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Leucospermum prostratum
Also called Ball Flower Leucadendrum, Calypso Groundcover, Creeping Pincushion, Scented Pincushion
Leucospermum prostratum is a trailing shrub of up to 4 m (13 ft) in diameter from the Proteaceae. It has alternately set, about 3 cm (1.2 in) long, lance-shaped, olive-colored, upright leaves, and produces sweetly scented, compact, hemispherical flower heads, with long styles sticking out far from the perianth tube, which jointly give the flower head the appearance of a pincushion. The fragrant flowers found between July and December are initially yellow but turn orange when older. It is an endemic species restricted to the south coast of the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its common name is yellow-trailing pincushion.
The yellow-trailing pincushion can be found from the Kogelberg, along the southern coast from Pringle Bay to Franskraalstrand and inland to the Groenland Mountains in the west, Papies Vlei and the Elim hills in the east. It has a preference for sandy coastal flats and when it occurs in the hills, it is restricted to sandy patches of weathered Table Mountain Sandstone. Across its distribution, average winter precipitation is between 65–100 cm (26–39 in). L. prostratum survives even very intense and repeated wildfires that are natural to the fynbos, because it regenerates from the subterranean rootstock. The plants are pollinated by bees, butterflies and flies. The seeds are released from the flower heads about two months after flowering and are collected by ants that carry them to their underground nests. Chemicals released by fire have a positive effect on the germination of seeds of the yellow-trailing pincushion.
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 · Soapstone Pincushion
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Leucospermum prostratum 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.
