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The Aspalathus plant group, part of the legume family, and to which Rooibos belongs, consists of more than 200 species which occur only in South Africa and of which only the species Aspalathus linearis has any economic value. Had it not been for the mountain inhabitants of the Western Cape, this species would today have been known merely as one of the many indigenous shrub-like bushes found in these mountains.
The plant is a shrub-like bush with a central, smooth-barked main stem. Near the soil surface the stem subdivides into a number of strong offshoots, followed by delicate side branches each bearing, singly or in clusters, soft, needle-like leaves some ten centimetres in length. The plants height at maturity varies from one to 1,5 metres in its natural state, while the height of harvested plants varies from 0,5 to 1,5 metres, depending on the age of the plant, or the climate and soil conditions in the area of production.
Although the plant requires a production area with winter rainfall, its active growth only starts in spring, increasing towards midsummer after which growth declines. The plant is usually covered with small, yellow, pea-shaped flowers during October. The flowers each produce a small legume containing a single, very small, light yellow, hard-shelled, dicotyledonous seed. Rooibos seed is by nature very hard-shelled. The seed is scrubbed with mechanical scourers to increase the germination potential from approximately 25 - 30% to 85 - 95%.
Rooibos seed is a precious article, simply because each legume bears only one seed which pops open and shoots out as soon as it is ripe. For this reason the seed was extremely expensive before it was discovered that ants were its main harvesters. Today some farmers still collect seed from anthills, but more commonly by sifting the sand around the plants. One kilogram of seed yields approximately eight hectares of Rooibos. |
