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Long Head Sceptre

Paranomus dispersus

Also called Long Head Scepter, Longhead Sceptre

Long Head Sceptre
Photo: SAplants, CC BY-SA 4.0

Paranomus dispersus is a fynbos shrub from South Africa's Western Cape, growing up to about 1.5 m tall and flowering mainly from August to November. It is a fire-adapted native that needs very free-draining, sandy soil and full sun to thrive.

Family
Proteaceae (Protea family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly once established; avoid waterlogging and never let it sit in wet soil.
Soil
Very well-drained, acidic, sandy or sandstone-derived soil, low in phosphorus.
Temperature
Mild Mediterranean-type conditions; tolerates light frost but protect below about -5 °C.
How easy
Hard
Native range
SW. Cape Prov.
Climate
subtropical

About

Paranomus dispersus, the long-head sceptre, is a flower-bearing shrub that belongs to the genus Paranomus and forms part of the fynbos. The plant is native to the Western Cape, South Africa.

Where it grows

The plant occurs from the Great Winterhoek Mountains to the Riviersonderend Mountains to the Outeniqua Mountains and Swartberg and Rooiberg. It grows in sandstone sand at altitudes of 300–1,200 m (980–3,940 ft).

Other Paranomus plants

Bredasdorp Sceptre · Hairy Style Sceptre · Overberg Sceptre · Bokkeveld Tree Sceptre · Powder Sceptre · Fine Leaf Sceptre · Ladismith Sceptre · Scented Sceptre · Kouga Sceptre · Cluster Flower Paranomus · Exploding Baked Apple · Van Staden's sceptre

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Paranomus dispersus 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.

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