Struthiola ciliata

Struthiola ciliata, commonly known as evening gonna or limp gonna and in Afrikaans as the stroopbos (syrup bush), is an ericoid shrub with delicate cream, pink or reddish flowers that give off a strong scent at night. These variable and widespread plants may grow taller than 1 m.

The flowers are positioned axillary. They have long narrow tubes with eight hairy scales at the throat. These scales exude the compound that exudes the fragrance at night, inviting certain moths at dusk and in the early evening to perform the pollination while feeding on nectar. S. ciliata blooms throughout the year

The plants occur in the Western Cape and northwards, slightly into the Northern Cape as far north as southern Namaqualand. The photo was taken on the Piketberg Mountain.

The habitat is slopes and sandy flats. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Makholela and Manning, 2006, SA Journal of Botany; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).