''Diastella thymelaeoides'' subsp. ''thymelaeoides'', the Kogelberg silkypuff, is a subspecies of ''

Diastella thymelaeoides ''Diastella thymelaeoides'' is a flower-bearing shrub that belongs to the genus ''Diastella'' and forms part of the fynbos. The plant is native to the Western Cape and occurs in the Hottentots Holland Mountains and northern Kogelberg around the ...

'' that belongs to the genus ''

Diastella ''Diastella'' is a genus containing seven species of flowering plants, commonly known as “silkypuffs”, in the protea family. The name comes from the Greek ''diastellein'' “to separate”, with reference to the free perianth lobes – the pl ...

'' and forms part of the

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 ...

. The plant is native to the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

and occurs in the Hottentots Holland Mountains and northern

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 ...

around the Steenbras Dam. The shrub grows erect and grows only 1.5 m tall and flowers throughout the year with a peak from August to November. Fire destroys the plant but the seeds survive. Two months after flowering, the fruit falls off and ants disperse the seeds. They store the seeds in their nests. The plant is unisexual. Pollination takes place through the action of bees. The plant grows on rocky sandstone slopes at altitudes of 450-900 m.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q95571562 thymelaeoides subsp. thymelaeoides Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces