Wahlenbergia cernua, the scalloped Cape bell, is a rough-haired annual herb, sprawling or erect and growing from 5 cm to 60 cm in height. Elliptic, toothed leaves are scattered along the stems.

The plants are found from Tulbagh to the Cape Peninsula and eastwards to Swellendam on damp, sandy mountain slopes among fynbos.

There are more than 150 species of Wahlenbergia in southern Africa of which about 60 occur in the fynbos (Manning, 2007; iSpot).