Heliophila

Heliophila, commonly known as sunflax and in Afrikaans sporrie, is a genus of annual and perennial herbs as well as shrubs in the Brassicaceae, the mustard or cabbage family. Some have a climbing habit.

The leaves are simple, varying in width. The leaf margins vary from entire and toothed or lobed to pinnately divided. Some have minute stipules.

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

Of the 85 extant Heliophila species 55 grow in fynbos and 26 in Namaqualand. Large stands are a foil to yellow and orange daisies in the spring landscape of the Northwest, 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).