''Brunia noduliflora'', commonly called the cone stompie in English or in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

, is an evergreen shrub native to South Africa.

Description

''Brunia noduliflora'' has a woody

rootstock A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a ...

from which many stems sprout. Their

ericoid The word "ericoid" is used in modern biological terminology for its literal meanings and for extensions. Etymologically the word is derived from two Greek roots via Latin adaptations. Firstly, the Ancient Greek name for plants now known in English ...

leaves are stalkless and resemble triangular or lance-shaped overlapping scales. Their spherical, cream

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s have long

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s, giving them a "fluffy" appearance. These flowers are short-lived, but their

globose A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is the ce ...

grey-brown seedheads are more persistent.

Range

''Brunia noduliflora'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the southern and southwestern Cape of Africa. It is common from the

Olifants River Mountains Olifant, Oliphant, Olyphant and similar variations may refer to: Geography * Oliphant, Ontario, Canada, a community * Oliphant Islands, South Orkney Islands *Olifants River (Limpopo), South Africa * Olifants River (Southern Cape), South Africa * ...

Piketberg Piketberg (also sometimes spelt Piquetberg in the past) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa, located about 80 km east of Saldanha Bay. The original spelling of the name was "Piquetberg". The town is in the foothills of the Piketberg mounta ...

, the

Cape Peninsula The Cape Peninsula ( af, Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of ...

, Jonkershoek,

Hottentots Holland Mountains The Hottentots Holland Mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt in the Western Cape, South Africa. The mountain range forms a barrier between the Cape Town metropolitan area and the southern Overberg coast. The range is primarily composed of Ta ...

, and the

Kogelberg The Kogelberg is a range of mountains along the False Bay coast in the Western Cape of South Africa. They form part of the Cape Fold Belt, starting south of the Elgin valley and forming a steep coastal range as far as Kleinmond. The Kogelberg a ...

through to the

Hermanus Hermanus (originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service

and Elim. It can also be found around the Van Stadens Mountains and around

Uitenhage Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port El ...

Habitat

This shrub is found on hills and rocky sandstone slopes.

Ecology

''Brunia noduliflora'' is endemic to

fynbos Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...

grassland where periodic fires are common. A fire-adapted plant, it has two strategies for surviving fires - reseeding and resprouting. Its underground woody rootstock, or

lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...

, resprouts the following year during autumn, while seeds retained in its seedheads are dispersed after being released by burning.

Etymology

The generic name ''Brunia'' may honor either Cornelius Brun, an apothecary and contemporary of

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, or the ship surgeon and botanical collector Alexander Brown. The specific epithet ''noduliflora'' is derived from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and describes its flowering habit - "nodulus" meaning "knot" and "flos" meaning flower - thus, "knotted flowers".

Taxonomy

Horticulture

''B. noduliflora'', being a serotinous plant, requires special treatment of its seeds to simulate post-fire conditions in order to germinate. Cuttings from its stems can also be propagated. It is best planted in well-draining fynbos gardens with acidic soil.

Uses

It is sometimes used in

floral arrangement Floral design or flower arrangement is the art of using plant materials and flowers to create an eye-catching and balanced composition or display. Evidence of refined floristry is found as far back as the culture of ancient Egypt. Professionally ...

for its unusual seedheads and long-lasting foliage. It is available under the

trade name A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

"Spray Brunia".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17270489 Bruniaceae Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces Plants described in 2000