Brachylaena neriifolia

Brachylaena neriifolia, in Afrikaans the Kaapse vaalbos (Cape grey bush), is only a shrub when growing in riverbeds as this one among river rocks in Meiringspoort. It does become a tree reaching heights to 8 m when conditions allow (SA Tree List No. 729).

The species is distributed in the far southwest of the Western Cape and along the south coast into the Eastern Cape as far as Port Elizabeth.

The habitat is stream banks in montane areas and moist mountain forests. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; www.redlist.sanbi.org).