Podalyria calyptrata Seeds Family: Fabaceae (pea & bean family)
Common names : sweetpea bush, large pink keurtjie, water blossom-pea (Eng.); keur, keurtjie, keurblom, ertjiebos, waterkeurtjie (Afr.)
There are few shrubs to beat Podalyria calyptrata , with its attractive, glossy, silvery foliage and masses of sweet-scented mauve-pink sweetpea-like flowers in spring, and it is easy to grow. It's also an excellent plant for the gardener wanting to attract bees, butterflies and birds to the garden. Description
Podalyria calyptrata is a sturdy, fast-growing, well-branched shrub of 23 m or a small tree of 45 m. The leaves are simple, alternate and oval or egg-shaped, 1045 mm long and up to 25 mm wide, green-grey in colour and sparsely covered with silky white hairs on the upper and lower surfaces that give the leaves a silvery sheen. Young growth is velvety. The flowers are large, 25 mm or more across, very showy, mauve-pink to pink, most have a white spot in the centre, usually visible on the standard petal, and very occasionally you find a bush where the whole flower is white. Flowers are borne in winterspringearly summer. Flowering time varies in that some bushes flower earlier than others in the same area.. Flowering is extended - bushes start off attractively dotted with their large flowers and in full bloom are completely covered in flowers. The flowers are typically pea-like with the standard/banner, keel and wing petals; the keel completely encloses the stamens and the stigma. They are also strongly fragrant, and really do fill the air of whole valleys with their sweet scent' (Marloth in Palmer & Pitman 1972), a scent that reminds me of some grape-flavoured sweets of my childhood.  When in bud, the flowers are covered by small, hairy bracts joined together to form a silken cap, which turns pale brown and appears to shrink as the bud grows, until it is balanced on the tip of the bud and falls off as the flower opens. It is an obvious feature once you notice it, and it distinguishes Podalyria calyptrata from all other species of Podalyria .
The flowers are followed by hard, inflated, furry brown pods roughly 40 x 15 mm. They are found on the bushes from about October until January or later. The pods split to release several small seeds with a fleshy, collar-like aril. Ecology
Podalyria calyptrata flowers are very attractive to many insects, particularly carpenter bees, and nectar-feeders like honey bees, butterflies and hoverflies. The large, heavy carpenter bees land on the petals and their weight opens the flower, giving them access to the pollen and nectar, whereas the smaller, lighter, honey bee goes to the opening at the base of the petals, gaining access to the nectar. The insects that are attracted by the flowers attract insect-eating birds like the Cape Batis. Distribution
Podalyria calyptrata is a fynbos plant and occurs in the winter rainfall Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula northwards to Tulbagh and eastwards to Potberg near Bredasdorp and Swellendam. It is common on sandstone slopes in kloofs (ravines), on moist hillsides, in marshy places, beside mountain streams and on forest margins. It is generally found below 1 000 m. It is abundant on the Kirstenbosch Estate, on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain above the garden, and forms part of many plantings in the garden. Derivation of the name & historical aspects: The genus Podalyria was named by Lamarck after Podalirius/Podalyrius (Latin) from Podaleirios (Greek), the son of Asklepios, god of healing. According to the Iliad, Podaleirios and his brother Machaon were physicians to the Greek army during the Trojan Wars. The specific name calyptrata comes from the characteristic cap that covers the flower buds, the Latin calyptrata meaning bearing a cap-like covering'.  Podalyria is a genus of 25 species, endemic to southern Africa. At Kirstenbosch at the moment, we have only one other species in the garden, P. sericea , the silky podalyria, a small shrub up to 1 m, with silky, silvery foliage and small pink and white flowers. It occurs on sandstone and granite outcrops below 500 m from Saldanha Bay to the Cape Peninsula.
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