'' Aulax'' is a South African

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...

genus of just three species of evergreen shrubs commonly known as "featherbushes". The name ''Aulax'' was named by a botanist named Linnaeus; he named ''Aulax'' after the Greek god Proteus, who is known to inherit the ability to change his shape at will. It is unusual among the many South African Proteaceae in having male and female flowers on separate plants. The bushes have fine needle-like foliage. In spring and summer female plants produce funnel-shaped ''

Leucospermum ''Leucospermum'' is a genus of evergreen upright, sometimes creeping shrubs that is assigned to the Proteaceae, with currently forty-eight known species. Almost all species are easily recognised as ''Leucospermum'' because of the long protruding ...

''-like flowerheads that develop into seed cones. The catkin-like male flowers are yellow.

Species

Described species are listed below: * '' Aulax cancellata'' (L.) Druce, 1753, 1914 - Channel-leaf featherbush * '' Aulax pallasia'' Stapf, 1912 - Needle-leaf featherbush * '' Aulax umbellata'' (Thunb.) R.Br., 1781, 1810 - Broad-leaf or fluffy featherbush

Cultivation

In all respects except frost hardiness, these are tough plants. They tolerate

extreme heat A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

, very low humidity, and prolonged drought. Like virtually all Proteaceae plants, they grow best on a light gritty soil with good drainage. They propagate from seed or half-hardened late summer-autumn cuttings.

References

Botanica Sistematica
{{Taxonbar, from=Q588402 Proteaceae Flora of South Africa Proteaceae genera