Manulea praeterita

Manulea praeterita is an annual reaching heights around 4 cm to 7 cm. The specific name, praeterita, is a Latin word meaning the past or olden time. The significance of this name is as obscure as the plant itself, as this range-restricted species has received little attention in the literature, even described as commonly overlooked.

M. praeterita grows in the southwest of the Northern Cape and the north of the Western Cape, i.e. on the Bokkeveld Escarpment, the Olifants River Valley and parts of the Cederberg; parts where every spring flower has much competition. The photo was taken south of Vanrhynsdorp near the southern border of the Knersvlakte.

The habitat is fynbos and succulent Karoo where the plants grow in loamy and often deep sandy soils on flats and slopes; also in disturbed places. Rooibos tea farming is common here. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).