Acmadenia sheilae

Acmadenia sheilae is an erect, branched shrub that grows to a little more than 1 m. The leaves are ericoid, small and narrow, appearing cylindrical with bluntly rounded tips. They are not pressed to the stems, which helps to distinguish the plant from A. macropetala.

The distribution of A. sheilae is inland in the east of the Western Cape, on the middle and higher slopes of two mountain ranges only: the Swartberg on the northern perimeter of the Little Karoo and the Rooiberg near its southern border. This picture was taken in May on the Rooiberg.

The habitat is arid protea fynbos growing in sandy and loamy soil. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; http://redlist.sanbi.org).