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Leucospermum gerrardii
Also called Dwarf Pincushion, Soboliferous Pincushion
Leucospermum gerrardii is a low, evergreen, mat-forming subshrub of the Protea family from high grassland in South Africa and Eswatini. Its key to cultivation is full sun, sharp drainage and minimal fuss, as it regrows from underground stems after fire.
Leucospermum gerrardii is an evergreen, mat-forming shrub of mostly about 30 cm (12 in) high and up to 1 m (3.3 ft) in diameter, with branches originating from an underground rootstock. It has narrow leaves, sometimes with three or four teeth near the tip, and prominent, raised, netted to parallel veins. The flower heads are egg-shaped about 5 cm (2 in) in diameter and consist of at first yellow, later orange or scarlet perianths, and long styles reaching far beyond the perianth and together giving the impression of a pincushion. It is assigned to the family Proteaceae. It can be found in South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga) and Eswatini. It mostly flowers between September and November. The species is called dwarf pincushion or soapstone pincushion in English.
The dwarf pincushion mainly occurs in grassveld among granite and quartzite outcrops in the higher mountain areas at 1200–1800 m (4,000–6,000 ft) in the Makhonjwa Mountains near Barberton and the northwest of Eswatini. A few small and isolated populations can be found on grassland on Table Mountain Sandstone and Ecca Sandstone in central Natal at 450–1100 m (1,500–3,500 ft) altitude. It is often associated with serpentine in the underground. Annual rainfall may be as much as 1000 mm (40 in) or 1500 mm (60 in) at the greater altitudes, mainly falling during the summer. The flowers are mainly pollinated by birds. The seeds are released from the heads about two months after flowering and are collected by ants that bring them to their underground nests. L. gerrardii plants survive the regular grass fires that kill the above-ground branches, because it regenerates from the many spreading, underground stems.
Redelinghuys Pincushion · Gordon's Bay Pincushion · Arid Pincushion · Catherine's Pincushion · Grey tree-pincushion · Heart Leaf Pincushion · Red pincushion-protea · Common Pincushion · Oudtshoorn Pincushion · Silver-leaf wheel pincushion · Potberg Pincushion · Ember pincushion
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Leucospermum gerrardii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
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.
