Leucospermum gerrardii

Description

Leucospermum gerrardii is an evergreen, mat-forming shrub of mostly about 30 cm (12 in) high and up to 1 m (3.3 ft) in diameter, with branches originating from an underground rootstock. It has narrow leaves, sometimes with three or four teeth near the tip, and prominent, raised, netted to parallel veins. The flower heads are egg-shaped about 5 cm (2 in) in diameter and consist of at first yellow, later orange or scarlet perianths, and long styles reaching far beyond the perianth and together giving the impression of a pincushion. It is assigned to the Proteaceae family. It can be found in South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga) and Swaziland. It mostly flowers between September and November. The species is called dwarf pincushion or soapstone pincushion in English.