Polygala virgata, the purple broom is a slender, single stem, erect plant with very striking pink-purple flowers that make it popular with gardeners. The plant has leaves only near its top; the leaves being elliptic, sometimes very narrow. Flowers are produced in slender arching racemes. 

Polygala flowers are often characterised by two prominent lateral, inner sepals. The lower petal is keeled with an apical crest, the lateral petals often reduced, sometimes two-lobed. The flowers are thus structurally different to the typical pea flower plants they superficially resemble.

This photo was taken near Kaapsche Hoop. The distribution of the species ranges from the southern Cape to tropical Africa (Manning, 2007).