Greek koleos — sheath, nema — thread, referring to the sheathed staminodes.

Heather-like evergreen shrubs. Leaves simple, alternate, linear and aromatic. Flowers bisexual, in clusters or solitary. Sepals 5. Petals 5, white to red, grooved at the base and with a cup-shaped or lobed disk. Stamens 5, sterile stamens 5 hidden within the channel at the petal base. Fruit of 5 carpels.

Grown for the profuse small flowers and aromatic, fine, heather-like foliage.

Cuttings.

Heather-like foliage and small flowers with the sterile stamens tucked into the base of the petals.

8 species from SW to E Cape, S Africa.

Williams (1981).

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Rutaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

Updated by: Val Stajsic, October 2020