaves of Aspalathus hirta are trifoliolate, growing in slightly spaced clusters.

The needle-like to finely angular, green leaflets are straight and rigid, hairless and spine-tipped. These sharp spines have earned the plant the sometimes-heard common name of eina Capegorse, eina meaning hurt in Afrikaans (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist).