''Serruria reflexa'', the milky spiderhead, is a flowering shrub that belongs to the genus ''Serruria'' 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

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

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 from the Koue Bokkeveld to the Olifants River Mountains between The Baths and Porterville. The shrub grows erect, reaches 2.0 m in height and flowers from September to November. The plant dies after a fire but the seeds survive. Two months after flowering, the fruit falls and ants disperse the seeds. They store the seeds in their nests. Pollination takes place through the action of insects, especially bees. The plant grows in sandstone soil at elevations of 400 – 760 m.

References

Sources

REDLIST Sanbi

iNaturatlist

Plant of the World Online
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18082606 reflexa Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces Fynbos