Pteronia incana or asbos

Pteronia incana or asbos (ash bush) is the dominant shrub in parts of the Little Karoo vegetation, known as asbosveld. This transitional vegetation occurs between succulent Karoo and subtropical thicket habitat types, described by Vlok and Schutte-Vlok (2010) for the Little Karoo.

The asbos grows in this habitat in clay or loam soils to heights of around 1 m. Fire kills it, i.e. it does not resprout like many other plants of the region, but reseeds prolifically, the seeds waiting in the ground for favourable conditions, usually after rain and suitable temperatures (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; iSpot; www.renu-karoo.co.za).