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.
Paranomus abrotanifolius
Also called Bredasdorp Scepter, Southern Woodleaf Paranomus
Paranomus abrotanifolius is a richly branching shrub to about 90 cm high from the Cape fynbos, a rare endemic of South Africa's southern Western Cape. It is a Protea-family species that does not survive fire and suits fynbos-style conditions: sun, sharp drainage and little feeding.
Paranomus abrotanifolius, commonly known as the Bredasdorp sceptre, is a richly branching shrub to 90 cm (35 in) high, with bisexual flowers that can be found from May to December, that is assigned to the protea family. It does not survive the periodic wild fires that occur in the fynbos, where it occurs. It is pollinated by insects. The fruits are ripe and release the seeds about two months after flowering, and the seeds are collected by ants, which take them to their underground nests to feed on their elaiosomes, a behaviour known as myrmecochory. This ensures that the seeds do not burn, so new plants can grow from them. It is a rare endemic species that is only known from ten locations near the southern coast of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It grows on weathered sandstone on the Potberg in De Hoop Nature Reserve and the Elim Flats.
Hairy Style Sceptre · Overberg Sceptre · Bokkeveld Tree Sceptre · Powder Sceptre · Fine Leaf Sceptre · Ladismith Sceptre · Long Head Sceptre · Scented Sceptre · Kouga Sceptre · Cluster Flower Paranomus · Exploding Baked Apple · Van Staden's sceptre
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Paranomus abrotanifolius 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.
