Selago corymbosa

Selago corymbosa, the bitterblombos (bitter flower bush) in Afrikaans, is a single-stemmed, perennial shrublet that branches and grows to 60 cm in height. The plant belongs to the Scrophulariaceae, the sutera or figwort family.

The leaves are densely scattered in tufts or clusters. They are narrowly linear to thread-like, light green in colour with margins rolled under. Leaf dimensions are up to 10 mm long and about 1 mm wide.

The species distribution is in the southern parts of the Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula to the Eastern Cape as far as Baviaanskloof. The photo was taken in the Salmonsdam Nature Reserve.

The habitat is open shrubland and grassy fynbos slopes, but also some karoid parts. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century.

The plants are little browsed (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Gledhill, 1981; http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au; http://redlist.sanbi.org).