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Leucospermum saxatile (Leucospermum saxatile)

Description

Leucospermum saxatile is an evergreen, rising to sprawling shrub of ½–¾ m (1⅔–2½ ft) high and 1–1½ m (3⅓–5 ft) wide, that is assigned to the Proteaceae family. It has reddish tinged flowering stems and line-shaped, narrowing wedge-shaped leaves of 2½–5 cm(1–2 in) long and 2–5 mm (0.08–0.20 in) wide, with one to three blunt teeth, whorl-shaped, flat-topped, at first pale lime green but later carmine flower heads of 2½–3 cm (1–1¼ in) across, mostly individually but sometimes grouped with two or three, each on a stalk. The flower heads occur from July to October. From the flowers occur long styles with a slightly thicker tip, which together give the impression of a pincushion. It is called Karoo pincushion in English. Flowering heads can be found from July until February. It naturally occurs in fynbos in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Taxonomic tree

  • Domain: Eukarya

    • Kingdom: Plantae

      • Phylum:

        • Class: Magnoliopsida

          • Order: Proteales

            • Family: Proteaceae

              • Genus: Leucospermum