Nemesia barbata

Nemesia barbata, in Afrikaans commonly the bloubekkie (little blue maw), is an annual reaching 8 cm to 35 cm in height. The plant is often branched and leafy low down.

The soft, green leaves are simple, opposite, broadly ovate to elliptic with coarsely toothed margins. Leaf dimensions are 2 cm long and 1 cm wide.

The species distribution is in the southwest of the Northern Cape from around the Kamiesberg Mountains to the Western Cape around Clanwilliam and south-eastwards to Bredasdorp, the Little Karoo and Riversdale. The photo was taken near Oudtshoorn.

The habitat is sandy and clayey fynbos and renosterveld flats and slopes. The plants are more seen after fire. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).