Mimetes splendidus

Mimetes splendidus is a single-stemmed, sparsely branched shrub reaching about 2,5 m in height.

The simple, alternate leaves are lance-shaped to elliptic. There are silvery hairs on the blades, and three or four glandular teeth at the leaf tips. The leaves are up to 5,5 cm long and 2,5 cm wide.

The species distribution is in the southeast of the Western Cape, on the Langeberg and Outeniqua Mountains, and eastwards to the west of the Eastern Cape on the Tsitsikamma Mountains.

The habitat is montane sandstone fynbos, mostly on moist southern slopes in peaty soils at elevations from 600 m to 1200 m. The habitat population is deemed endangered early in the twenty first century, due to alien vegetation invasion, frequent fires, the plant being rare and its slow maturation from seed (Rebelo, 1995; iNaturalist; https://redlist.sanbi.org).