ACANTHACEAE
Crabbea nana
Little Pricklehead
Wildflowers© Janine Scorer (2015)
© Janine Scorer (2015)
Local Context
The rarer of the two Crabbea species found on the estate. Its roots look fleshy and swollen, rather than the fibrous roots of C. velutina.Identification
- Growth: Perennial herb with aerial stems that lie down or spread along the ground and roots that are spindle-shaped with swelling.
- Flowers: Creamy-white, 1.4–1.8 cm long, supported by short stalks 0.2–1.5 cm long.
- Leaves: Leathery and highly variable in shape (narrowly to broadly lance-shaped, elliptic, or egg-shaped), 1.6–12.3 cm long, with edges that are smooth, toothed, or wavy.
- Texture: Leaves vary from rough to hairy; flower bracts are hairy with densely spiny edges.
- Fruit: Capsule 6–11 mm long, smooth.
Did You Know?
Researchers of the University of the Free State published a paper in the South African Journal of Botany in 2023 in which various previously accepted species known from books and literature (C. angustifolia, C. hirsuta, C. cirsioides and C. ovalifolia) are merged into *Crabbea nana*.