Struthiola ciliata flower spike

White hairiness is conspicuous upon the flower spike of Struthiola ciliata. The pale green sepal tubes, the sepal tips as well as the eight yellow petal scales are hairy.

The petal scales, lemon yellow on the plant in picture, are small, cog-like and slightly tapering to their rounded tips that rise a little above the flower mouth. Faint whitish ribs along the outer leaf surfaces are visible in the photo.

This plant has several common names, one of which, stroopbossie (Afrikaans) means little syrup bush, probably referring to nectar. Also in Afrikaans there is katstertjie (little cat’s tail), referring to the wispy stem-tip carrying the flower spike. English names of sprayflower or fringe sprayflower have been seen (Manning, 2007; iSpot; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984).