Heliophila

Of the 85 extant Heliophila species 55 grow in fynbos and 26 in Namaqualand. Commonly known as sporrie or sunflax, many are annuals, although some sporries are perennials or shrubs. There are even some scandent species.

The leaves are simple, varying in width. The leaf margins of some species are entire, toothed, lobed or pinnately divided on others. Some have minute stipules.

The inflorescence is a main stem raceme or also growing on side branches from leaf axils. Some species have bracts subtending the pedicels. The sepals are quite variable.

The most common flower colours are blue and white, while mauve and pink are frequently seen, lilac or yellowish occasionally. The four petals are near circular or lance-shaped, often clawed or wedge-shaped and with appendages at the base.

There are six stamens and two nectaries in each flower. The ovary is superior, sessile or stalked. The style is simple, varying in length, the stigma may be bilobed.

The fruits are long or short, often cylindrical siliquae, the margins straight or constricted between seeds, causing the pod to appear beaded. A siliqua is the long, narrow seedpod found on many plants of the Brassicaceae, the mustard or cabbage family. The two valves or halves of the pod split apart, exposing a central partition as the fruit matures and dries.

Large stands are a foil to yellow and orange daisies in the spring landscape, presenting ethereal clouds of dainty four-petalled flowers on delicate stems elevated over the bare red sand.

These slender plants withstand considerable heat and drought at bloomtime. Sporries also fill space among shrubs in the flower season as here among dry tufts of still dominant winter grass (Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Manning, 2007; Le Roux, et al, 2005; Eliovson, 1990; Wikipedia).