shrubby; the branches terete, virgate, stellato-pubescent; leaves on long petioles, deeply 5–7- lobed, the lobes much acuminated, inciso-sinuate, and unequally-toothed, minutely stellato-pubescent on both sides, prominently 5–7-nerved below; stipules subulate, deciduous; peduncles sub-terminal, elongate, densely 12 or more-flowered; invol. bracts subulate, acute; sepals linear-oblong, coriaceous, purplish within; petals narrow-obovate; barren filaments few; capsules elliptic-oblong, 4-celled. A virgate shrub, with soft, spongy wood and half herbaceous branches, much smaller in all parts than S. Africana; with smaller and more densely clustered, purplish flowers; deeply parted leaves and 4-celled capsules. It is closely allied to S. Abyssinica, but differs in pubescence, and in the shape and section of the leaves. The hairs, in S. Abyssinica, are long, simple, patent and soft, and the leaf-lobes are more acuminate, and less pinnatifid.
