Polygala rhinostigma

Polygala rhinostigma is a shrub probably reaches heights from 30 cm to 60 cm. The lax, erect branches are rough, woody and pale grey when they grow old, green when young. 

The outside of the unopened flower buds have dark pink colouring, lined with beige-brown veins among tinges of green. The outer sepals are small, elliptic and tapering to acute tips. Two enlarged inner sepals are pink, spreading in open flowers. They are petal-like and wing-like, revealing the keel where the stamens are concealed near the corolla crest that is usually white, sometimes pink. The crest is more finger-like, less feathery than in many other polygalas. The specific name, rhinostigma, is derived from the Greek words rhinos meaning nose and stigma meaning a mark, possibly referring to the shape of the stigma of the flower.

The species grows in KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and the Eastern Cape, as well as in Lesotho. This photo was taken in January in the Maluti Mountains of eastern Lesotho.

The habitat is montane grassland, often at higher elevations. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century.

A tincture made of this plant used to be ingested by indigenous tribes as part of their spiritual rituals (iNaturalist; iSpot; https://www.botanicalrealm.com; www.thebotanicalsource.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).