Description
Berzelia lanuginosa, commonly known as vleiknoppies or vleikolkol in Afrikaans, is an evergreen fynbos shrub with spherical flowerheads. Not only are nearly all 12 members of the Berzelia genus endemic to the Western Cape and the Cape floral kingdom (apart from a couple that extend into the Eastern Cape), but so is the rest of the family of Bruniaceae.
As the common names suggest, the plant is commonly found in water rich, marshy or vlei areas, usually on sandy flats and slopes with water seepage. The kolkol name is derived from the clustered stands of the plants in the fynbos where the patches of creamy white flowering can be seen from afar. Knoppies refer to the spherical flowerheads. The distribution area lies between Clanwilliam and Bredasdorp (www.plantzafrica.com; Bean and Johns, 2005).
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