About Leucospermum hypophyllocarpodendron (L.) Druce
Leucospermum hypophyllocarpodendron is most often a prostrate shrub, rarely growing more upright, that reaches no more than 20 cm (7.9 in) high. Its branches spread across the ground from an underground rootstock, forming mats 0.5–1.5 m (1.7–5 ft) in diameter. When flowering, branches are 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) in diameter, and are initially covered in fine grey crisped hairs that wear off as they age. Its leaves are upright: in one subspecies, they are linear and U-shaped in cross section, while in the other they are narrowly lance-shaped with a narrow wedge-shaped base. Leaves are 4–13 cm (1.6–5.1 in) long and up to 1.5 cm (0.6 in) wide, and most have two to four thickened teeth that are tinged red. One subspecies has leaves that are initially covered in soft, grey, crisped hairs that may partially wear off with age, while the other has leaves that are almost hairless and bright green from the start. Flower heads grow in groups of up to four, mostly at a right angle to the branch, each on a 3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in) long stalk. They are somewhat flattened globular in shape, 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in) in diameter, and are generally upright. The common base of the flowers within a single head is cone-shaped with a pointy tip, 1.5 cm (0.6 in) high and ¾–1 cm (0.3–0.4 in) wide. The bracts are very broadly oval with a pointy tip, 4–7 mm (0.16–0.28 in) long and 5–7 mm (0.20–0.28 in) wide, and may or may not have soft hairs. They are rubbery, overlapping, and pressed against the underside of the flower head. Individual flower bracts, called bracteoles, are rubbery, thickly woolly at the base and hairy higher up, wrap around the base of the flower, and are oval with a pointy tip, about 7 mm (0.28 in) long and 5 mm (0.20 in) wide. The bright yellow perianth is 20–22 mm (0.79–0.87 in) long, tube-shaped, and slightly bent toward the center of the flower head when in bud. The fused tube at the base is about 1 cm (0.39 in) long, covered in very fine soft hair, and hairless on the side facing the flower head's center. The three perianth lobes facing the flower head's center form a hairless sheath together, while the lobe facing the flower head's rim is free. After the flower opens, both the sheath and free lobe are strongly rolled. The yellow style is slender, straight or slightly bent toward the flower head's center, and 20–26 mm (0.79–1.02 in) long. The thickened tip, called the pollen presenter, is slightly split in two at the top, 1.5–2 mm (0.06–0.08 in) long, with the groove that functions as the stigma located at the very tip. The ovary is subtended by four narrow, awl-shaped scales 1 mm (0.039 in) long, or scales may be absent entirely. The flowers of Leucospermum hypophyllocarpodendron have a sweet scent. The genus Leucospermum belongs to the subtribe Proteinae, which consistently has a basic chromosome number of twelve (2n=24). In terms of distribution, habitat, and ecology, Leucospermum hypophyllocarpodendron subsp. hypophyllocarpodendron is found in three isolated areas that were likely connected when sea levels were lower than today: along the coast between Brandfontein (near Cape Agulhas) and Franskraalstrand; near Faure, Stellenbosch and around the Berg River Dam; and across the southern half of the Cape Peninsula. This subspecies previously grew on flat land between Retreat and Cape Town, but it is now locally extinct due to urban expansion. These plants grow in fynbos and strandveld on sandy flats below 150 m (500 ft) elevation, and sometimes grow on weathered Table Mountain Sandstone up to 300 m (1000 ft). Adult plants almost always survive wildfires that occur every one to two decades, because they can grow new branches from their woody underground rootstock. Leucospermum hypophyllocarpodendron subsp. canaliculatum is naturally distributed along the west coast of the Western Cape, ranging from Milnerton in the south, to Darling in the west, to Piketberg in the north, with one isolated population near the Brandvlei Dam. This subspecies always grows on white sands, in areas with an average annual rainfall of 38–50 cm (15–20 in), most of which falls during winter. It is also very resistant to fire.
