Aspalathus spinosa subsp. spinosa stiff, sparse stems

The long, thin stems of the sparsely branched Aspalathus spinosa subsp. spinosa bush are green throughout the year, maintaining rigid positions. They are seasonally festooned in flowers of two colours, a festive event. The binary colouring represents the discrete early and late stages of the blooms.

Not much into producing small side-branchlets, the flowers occur annually on the upper stem parts, these florally responsive parts not too narrow. The leafless to slightly recurved thorns grow from leaf axils. This is where the flowers also grow (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist).