Zygophyllum fulvum

Zygophyllum fulvum is a shrub that grows to 1 m in height. It may be erect or straggling. The opposite, sessile leaves are fleshy and divided into two oval leaflets. Leaflet margins are entire, smooth and hard, sometimes tinted with red. Leaf surfaces are green, grey-green to bluish. The leaves are here seen to be well spaced on the pale buff stems. The leaves may have pointed rather than rounded tips.  

The five-petalled flower of Z. fulvum is pale yellow or cream, with a red marking at each petal base. Flowering happens in winter and spring. The fruits are ovoid; five-angled when dry.

The habitat of this plant is sandy flats and rocky slopes along the Western Cape coast and inland, as well as into the coastal part of the Eastern Cape.

The issue of the genus name for this plant, Zygophyllum versus Roepera, seems to have cleared up in favour of the former; this plant was previously known as Roepera fulva (Manning, 2007; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; iSpot; www.redlist.sanbi.org).