PROTEACEAE 1 5 1 



Plate 3 1 . 



Leucospermum. 



A. L. crinitum (Thunb.) R. Br. 



B. L. puberum R. Br. 



C. L. buxifolium (Thunb.) R. Br. 



D. L. medium (Thunb.) R. Br. I. Flower-head with visiting beetle (Trichostetha 



fascicular is). In the centre of the capitulum a few buds. 

 2. Bud, just opening. 3. Flower, open. 



E. L. hypophyllum (Thunb.) R. Br. 



Leucospermum (see also Plate 36). 



Flowers bisexual, irregular, the claws of three calyx segments cohering, 

 while the fourth one is free below or for its entire length, all the apices being 

 separated. Style filiform, curving upwards or finally straight, deciduous; 

 stigma glabrous, thickened, mostly obliquely truncate and furrowed or angular. 

 Nut sessile, subglobose, smooth. 



Small trees or shrubs, some trailing on the ground, with dense terminal 

 heads of yellow, red or orange-coloured flowers, the style being generally 

 most brilliantly coloured. 



About 30 species, of which a few occur beyond the borders of the Cape 

 region, e.g. L. Zeyheri and L. attenuatum on the Drakensbergen, L. saxosum, 

 recently described by Spencer Moore, on the Chimanimani mountains in 

 Gazaland, and L. Rochetianum, of doubtful generic relationship, in Abyssinia. 



The others are all confined to South Western Cape Colony, the most 

 common kind being Leucospermum conocarpum, called " kreupelhout " by the 

 colonists; it forms dwarf trees with a globular crown (Plate 36). The 

 large yellow flower-heads are often visited by sugar birds, especially by the 

 long-tailed Promerops cafer. 



The orange-coloured heads of L. obovatum, L. medium, and L. lineare 

 are even more gorgeous, and L. reflexum of the Cederbergen surpasses them 

 all in the graceful appearance of its flower-heads. 



Leucospermum crinitum. Heads crowded at the end of the branches, sub- 

 cylindrical, the bracts long-pointed and pilose or ciliated, as long as the flowers, 

 bright red or orange. A shrub 3 — 6 feet high, flowering in spring. Frequent 

 on the hills of Paarl, Stellenbosch and Caledon. 



Very similar is L. penicillatum, which differs by its oblong leaves and the 

 longer involucral bracts. 



Leucospermum puberum. A low, spreading shrub, 2 — 3 feet high, with 

 pilose twigs and leaves. The flower-heads are mostly solitary, one inch in 

 diameter when fully expanded ; the involucral bracts are more or less herbaceous, 

 pilose, ovate-acuminate, dark red on the inner side. 



Frequent near Paarl, Tulbagh, Caledon and other districts, flowering in 

 spring. 



