''Leucadendron pubibracteolatum'', the purple-leaf conebush, is a flower-bearing shrub belonging to the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Leucadendron ''Leucadendron'' is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, endemic to South Africa, where they are a prominent part of the fynbos ecoregion and vegetation type. Description Species in the genus ''Leucadendron' ...

'' and forms part of the fynbos. 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 Eastern Cape. In Afrikaans, it is known as .

Description

The shrub grows tall and flowers from July to August. The plant dies after a fire but the seeds survive. The seeds are stored in a toll on the female plant and fall out of the toll onto the soil after two months where they are spread by rodents. 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 reproducti ...

and there are separate plants with male and female flowers, which are pollinated by small beetles.

Distribution and habitat

''Leucadendron pubibracteolatum'' occurs in the

Outeniqua Mountains The Outeniqua Mountains, named after the Outeniqua Khoikhoi who lived there, is a mountain range that runs a parallel to the southern coast of South Africa, and forms a continuous range with the Langeberg to the west and the Tsitsikamma Mountains ...

, Kouga Mountains, and Baviaankloof Mountains from

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

to Joubertina, Scholtzberg,

Swartberg The Swartberg mountains (''black mountain'' in Afrikaans) are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little ...

, and the

Kammanassie Mountains The Kammanassie Mountains (Kammanassieberge in Afrikaans) are a mountain range in the Western Cape, South Africa. The highest peak is Mannetjiesberg at 1,955 metres above sea level and the mountain range is one of the prominent east-west trending ...

. The plant grows mainly in rocky, sandy soil at .

References

External links

* * * {{Commons category-inline pubibracteolatum