''Sorocephalus palustris'', the mat clusterhead or prostrate 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 on the Kogelberg. The plant was considered extinct and was last seen in 1984. Very little information is available on the species.
The shrub flowers from February. 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 in peaty soils at elevations of 1050 – 1200 m.
References
Sources
REDLIST SanbiProtea AtlasPlants of the World Online
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18081748
Sorocephalus
Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces
Fynbos