Manulea crassifolia subsp. thodeana

Manulea crassifolia subsp. thodeana, previously M. thodeana, is a hairy perennial, sometimes branching at the base and reaching up to 75 cm in height when flowering. It grows from a woody rootstock.

Most leaves are basal in a rosette, a few on short petioles grow on the stem. The leaves are oblanceolate with rounded or obtuse tips and a thick texture. The specific name, crassifolia, is derived from the Latin words crassi meaning thick and folia meaning leaves, referring to the leaf thickness. The leaves may be hairy and toothed, but not always. 

The flowers grow in a raceme that starts off short, but may be 15 cm long by the time the fruits develop. The five petal lobes of subsp. thodeana flowers spread at the end of corolla tubes twice as long as the hairy, pointy sepals. Flower colour of M. crassifolia generally varies from pale buff and yellow to white. M. crassifolia subsp. thodeana is the only one that sometimes has mauve flowers. There are two unequal pairs of stamens in each flower, one of which is hidden inside the tube. 

Manulea plants are sometimes in Afrikaans called vingertjies (little fingers) for the shape of their petals. This species shares the feature of a dense raceme of five finger-like corolla lobes.

The subspecies distribution is in the west of KwaZulu-Natal, the eastern Free State and Lesotho. This plant was photographed during January in the Mkhomazi Wilderness Area on the Lesotho border, the month when it normally flowers. 

The habitat is grassland at high elevations. The subspecies habitat population is stable, deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Trauseld, 1969; iSpot; JSTOR; http://redlist.sanbi.org).