Oldenburgia grandis DC

A. P. de Candolle

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle also spelled Augustin Pyrame de Candolle was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at an herbarium...

. is a small gnarled tree in the Asteraceae

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

 family found in the mountains around Grahamstown

Grahamstown

Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa and is the seat of the Makana municipality. The population of greater Grahamstown, as of 2003, was 124,758. The population of the surrounding areas, including the actual city was 41,799 of which 77.4% were black,...

 in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. It grows to a height of about 5m on sandstone outcrops. It has thick corky bark and large leaves clustered at the ends of branches. The leaves are dark green and leathery, similar to those of a loquat

Loquat

The loquat , Eriobotrya japonica, is a fruit tree in the family Rosaceae, indigenous to southeastern China. It was formerly thought to be closely related to the genus Mespilus, and is still sometimes known as the Japanese medlar...

 with a dense covering of woolly hair which is lost with ageing but persists on under-surfaces. Flowers are purple and in large heads about 12 cm in diameter. The flowerheads are solitary and terminal.
It is threatened by habitat loss.

Source

• Hilton-Taylor, C. et al. 1998. Oldenburgia grandis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 20 July 2007.