Sandveld pincushion

Description

Leucospermum rodolentum is an upright, evergreen shrub of up to 3.0 m high, from the family Proteaceae. It has felty grey, elliptic to wedge-shaped leaves of 4–6½ cm (1.8–2.6 in) long and ¾–1½ cm wide, and very sweetly scented, globe-shaped, 3–3½ cm (1.2–1.4 in) wide, bright yellow flower heads, that are seated or on a very short stalk of ½ cm long, grouped with two to four together. Its common names include is sandveld pincushion in English and sandluisie or sandveldluisiesbos in Afrikaans. The plants are in bloom between August and November. It is an endemic species that only grows in a small area of the Western Cape province of South-Africa. Leucospermum rodolentum is an upright spreading shrub of up to 3 m (10 ft) high and 4 m (13½ ft) in diameter, that develops from a single trunk at its base of 8–14 cm (3¼–4¾ in) thick, with a smooth, grey bark. The flowering stems are rising up 5–7 mm in diameter and grey due to a dense layer of grey fine crisped hairs. The leaves are elliptic to wedge-shaped, 4–6½ cm (1.8–2.6 in) long and ¾–1½ cm (0.3-0.6 in) wide, with a blunt or tapering base, a rounded or bitten-off tip with three to six teeth, and a grey surface due to a dense layer of fine, short, crisped hairs.