Wahlenbergia cuspidata

Wahlenbergia cuspidata is a bushy perennial that reaches about 50 cm in height. The hairy leaves are elliptic with wavy margins, partly clasping the stems. 

The species distribution is in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, particularly the Drakensberg and Maluti Mountains of Lesotho. 

The habitat is moist, montane grassland, the plants usually found among rocks. The misty appearance brought by low fog comes to these upper reaches of the Drakensberg quite often, adding to the conditions in which these plants thrive and to the allure of the countryside. When the clouds are gone, majestic vistas awe the hiker during the moments of pause for relief from the backpack... and the sudden realisation that admiring the view was an important reason for making the trip. Winter brings hardship, sometimes risk from snow and cold, summer from thunder storms. The photo was taken in midsummer in the Mkhomazi Wilderness Area near the Lesotho border.

The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2009; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).