''Leucadendron spissifolium'' subsp. ''phillipsii'', the Kareedouwvlakte spear-leaf conebush, is a flower-bearing shrub belonging to the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

Leucadendron ''Leucadendron'' is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, endemic to South Africa, where they are a prominent part of the fynbos ecoregion and vegetation type. Description Species in the genus ''Leucadendro ...

'' and forms part of the fynbos. The plant is native to the Eastern Cape and

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

Description

The shrub sprouts again after a fire. The seeds are stored in a toll on the female plant, first fall to the ground after a fire and are spread by the wind. The plant is

unisexual Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

and there are separate plants with male and female flowers, which are pollinated by insects. It can be distinguished from other subspecies by its ovate involucral bracts.

Distribution and habitat

The plant occurs in the

Tsitsikamma Mountains The Tsitsikamma mountains form an east-west mountain range located in the Garden Route region of the southern South African coast in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces. Tsitsikamma means 'place of much water' in the Khoekhoe language. ...

, Elandsberg, and Vanstadensberg. It grows mainly in moist, southern slopes at altitudes of .

Gallery

Leucadendron spissifolium phillipsii 15502324.jpg Leucadendron spissifolium phillipsii 15502326.jpg

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q66091535 spissifolium subsp. phillipsii