Disparago ericoides

Disparago ericoides, in Afrikaans the basterslangbos (half-breed snake bush), is a tangled, leafy shrublet that grows to 30 cm. The stems are sometimes woody, appearing cobwebby. The needle-like leaves that become 6 mm long are recurved and twisted.

The flowerheads grow in dense, rounded clusters at stem tips. Each flowerhead has one or two pink ray florets next to the disc florets with hairy ovaries. The outer involucral bracts around each head are leaf-like, the inner ones papery.

The distribution of the species in the Western Cape lies from Piketberg to Riversdale. The habitat is lower sandstone slopes in fynbos. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; http://redlist.sanbi.org).