''Spatalla tulbaghensis'', the shaggy-hair spoon, is a flowering shrub belonging to the genus ''

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

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

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 ...

where it occurs on the Witzenberg Plains and

Skurweberg Pass Skurweberg Pass is situated in the Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern Sou ...

. The shrub is flat, rounded, grows only 50 cm tall and flowers from September to December. The plant dies after a fire but the seeds survive. The plant is bisexual and pollination takes place through the action of insects. Two months after the plant has flowered, the ripe seeds fall to the ground where they are spread by ants. The plant grows in moist, coarse sandy plains at altitudes of 910 m.

References

External links

* * * * https://www.proteaatlas.org.za/PROTEA_ATLAS_main_part2.pdf bl 76 tulbaghensis Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces Fynbos {{Proteaceae-stub