About Serruria hirsuta R.Br.
Serruria hirsuta, commonly known as the Swartkops spiderhead, is a flowering shrub. It is a member of the genus Serruria and forms part of the fynbos vegetation community. This plant is endemic to the Western Cape province of South Africa, where it occurs only on Swartkop Mountain in the southern Cape Peninsula, located above Simon's Town. The shrub reaches a maximum height of 50 cm, and produces flowers from June to October each year. Fire kills the adult plant, but its seeds are able to survive fire events. Two months after flowering completes, the fruit drops to the ground, and ants disperse the seeds by storing them in their nests. Serruria hirsuta is a bisexual plant, and pollination is carried out by insects. It grows in sandstone soil at elevations between 360 and 470 meters above sea level.
