Aspalathus linearis

Aspalathus linearis, known almost worldwide as rooibos tea, is an erect or sprawling shrub reaching heights from 30 cm to 2 m.

The simple leaves grow without stalks or stipules. They are needle-like, ascending from the thin, reddish stems in spaced clusters, the leaf tips acutely pointed. The leaf dimensions are 1,5 cm to 6 cm long and 1 mm thick.

The distribution of A. linearis is in the west of the Western Cape from the Nieuwoudtville, Clanwilliam and Ceres, particularly the Bokkeveld Plateau to the Cape Peninsula, Hangklip, Betty’s Bay and Swellendam. The plant is extensively cultivated between Clanwilliam and Nieuwoudtville for producing the commercial herbal tea, also along the Hex River and the Breede River.

The habitat is sandstone fynbos slopes and flats. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; iNaturalist; http://pza.sanbi.org; Wikipedia; http://redlist.sanbi.org).