Cleome oxyphylla var. oxyphylla

Cleome oxyphylla var. oxyphylla is commonly known to locals in Afrikaans as peultjiesbos (little pods bush). The plant grows to heights from 30 cm to 80 cm as an erect shrubby herb. The leaves are 3 to 7-foliolate; the sub-sessile leaflets are oblanceolate and progressively smaller higher up on the plant, where it bears fewer leaflets. The larger, lower leaflets may become 2,5 cm long. The specific name of oxyphylla means sharp or pointed leaves. There are glandular hairs on both leaf surfaces.

The distribution of C. oxyphylla var. oxyphylla lies in the north of South Africa, an area ranging from Limpopo and Gauteng in the east to North West and Northern Cape in the west. Not endemic to South Africa, the plant also grows in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. This picture shows the plant thriving in the parched mountainous landscape of Bushmanland near Pella, south of the Gariep River (www.zimbabweflora.co.zw; www.redlist.sanbi.org).