Brunia

Brunia is a genus of erect and spreading shrubs and small trees of the Bruniaceae family. Some of them sprout from underground lignotubers. Some are called ericoid on account of their leaf-shape, while some are slow-growing and thought to become very old.

The leaves are usually closely overlapping and shaped lanceolate, ovate to oblanceolate. Lanceolate is lance-shaped and widest near the base, oblanceolate is also lance-shaped but the widest part is then near the leaf-tip. The leaves are stalkless, and hard-textured. Few species bear stipules.

The flowers are borne in very dense, globular heads, from 30 to 400 florets per head. The floral bracts are pressed to the pedicels. There are also two bracteoles positioned against the short pedicel. The five sepals are mostly regular.

The white to cream corolla consists of five petals, narrowly oblanceolate to obovate in shape. They form a tube low down around the filaments, which are unequal in length, the stamens erect or recurved. There is no nectary and scent is mostly absent from these flowers, when present it is sweet or cabbage-like. The two-chambered ovary is fully or semi-inferior. The two styles are sometimes slightly divergent. (The similar Berzelia genus bears single styles on their florets.)

The fruit is indehiscent or a four-valved capsule. The seeds are ellipsoid or oblong. Old seeds are retained in the hard, persistent heads, often for years and released only after fire.

The seven Brunia species mostly grow in the winter rainfall area, in montane Western Cape fynbos but some species also somewhat into the Eastern Cape.

The plant in picture is Brunia noduliflora (Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007).