Ferraria crispa, the sea spider has sword-shaped leaves typical of the monocots. The stems are partly covered by the leaves and may branch or be twisted in different directions.
The earlier subspecies are no longer recognised: F. crispa subsp. crispa bearing bigger flowers occurs south of Saldanha and subsp. nortierii that flowers earlier and grows to the north in the species distribution (Manning, 2009; www.arkive.org).