Serruria cygnea
Swan SpiderheadLeaves hairless. Mat-forming, bright green leaves and stem.
Flowers: Sept - Nov.
Growing along the main road through Riversong, especially near the gate to the neighbouring farm below Cottage 16.
"cygnea R.Br. Mat-forming shrublet to 1 m diam. Leaves secund, dissected, glabrescent, 25-70 mm long. Flower heads solitary, silvery pink to brown, fragrant, style 9-12 mm long, pollen presenter club-shaped, involucral bracts ovate. Sept.--Nov. Sandstone and clay slopes, NW, SW (Cedarberg to Slanghoek Mts).*" GOLDBLATT, P. and MANNING, J. 2000. Cape Plants. A conspectus of the Cape flora of South Africa. Strelitzia 9.
Tony Rebelo says that cygnea is hairless whereas effusa is hairy when young and retains a few hairs on older stems. "This has the green giss of cygnea (effusa is typically more purplish). From the flowerheads cygnea is flat on the ground, but effusa loops like a chandelier ..."
