Aspalathus spinosa subsp. spinosa flowers and pods

The partly closed Aspalathus spinosa subsp. spinosa buds in picture show greenish cream corolla parts. The newly opened flowers are bright yellow, rusty brown when aged. Representatives of all the stages appear mixed, up and down the stem. The mix includes fruit pods of earlier flowers, characteristically tapering to their hairy tips that end in the curves of protruding styles.

The trifoliolate leaves have shorter, greener leaflets on this plant than seen on some others. The greyer version may be more associated with drier parts of the distribution range. The leaflets may be flattened or cylindrical, sometimes narrowly spoon-shaped (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist).