Otholobium is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family with over 50 named species, but several also remain undescribed sofar. Species may be herbaceous perennials, subshrubs, shrubs or small trees. The alternately set leaves are accompanied by stipules and mostly consist of three leaflets, sometimes just one. The inflorescences are on short or long stalks in the axils of the leaves. Within the inflorescences, the pea-like flowers occur in groups of three, rarely of two, subtended by a bract, and each individual flower also is subtended by a narrow bract. The petals may be white, pink, purple or blue, often with a differently colored nectar guide, that may sometimes even be yellow. The seedpods contain just one, black, dark or light brown seed. Most species are restricted to the Cape provinces of South Africa, but some occur at higher elevations in eastern Africa. Charles Stirton erected the genus in 1981. The species in South America will probably be segregated, because these are not sufficiently related to the African species.
Dilatris is a genus of four species of evergreen perennial herbaceous plants of up to 60 cm (2.0 ft) high, that are assigned to the bloodroot family. The plants have hairless, line- to lance-shaped leaves set in a fan that emerges from a red or orange coloured rootstock. Six free tepals with some gland dots near their tips are present on the mauve or dirty yellow flowers' six free petals. The other two stamens are longer and spreading with smaller scarlet anthers, while the one stamen is short, upright, and has a large, yellow anther. The style is diverted from the centre opposite both longer stamens. The species only occur in the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa.
Leucospermum harpagonatum is an evergreen trailing shrublet with leathery, line-shaped, upright leaves and small heads with eight to ten cream, later carmine-colored, strongly incurved flowers assigned to the family Proteaceae. It is reminiscent of the hottentot fig without its flowers. It is called McGregor pincushion in English and flowers from late August till early November. It is critically endangered and occurs only in a very small area in the Western Cape province, South Africa.
Leucospermum heterophyllum is a low, trailing evergreen shrublet of up to 15 cm (6 in) high, and up to several m in diameter, which is assigned to the family Proteaceae. It has narrow leaves of about 2½ cm (1 in) long and ½ cm (0.2 in) wide, mostly with three teeth near its tip. It has small, globe-shaped, whitish flower heads. It is called trident pincushion in English and rankluisie in Afrikaans. It naturally occurs in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The plant flowers between August and January.
Mimetes saxatilis or limestone pagoda is an evergreen, upright, rarely branching shrub of 1–2¼ m (3⅓–7¼ ft) high, assigned to the family Proteaceae. The approximately oval leaves are 3½–5 cm (1.4–2.0 in) long and 1½–3 cm (0.6–1.2 in) wide with a blunt, thickened, reddish tip or with three crowded teeth. It has cylinder-shaped inflorescences topped by a crest of green leaves, further consisting of heads with 12-22 individual bright yellow flowers, each in the axil of a flat, green leaf. It is an endemic species that is restricted to limestone outcrops in the Agulhas plains in the very south of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is considered an endangered species. Flowering may occur between July and December, but is unreliable in its timing, dependent on sufficient moisture availability.
Otholobium curtisiae is a small spreading shrub assigned to the Pea family. All green parts are covered in hairs and urn-like glands. It has many woody stems, small and somewhat succulent, dark green alternately set clover-like leaves and heads consisting of 3-9 white, pea-like flowers on very short peduncles in the axils of the leaves. This species is an endemic of the Overberg area in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It mostly flowers in August and September.
Otholobium dreweae is an upright shrublet assigned to the Pea family of about 15 cm (5.9 in) high, that appears after the vegetation burned down from the underground rootstock and forms mat-like clumps of hardly branching, leafy stems. The stems are set with stiff, entire, alternate leaves with a single leaflet and heads consisting of 12-18 initially dark pink, later white, pea-like flowers with a white nectar guide on a peduncle as long as the leaves at the end of the stem. This species is an endemic of the Kleinrivier Mountains in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It mostly flowers in November.
Otholobium accrescens is an upright, largely herbaceous subshrub assigned to the Pea family. It has up to three stems that carry upright branches in leaf axils near the ground, and have alternately set inverted egg-shaped leaves and lax heads consisting of 12-21 pea-like flowers on long peduncles in the axils of the lower leaves. It differs from most other Otholobium species by the calyx that continues to grow after flowering and the leaf that consists of just one leaflet. It is an endemic of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa near Loerie. It probably flowers August to January.
Otholobium nitens is an upright, densely branched shrub of up to 1.5 m high that is assigned to the Pea family. It has one to many initially softly hairy stems, alternately set, clover-like, upright leaves crowding the new shoots, and heads consisting of 3 pea-like, dark purple to mauve flowers on short peduncles in the axils of the leaves on short side-shoots. This species is an endemic of the mountains between Ceres and Hottentots Holland in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It mostly flowers between October and late December.
Otholobium saxosum is a small shrublet of up to 20 cm (7.9 in) high that has been assigned to the Pea family, with branches upright or horizontal at the base with rising tips. It has sessile, clover-like leaves and white, pea-like flowers that grow in triplets in the axils of the upper leaves of new, short side shoots. The species is only known from Garcia's Pass in Western Cape province of South Africa. Flowering occurs in October and November.
Otholobium spissum is a dense, tangled, much branched shrub of up to 185 cm (73 in) high that is assigned to the Pea family. It has dull green, clover-like leaves and white, pea-like flowers with a streaky, triangular, purple nectar guide. The species grows in renosterveld in the central mountains of the Western Cape province of South Africa. This species flowers in July and August.
Otholobium lanceolatum is a small subshrub of up to 20 cm (7.9 in) high, that is assigned to the Pea family. It has up to 7 horizontal stems with raised tips, few hairless, alternately set leaves with only one leaflet and clusters of 15-27 white, pea-like flowers with a purple tip near the top of the short, seasonal shoots. It is endemic to one site near Caledon, South Africa. Flowers only appear in November and December within one year after a fire destroyed the vegetation.
Otholobium lucens is a shrub of up to 60 cm (24 in) high that is assigned to the pea family. It has alternately set clover-like leaves crowding on the new growth, while older parts have lost their leaves. The white, pea-like flowers occur with 3 or 6 together in the leaf axils. This rare species is an endemic of the Swartberg mountains in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It flowers between July and February.
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.
Bossiaea dasycarpa is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to a small area in eastern Australia. It is a prostrate or low-lying shrub with narrow oblong to narrow elliptic leaves, and yellow and red flowers.
Pultenaea victoriensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of Victoria, Australia. It is a shrub with hairy young stems, wedge-shaped to oblong leaves with a notched tip, and yellow and dark red, pea-like flowers.
Hovea asperifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is a shrub with hairy branchlets, narrowly oblong to narrowly linear leaves with stipules at the base, and mauve, pea-like flowers.
Babiana lobata is a species of geophyte of 12–25 cm (4.7–9.8 in) high that is assigned to the family Iridaceae. It has leaves that consist of a sheath and a blade that are at a slight angle with each other. The leaf blades are narrow, sword- to lance-shaped and have a left and right surface, rather than an upper and lower surface. The leaf blades are slightly pleated and hairless. The inflorescence contains seven to twelve bluish mauve mirror-symmetrical flowers comprising six tepals, with the lower lateral tepals yellow sometimes flushed mauve at their tips, and with three stamens crowding under the dorsal tepal. Flowering occurs in July and August. The flowers emit a faint acrid-metallic scent. B. lobata grows in part of the Richtersveld in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.
Swainsona campestris is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to arid areas of southern Australia. It is an erect perennial herb with imparipinnate leaves with 9 to 11 linear to narrowly lance-shaped leaflets, and racemes of pink or purple flowers in racemes of 5 to 10.
Swainsona eremaea is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It is a low-growing, spreading, probably perennial plant with imparipinnate leaves with 5 to 11 linear, oblong to broadly wedge-shaped leaflets, and racemes of bright red to brown or yellow flowers in racemes of 5 to 20.
