Aspalathus asparagoides subsp. asparagoides flowers
Author: Ivan Lätti
Photographer: Thabo Maphisa
The flowers of Aspalathus asparagoides subsp. asparagoides grow in small clusters from leaf-axils near stem-tips.
The banner petal is larger than the other four. It is reflexed, round-tipped, folded down the centre and hairy on the outside. The two shorter wing petals flank the smallest pair forming the keel, protruding from the wing pair’s tips (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; JSTOR).