Zaluzianskya microsiphon

Zaluzianskya microsiphon, commonly known as short-tube drumsticks, is a perennial that grows a few erect, hairy stems branching at the base and reaching heights around 40 cm. The plants form thick clumps with partly buried, vegetative buds at the base.

The plant's hairy appearance is enhanced by the stem leaves' covering of unusually long, white hairs on their margins and sometimes the sunken midribs. The lower leaves in a basal rosette are opposite, bigger and spreading, while alternate and smaller higher up. The leaf-shape is elliptic to obovate, tapering at the base and to the pointed tip. The leaf margins may be finely toothed. Leaves are up to 9 cm long and 2 cm wide.

The species distribution is in border areas of a few South African provinces: near the northern border of the Eastern Cape, the western border of KwaZulu-Natal, the eastern border of the Free State and the southern border of Mpumalanga. It grows more widespread in Lesotho. This plant was photographed in January in the Mkhomazi Wilderness Area in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg.

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