Roella incurva

Roella incurva is an erect or sprawling, branched shrublet of up to 40 cm tall with incurving, narrow, awl-like leaves. The leaves are often hard, hairy and toothed with spiny prickles. The leaves often grow in axillary tufts. The stems are covered in white hairs.

The flowers are sessile, growing at stem-tips in groups of up to three. The narrow bracts at the flower base are longer than the leaves. The five white or blue, rarely pink or red petals form a corolla cup, the spreading lobes tapering towards pointed tips. There is usually a conspicuous dark blotch, on this plant ringed with white, midway up each petal at the rim of the cup. The spots are sometimes connected in a ring, while all petal markings may be absent from the flowers of some plants.

The species distribution is in the southwest of the Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula as far north as Tulbagh and as far east as Swellendam.

The habitat is sandy, lower, fynbos slopes. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).