''Sorocephalus alopecurus'', the woolly-stalk clusterhead, is a flowering shrub that belongs to the genus ''

Sorocephalus '' Sorocephalus '' is a genus containing 11 species of flowering plants, commonly known as powderpuffs, in the family (biology), family Proteaceae. The name means “heaped head”. The genus is endemism, endemic to the Cape Floristic Region of S ...

'' 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 ...

where it occurs in the Riviersonderendberge. The shrub grows only 1 m high and flowers from July to September. Fire destroys the plant but the seeds survive. The plant is bisexual and pollination takes place through the action of insects. Two months after the plant has flowered, the fruit ripens and the seeds fall to the ground where they are spread by ants. The plant grows on southern, sandstone slopes at elevations of 450 – 800 m.

References

Sources

REDLIST Sanbi

Protea Atlas

Plants of the World Online
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18083518 Sorocephalus Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces Fynbos