''Paranomus centaureoides'', the Ladismith sceptre, is a flower-bearing

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

that belongs to the genus ''

Paranomus ''Paranomus'' is a genus of 18 species of flowering plants, commonly known as "sceptres", in the protea family. It is endemic to the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. Distribution and habitat The species occur mainly in mountainous areas o ...

'' and forms part of 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 ...

. The plant is native to 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 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Description

The shrub grows up to tall and flowers mainly from June to November. Fire destroys the plant but the seeds survive. The plant is bisexual and pollinated by insects. The fruit ripens two months after flowering, and the seeds fall to the ground where they are spread by ants.

Distribution and habitat

The plant occurs in the

Swartberg The Swartberg mountains (''black mountain'' in English language, English) are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the sem ...

between

Ladismith Ladismith is a town and agricultural centre in the western Karoo, Little Karoo region of South Africa's Western Cape province. Geography It is situated adjacent to a series of fertile, irrigated valleys, at an elevation of 550 m above sea l ...

and Seweweekspoort. It grows in sandstone sand at altitudes of .

References

External links

* * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q18080630 centaureoides Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces