Bashful Sugarbush

The plant grows as a prostrate shrub flat along the ground, forming a mat up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) in diameter, 30 centimetres (12 in) in height. It is sparsely branching; the stems are 1 centimetre (0.39 in) in diameter. It blooms with the inflorescences usually at ground level. It blooms in the winter, from May to September, with the peak from July to August. The plant is monoecious with both sexes in each flower. The flowers have no scent. The bracts subtending the inflorescence are deep pink in colour.

The plant is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region in South Africa, and occurs in a small area on flats near the village of Elim, and elsewhere on the Agulhas Plain, in the Western Cape province. The extent of occurrence only consists of 67 km2 (26 sq mi), wherein it is only known to occur at four localities.

The plant grows in heavy, sandy clay, or shale-derived, gravelly soils, at altitudes of 23, to 30–40 metres (100–130 ft). It grows in a specific type of ferricrete-soil, fynbos habitat. Pollination occurs through the action of birds. Possible wildfires will destroy the mature plants, only the seeds will survive such an event. The seeds are stored in the many caps (fruits) in the dried, fire-resistant seed head, which is itself retained on the plant after senescence. The fruits are woody and persistent. The seeds are released from the caps after wildfires and dispersed by means of the wind.