''Paranomus abrotanifolius'', commonly known as the Bredasdorp sceptre, is a richly branching shrub to high, with bisexual flowers that can be found from May to December, that is assigned to the
protea family.
It does not survive the periodic wild fires that occur in the
fynbos
Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...
,
where it occurs. It is pollinated by insects. The fruits are ripe and release the seeds about two months after flowering, and the seeds are collected by ants, which take them to their underground nests
[ to feed on their ]elaiosome
Elaiosomes ( ''élaion'' "oil" + ''sóma'' "body") are fleshy structures that are attached to the seeds of many plant species. The elaiosome is rich in lipids and proteins, and may be variously shaped. Many plants have elaiosomes that attract ...
s, a behaviour known as myrmecochory
Myrmecochory ( (sometimes myrmechory); from ("ant") and ''khoreíā'' ("circular dance") is seed dispersal by ants, an ecologically significant Myrmecophily, ant–plant Biological interaction, interaction with worldwide distribution. Most ...
. This ensures that the seeds do not burn, so new plants can grow from them. It is a rare endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
species that is only known from ten locations near the southern coast of the Western Cape
The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...
province of South Africa. It grows on weathered sandstone on the Potberg in De Hoop Nature Reserve
De Hoop Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
It lies three hours from Cape Town in the Overberg region, near Cape Agulhas, the southern tip of Africa. Approximately in area, it is one of the largest ...
and the Elim Flats.
Description
''Paranomus abrotanifolius'' is a richly branching shrub that grows up to high, with branches covered with soft, weak, thin and clearly separated hairs (or pilose
Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...
), alternately set with leaves that are all alike (unlike in some other ''Paranomus'' species), long, twice pinnately divided in the top half, soon losing the soft hairs, ending in slender segments that are circular in cross section with a stump tip and up to 1¼ cm (½ in) long. The flowers are grouped with four together in heads, and the heads themselves in dense spikes
The SPIKES protocol is a method used in clinical medicine to break bad news to patients and families. As receiving bad news can cause distress and anxiety, clinicians need to deliver the news carefully. Using the SPIKES method for introducing and ...
of about 6⅓ cm (2½ in) long and 1¼ cm (½ in) in diameter, and the spikes are on their own or with a few together at the tip of the branches. The stem of each spike is covered in felty hairs. The narrow, awl-shaped, densely felty bract that subtends each group of four flowers is about 8½ mm (⅓ in) long, while the almost papery bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale.
Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...
supporting the individual flower is covered in dense long felty hairs on the outside, about 5 mm (0.2 in) long and 2½ mm (0.1 in) wide, oval in shape, with a gradually pointed tip. Just before opening, the flower is up to 8½ mm (⅓ in) long, the corolla tube
Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''coroll ...
may have soft short hairs or not, while the four free lobes are 7⅓ mm (0.3 in) long and coil when the flower opens. The anthers
The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filamen ...
are directly attached to the inside of the corolla lobes with no discernible filament. The ovary
The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...
that is encircled by a row of hairs, is topped by a style
Style, or styles may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal
* ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film
* ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film
* '' ...
of long, with few soft hairs in the lower half, at the top gradually converging into an elliptic, more or less stump stigma of about ¾ mm (0.03 in) long. The subtribe Proteinae to which the genus ''Paranomus'' has been assigned consistently has a basic chromosome number of twelve ( 2n=24).
Taxonomy
English plantsman Joseph Knight described the species in his 1809 work '''', calling it the southern wood-leaved paranomus. He reported it had been collected by one J. Niven in the mountains near Swellendam
Swellendam () is the third oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town and Stellenbosch), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them buildings of Cape D ...
.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15586502
Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces
abrotanifolius
Plants described in 1809