Aspalathus linearis
Aspalathus linearis
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
Aspalathus linearis grows in a winter-rainfall area of southern Africa with a Mediterranean-type climate. It experiences cold, wet winters with frosts, and hot, dry summers; the mean annual rainfall is in the range 300 - 350mm[1]. Although it tolerates several degrees of frost in its native habitat, it also needs hot, dry summers for its wood to ripen properly and thus make it more cold tolerant. In temperate regions, such as Britain, where the summers tend to be cooler and moist it becomes much more susceptible to winter damage and so is more likely to be grown in a pot and overwintered under protection[2]. Requires a very well-drained acid sandy soil and a warm sunny position[2]. Succeeds in poor soils[1]. When grown in pots it needs to be kept dry but not arid in the winter[2]. Commercial plantations are harvested annualy, they last for about 5 - 7 years before they need to be replaced[1]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[2].
Propagation
Seed - sow late spring in a greenhouse covering the seed with about 10mm of soil[3, 4]. The seed has a hard seedcoat and, unless sown fresh before the seedcoat hardens, may benefit from scarification before sowing in order to speed up and improve germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots of well-drained sandy soil as soon as they are large enough to handle. Grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter and plant them out in late spring or early summer after the last expected frosts. It will probably be wise to give the plants protection from the cold and from excessive rain for at least their first winter outdoors. Cuttings of half-ripe wood in a closed frame in early summer[2]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Aspalathus+linearis>
Pollinators
Insects
References
- [1]PlantZAfrica.com — http://www.plantzafrica.com ↩︎An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
- [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
- [3]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
- [4]The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism — Stuart. M. (Editor) · Orbis Publishing. London. · 1979 · ISBN 0-85613-067-2 ↩︎Excellent herbal with good concise information on over 400 herbs.
- [5]Scented Flora of the World. — Genders. R. · Robert Hale. London. · 1994 · ISBN 0-7090-5440-8 ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.