''Spatalla prolifera'', the palmiet spoon, 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 ''

Spatalla ''Spatalla'' is a genus containing 20 species of flowering plants, commonly known as "spoons", in the family (biology), family Proteaceae. The genus is endemism, endemic to the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa where it is associated with fyn ...

'' 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 upright and grows to tall and flowers from September to December. The plant dies after a fire but the seeds survive. The plant is

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

and pollinated by insects. Two months after the plant has flowered, the ripe seeds fall to the ground where they are spread by ants.

Distribution and habitat

The plant occurs in the Hottentots-Holland Mountains and Kleinmond Mountains along the Palmiet and Steenbras River. It grows in swampy soil, river banks and wetlands at elevations of

References

*http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=805-22 *http://biodiversityexplorer.info/plants/proteaceae/spatalla_prolifera.htm *https://www.proteaatlas.org.za/spoon.htm *https://www.proteaatlas.org.za/PROTEA_ATLAS_main_part2.pdf bl 86 {{Taxonbar, from=Q18081741 prolifera Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces Fynbos