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Leucospermum tottum
Also called Cinnamon Pincushion, Elegant Pincushion, Firewheel Pincushion, Horizontal Leucadendrum, Pinkstar Pincushion, Spreading Pincushion, Tiny Tot
Leucospermum tottum, the ribbon pincushion, is an upright evergreen shrub from South Africa's Western Cape, growing up to about 1.5 m tall and 2 m across with orange-red pincushion flowers. It needs full sun, excellent drainage and low-nutrient, acidic soil.
Leucospermum tottum is an upright, evergreen shrub of up to 1½ m (4½ ft) high and 2 m (6 ft) in diameter from the Proteaceae. The oblong, mostly entire leaves with a bony tip are somewhat spreading and distant from each other, and so exposing the stem. It is called elegant pincushion or ribbon pincushion in English, and oranje-rooi speldekussing (orange-red pincushion) or vuurhoutjies (fire sticks) in Afrikaans. Flowers can be found between September and January. The species naturally occurs in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Two different varieties are distinguished, which are genetically very close, but differ in the color, orientation and tube-length of the flowers, the volume and sugar content of the nectar. This is probably an adaptation to different pollinators.
The ribbon pincushion can be found from Eselbank in the Cederberg in the north, through the Koue Bokkeveld, Ceres, Worcester, and the Paarl Mountains to Villiersdorp in the south. Specimens are usually found individually growing in rugged mountainous terrain on acidulous, nutrient poor soils, at 300–1800 m (1000–6000 ft) altitude, except for a few dense congregations near Villiersdorp and on the Zuurvlakte near Tulbagh. The locations may vary quit a lot, ranging from dry and hot north facing slopes in the Cedarbeg with an annual precipitation of 400–500 mm (15–20 in), to moist and cool, south-facing positions where the yearly rainfall may be as high as 1500 mm (60 in), in both cases mainly falling during the southern winter. L. tottum var. glabrum is restricted to the Jan du Toit's Kloof, which is located in the western Hex River Mountains. The fruits fall to the ground approximately two months after flowering.
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 tottum 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.
