Orange flame pincushion

Description

Leucospermum erubescens is an evergreen shrub of up to 2 m (6 ft) high, with hairless, lancet-shaped to oval leaves with three to seven teeth near the tip of 7–8½ cm (2.8–3.4 in) long and 1–2 cm (0.2–0.4 in) wide, slightly asymmetric, oval flower heads of 5–6½ cm (2–2½ in) in diameter, and usually with four to eight clustered near the end of the branches, with initially yellow flowers, that change to deep crimson, from which long styles stick out, giving the flowerhead as a whole the appearance of a pincushion. It is called orange flame pincushion in English and oranjevlamspeldekussing in Afrikaans. It can be found in South Africa. Flowers may be found between August and January. The orange flame pincushion is an evergreen upright shrub of 1–1½, at most 2 m (6 ft) high, which has a single stem, and whose branches are covered with a smooth grey bark. The flowering stems are upright and ½–1 cm (0.2–0.4 in) thick and covered by a dense layer of fine cringy hairs. The leaves are hairless, pointing slightly upward, somewhat overlapping, oblong to lance-shaped, with the widest part nearer to the tip, 7–8½ cm (2.8–3.4 in) long and 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) wide, the tip more or less squared off and often with three, sometimes up to seven teeth near the tip. The oval flower heads are 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in) in diameter and set on a 2–3 cm (1.8–2.2 in) long stalk and usually grouped with four to eight together near the end of the stems. They are somewhat asymmetrical with the styles leaning a bit towards the stem. The common base of the flowers in the same head is asymmetric broadly cone-shaped or like half a sphere, about 1.3 cm (0.52 in) in diameter and clearly distinguished from the stalk. The bracts subtending the base are broadly oval, 6–8 mm (0.24–0.32 in) long and about 6 mm wide with a suddenly pointed tip, velvety on the outside, and tidily overlapping each other.