''Leucadendron sheilae'', the Lokenberg conebush, is a flower-bearing shrub 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 ...
, a South African
biogeographical
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, i ...
region. The plant is native to the
Western and
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...
s, where it occurs at
Lokenberg in the .
The plant grows mainly in hard sandstone sand on level crests at altitudes of .
In
Afrikaans it is known as .
;Description:''L. sheilae'' is a small shrub with narrow leaves which are widest near their tips (
oblanceolate). The male flowers are small and green, with a foetid scent. The female flowers, also green, are roughly spherical (or "globose")
florets which cluster together in larger
inflorescences borne on hairless stems.
;Distribution and habitat:
;Reproduction: The shrub is
dioecious
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 ...
(individual plants have either all male or all female flowers), with
unisexual flowers which are pollinated by insects.
;Spread: ''L. sheilae'' plants die after fire; the seeds survive. The seeds are borne in
cones on the female plant and are released when ripe. Rodents collect the ripe seed and store in underground caches, which protects the seed from fire.
;Ecology and threats:
References
External links
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18078298
sheilae