The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Diastella proteoides
Also called Flats Silkystar, Flats Starlet, Heath Leaf Diastella
Diastella proteoides, the Flats silkypuff, is a flower-bearing shrub that belongs to the genus Diastella and forms part of the fynbos. The plant is native to the Western Cape and occurs on the Cape Flats from Tokai to Malmesbury and Eerste River. The shrub is flat and grows only 50 cm high but 3 m in diameter and flowers throughout the year with the peak from July to February.
Fire destroys the plant but the seeds survive. Two months after flowering, the fruit falls off and ants disperse the seeds. They store the seeds in their nests. The plant is unisexual. Pollination takes place through the action of bees. The plant grows in sandy plains at altitudes of 0–150 m.
Franschhoek Silkypuff · Peninsula Silkypuff · Mountain Silkypuff · Peninsula silkypuff · Palmiet Silkypuff · Myrtle Leaf Diastella · Worcester Silkypuff · Hangklip Silkypuff · Kogelberg Silkypuff · Kogelberg Silkypuffs · Silkypuffs
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Diastella proteoides by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
