Didelta spinosa

Didelta spinosa, belonging to the family of Asteraceae, is a Southern African woody shrub or small tree endemic to the West Coast and found from Saldanha Bay in the south across the Gariep into the south-west corner of Namibia. Growing 2–3 m tall and drought-resistant, its preferred habitat is on dry, rocky slopes. This species was introduced to Europe by Thunberg and Masson. Leaves are opposite, shiny, oval to elliptic with margins rolled under (revolute) with irregular spine-tipped teeth - young leaves and twigs somewhat felted; flowers with an outer row of unusually large and leaf-like bracts with mucronate apices, and which become membranous with age; fruits in spine-fringed cells. Flowering takes place from midwinter to early spring. There are only 2 species in this genus, the other being Didelta carnosa. Recent phylogeny studies have placed the genus Didelta and Berkheya spinosissima in the same clade. The beetle Julodis viridipes has been recorded feeding on the foliage of D. sp......read more on Wikipedia.