Acmadenia heterophylla

Acmadenia heterophylla is a low-growing, branched shrub that reaches 40 cm in height.

The leaves are small, fresh green and clustered near the reddish stem tips. The leaf-shape is ovate, the leaf folding in along the midrib. The margins are entire. As the specific name, heterophylla, indicates, the leaves are variable.

The flowers are pink or white. The five spreading petals are obovate in shape with rounded tips. Faint central lines, nectar guides, are present on the petal upper surfaces, running into the throat. The style is shorter than the petals. The ovary is covered in a fleshy disc.

These shrubs grow along the coast from Bredasdorp to Mossel Bay. The habitat is fynbos in "soil pockets in coastal limestone". The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

The plant is commonly browsed by game and livestock (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Riley, 1963; http://pza.sanbi.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).