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Trident Spiderhead

Serruria trilopha

Also called Sand Serruria, Snake Stem Spiderhead, Three Crested Serruria

Serruria trilopha is a small upright shrub in the Proteaceae, native to fynbos on the Cape Peninsula and Cape Flats in South Africa. It is grown mainly for its flowers and needs full sun and sharp drainage.

Family
Proteaceae (Protea family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water moderately during establishment, then little once established; avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Sandy, acidic, very well-drained soil or a lean mineral mix.
Temperature
Mild Mediterranean-type conditions; roughly 5–30 °C, protect from hard frost.
How easy
Hard
Native range
SW. Cape Prov.
Climate
subtropical

About

Serruria trilopha, the trident spiderbush, is a flowering shrub that belongs to the genus Serruria and forms part of the fynbos. The plant is endemic to the Western Cape, where it only occurs on the Cape Peninsula and Cape Flats up to Malmesbury. The shrub is upright and grows only 80 cm high and bears flowers from August to October.

Fire destroys the plant but the seeds survive. Two months after flowering, the fruit falls and ants disperse the seeds. They store the seeds in their nests. The plant is bisexual. Pollination takes place through the action of insects. The plant grows in sandy soil at elevations of 50–310 m.

Other Serruria plants

Common Rootstock Spiderhead · Kleinmond Spiderhead · Strawberry Spiderhead · Marshmallow Spiderhead · Stately Spiderhead · Acorn Spiderhead · Agulhas Spiderhead · Bottlebrush Spiderhead · Shiny Spiderhead · Lost Spiderhead · Wavy Spiderhead · Wynberg Spiderhead

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Serruria trilopha 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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