Muraltia heisteria

Muraltia heisteria is an erect shrub of 1,5 m, often with several solitary stems standing out loosely. The leaves are sessile, lanceolate, hard in texture and tapering to sharp spiny tips that offer a prickly reception. Leaf margins may be hairy.

The five sepals are identical, forming a small calyx. Many of the small purple flowers are usually scattered along the stems, growing from upper leaf axils from winter to summer.

The species distribution is predominantly in the Western Cape, slightly into the southwest of the Northern Cape and coastally in the west of the Eastern Cape.

The habitat is rocky, fynbos slopes in sandstone derived soils. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).