Polhillides velutina

Polhillides velutina (Dümmer) H.E.Ireland (Fabaceae), formerly placed in Bolusafra and Fagelia, is a softly woody scrambling or climbing perennial endemic to the fynbos and adjacent renosterveld of the Western and Eastern Cape of South Africa. The slender twining stems reach 1-3 m in length and, like the rest of the plant, are densely covered with short, soft velvety hairs, giving the foliage a grey-green appearance. Leaves are alternate and trifoliolate on petioles 1-3 cm long, the three obovate to elliptic leaflets 1-3 cm long with rounded apices and entire margins. Axillary racemes bear several pea-like flowers about 12-18 mm long with a yellow standard often flushed with maroon or reddish-brown veining, and curved keel and wing petals. The fruit is a compressed, hairy, oblong legume 2-3 cm long containing several small dark seeds. It grows on sandstone slopes, stream margins and scrubby vegetation from sea level to about 1000 m elevation.