Otholobium piliferum (original) (raw)

Otholobium piliferum is a small, softly hairy shrublet of up to 30 cm (12 in) high that has been assigned to the Pea family, with branches horizontal at the base with rising tips. It regrows from the underground rootstock after fire destroys the vegetation. It has clover-like leaves on short stalks and white, pea-like flowers flushed with mauve that grow in triplets in the axils of the upper leaves of the new shoots. The species is only known from near Makhanda, Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Flowers have been seen in September and January. This is a very rare species about which little is known and which is likely threatened with extinction.