zarzabacoa galana
Grona adscendens (Sw.) H.Ohashi & K.Ohashi
Zarzabacoa galana often spreads close to the ground before sending up flowering branches. African floras describe it as a straggling herb or undershrub, sometimes prostrate and rooting where stem nodes touch the soil. Young stems carry conspicuous white hairs, becoming smoother and reddish-brown with age. Kew POWO: Grona adscendens, incorporating African floras
Botanical name
Kew and SANBI accept Grona adscendens and explicitly cross-reference Desmodium adscendens (Sw.) DC. Kew POWO: Grona adscendens, incorporating African florasSANBI: Grona adscendens, Flora of the Eastern Cape
Recognizing the plant
Each leaf is divided into three rounded to broadly oval leaflets, usually much hairier underneath than above. Loose flower clusters occur at shoot tips and in leaf axils. The small flowers are commonly pink. Their narrow pods divide into one to five segments, with tiny hooked hairs across the surface; the upper edge is straighter than the rounded lower edge. Kew POWO: Grona adscendens, incorporating African florasSANBI: Grona adscendens, Flora of the Eastern Cape
Bloom window
Eastern Cape, South Africa
The Eastern Cape flora records flowering from November through March, spanning late spring, summer and early autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. SANBI: Grona adscendens, Flora of the Eastern Cape
Native range
Kew records a native range across southern Mexico and tropical America, tropical and southern Africa, and the western Indian Ocean. In South Africa’s Eastern Cape, it occupies coastal forest margins and shaded, moist forest floors. Kew POWO: Grona adscendens, incorporating African florasSANBI: Grona adscendens, Flora of the Eastern Cape
Botanical sources
- Kew POWO: Grona adscendens, incorporating African floras
- SANBI: Grona adscendens, Flora of the Eastern Cape
Reviewed 2026-10-11. Seasonal development varies with location and growing conditions.