Brunia paleacea

Brunia paleacea, sometimes called the spikekol, in Afrikaans the bergstompie (little mountain stump), and previously scientifically Nebelia paleacea, is a shrub reaching 80 cm to 1,5 m in height. The branches are sparsely hairy.

The leaves are small, narrowly triangular and cling to the stem, or bend their tips back to it.

The flowerheads appear in flattish clusters at stem-tips. They are globose, cream to pinkish red, covered in narrow, scaly, white bracts that protrude above the flowerheads like a small brush. Flowering happens from before midspring to after midautumn.

The habitat population is in the Western Cape, from the Cederberg to Hangklip and Swellendam.

The habitat is montane fynbos in sandstone soils. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; JSTOR; http://redlist.sanbi.org).