The genus Rafnia was named after Karl G. Rafn (17691808), a Danish scientist and botanist who wrote a book about Danish native plants. The genus Rafnia contains about 22 species that occur only in southern Africa and mostly in the Western Cape; the range of only one species, R. elliptica, stretches into KwaZulu-Natal. Rafnia belongs in the Pea Family (Fabaceae) and is most closely related to Aspalathus, Lebeckia and Wiborgia.

Rafnia triflora commonly known as Three-flower Rafnia is a little known but striking fynbos shrub, with blue green leaves and bright yellow flowers in summer. Rafnia triflora is an erect woody shrub up to 2.4 m high. It is multi-stemmed at ground level, with strong woody stems, reddish purple when young, arising from a persistent, fire-resistant, woody rootstock. The leaves are blue-green, simple, hairless, leathery and without a petiole (sessile). The veins are clearly visible, with a thick midrib and the veins extending from the midrib in a feather-like pattern. The leaves are much larger at the base of the stems and decrease in size towards the top. They are also differently shaped: those at the base are elliptic to rounded and those at the top nearly triangular with a rounded or heart-shaped base. The leaves turn black soon after cutting, making this species a poor cut flower. The inflorescence is made up of a number of bright yellow pea flowers along the tips of the branches. It is made up of many single flowers but they emerge in groups of three in the axils of the leaves giving the appearance of a three-flowered inflorescence. Flowering time is from spring to late summer (September March). The pods dry black and remain on the bush long after they have split open and released their seeds.