Ten questions and their answers. (With JavaScript on, these become an interactive quiz.)
Rooibos is most closely related to which of these plants?
Peas and beans. Rooibos is Aspalathus linearis, a member of the Fabaceae — the legume family. It is not related to the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, at all.
Source: SANBI, PlantZAfricaWhere in the world is rooibos farmed commercially?
One region of South Africa, and nowhere else. The Cederberg and the Suid–Bokkeveld. Attempts to farm it elsewhere have not produced a crop worth selling.
Source: recorded in our facts file; protected in EU law since 2021What colour is a living rooibos plant?
Grey–green. The bush is needled and grey-green, nothing like the red in the cup. Young branches are often reddish, but the plant is not red.
Source: SANBI, PlantZAfricaSo what actually turns rooibos red?
Something people do to it after cutting. The leaf is chopped fine, bruised, then heaped and left to change colour before being dried. Skip that step and you get green rooibos.
Source: SANBI, PlantZAfricaWhen is rooibos harvested?
December to April — the southern summer. A new planting waits 12 to 18 months before its first cut, and a field keeps producing for about five years.
Source: SANBI, PlantZAfricaIn which year did rooibos receive EU protected designation of origin?
2021 — Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/865, dated 28 May 2021. It protects the names ‘Rooibos’ and ‘Red Bush’.
Source: EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2021/865How much rain does rooibos country get in a year?
About 300 to 350 mm, almost all of it in winter. That is drier than practically any commercial tea region on earth.
Source: SANBI, PlantZAfricaWhich country buys the most rooibos?
Japan — about 33% of South Africa’s 2025 exports, roughly 3 600 tons of the 10 930 tons exported.
Source: South African industry reporting, February 2026How tall does a rooibos shrub grow?
Up to about two metres. SANBI describes it as an “erect to spreading, highly variable shrub or shrublet up to 2 m high”, with needle-like leaves 15 to 60 mm long.
Source: SANBI, PlantZAfricaSince 2019, what share of the farm gate price goes to Khoi and San communities?
1.5%. A 2014 study found the traditional knowledge of rooibos lies with the San and Khoikhoi. The industry-wide benefit-sharing agreement that followed pays a levy of 1.5% of the farm gate price into community trusts.
Source: Natural Justice; South African Rooibos Council