Bolusafra bituminosa

    Bolusafra bituminosa

    The twining branch of Bolusafra bituminosa has dark green, trifoliolate leaves with longer petiolule on the central leaflet than on the lateral ones.

    The pea-flower shape of the yellow corolla is dominated by the banner that curves back. In the sunlight the inside of the banner has little of the maroon lines strongly present upon the closed bud in the background, showing its outer surface. The wings are round-tipped and the keel between them dull with little floral colouring.

    The larger distribution of the species lies in the west of the Western Cape, while the plant also occurs at the coast in the west of the Eastern Cape and into the Western Cape (Privett and Lutzeyer, 2010; Manning, 2007; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; www.fernkloof.org.za).