Green Options

An indigenous plant which was declared extinct in 2007 has been rediscovered at Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa. Unfortunately, it still needs to be protected from roadworks that are starting in preparation for the 2010 World Cup of Soccer in South Africa.

Aspalathus recurvispina is a plant of the same Genus as that from which the internationally known Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) herbal tea is made. It is Rooibos that is pictured above as photos of the believed to be distinct plant are hard to come by.

A. recurvispina was first collected and identified on the fringe of the Humewood coastal bypass dunes near Port Elizabeth (now Nelson Mandela Bay) in the early 1960s.