Aspalathus kougaensis old and new flower

Aspalathus kougaensis grows in the Langkloof and the Kouga. Although it is not one of the better known Aspalathus species, its distribution range extends further in almost all directions to another mountain range or town; in the northwest to the Swartberg Mountains and to the south around Knysna.

The plant can be variable in habit, flower colour and size, as well as in leaf length. Hairiness is always present, varying on different plant parts.

The plant in picture shows two flowers at different stages of development. The still yellow flowers corolla colouring is only inside the large banner petal and on the pair of wings cohering with the hairy keel below.

The older flower on the left has lost floral colouring by turning brown, its petals folded in. It flaunts only one innovation, viz. the elongated style that protrudes from the front of the hairy, withered body.

The style is attached to the tip of the developing fruit pod that started off as the ovary, only to be revealed to the world once the pod has swollen more and the petals wither even further (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; JSTOR; iNaturalist).