Oedera genistifolia

Oedera genistifolia, commonly known in Afrikaans as the kleinperdekaroo (little horses’ Karoo) or gombossie (little gum bush) and previously as Relhania genistifolia, is a single-stemmed, branched shrub reaching heights from 40 cm to 1 m. Lower stems are leafless and woody, covered in pale grey to grey-brown bark and marked by leaf-scars.

The species distribution of this South African endemic is mainly in the Western Cape, the west of the Northern Cape and the southwest of the Eastern Cape. The photo was taken west of Barrydale.

The habitat is lower slopes in clayey, shale and limestone soils, often in renosterveld. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Mustart, et al, 1997; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; https://keyserver.lucidcentral.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).