''Leucadendron procerum'', the ivory conebush, is a flower-bearing

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

that belongs to the genus '' Leucadendron'' 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 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Description

The shrub grows tall and flowers in August. The plant dies in a fire but the seeds survive. The seeds are stored in a toll on the female plant and fall to the ground after a fire and are spread by the wind, the seeds have wings. The plant is

unisexual Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

and there are separate plants with male and female flowers, which are pollinated by insects. The plant's national number is 81.2. In Afrikaans, it is known as .

Distribution and habitat

The plant occurs on the Bokkeveld Carp, Gifberg,

Cederberg The Cederberg mountains are located near Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about . The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam cedar (''Widdringtonia wallichii''), which is a tree end ...

, to 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 * ...

and the northern Sandveld. It grows mainly in sandstone sand at altitudes of .

Gallery

Leucadendron procerum 15278700.jpg Leucadendron procerum 15927791.jpg Leucadendron procerum 25700630.jpg Leucadendron procerum 32494604.jpg Leucadendron procerum 5Dsr 0233.jpg

References

Threatened Species Programme , SANBI Red List of South African Plants
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15583449 procerum