Diascia anastrepta

Diascia anastrepta, commonly the greater twinspur or the upturned twinspur, is a tangled perennial reaching heights from 30 cm to 40 cm.

The decussate, simple leaves appear shiny and fleshy here, spaced pairs on the reddish stems. The leaf-shape is ovate, rounded at the base and tapering to an acute tip. The leaves fold in along the midribs, some lateral veining visible. Shallow, spaced teeth occur along the leaf margins. Some leaves curve downwards along their length. 

The distribution of D. anastrepta is mainly in Lesotho, also in the west of montane KwaZulu-Natal and the far north of the Eastern Cape, where the Drakensberg begin. This plant was found in the Mkhomazi Wilderness area in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg.

The habitat is mountainous grassland near basalt cliffs and along watercourses. Winters get cold here. Dutch horticulturists have found that the plants withstand temperatures as low as 5 degrees Celsius below freezing. The habitat population is considered of least concern early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2009; www.coppelmans.nl; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).