Leucospermum
Sign in to saveLeucospermum commonly known as pincushions, is a genus of evergreen upright, sometimes creeping shrubs that is assigned to the Proteaceae, with currently 48 known species.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassMagnoliopsida
- OrderProteales
- FamilyProteaceae
Native toCape Provinces, Eswatini, KwaZulu-Natal, Mozambique, Northern Provinces, Zimbabwe
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Proteaceae
- Image
- Leucospermum erubescens.jpg
Show 2 more facts
- P105
- genus
via Wikidata · CC0
Article
27 sectionsContents
- Description
- Differences with related genera
- Sections
- ''Brevifilamentum''
- ''Cardinistyle''
- ''Conocarpodendron''
- ''Crassicaudex''
- ''Crinitae''
- ''Diastelloidea''
- ''Hamatum''
- ''Leucospermum''
- ''Tumiditubus''
- Taxonomy
- Phylogeny
- Subdivision
- Putative hybrids
- Reassigned species
- Names that cannot be assigned
- Distribution
- Habitat
- Ecology
- Pollination
- Seed dispersal
- Fire
- Conservation
- Cultivation
- References
Leucospermum commonly known as pincushions, is a genus of evergreen upright, sometimes creeping shrubs that is assigned to the Proteaceae, with currently 48 known species.
The shrubs mostly have a single stem at their base, but some species sprout from an underground rootstock, from which the plant can regrow after fire has killed the above ground biomass. In a larger group of species, specimens are killed by fire, and their survival depends on the seeds. In all species, seeds are collected by ants, which take them to their underground nests to feed on their ant breads, a seed dispersal strategy known as myrmecochory. This ensures that the seeds do not burn, so new plants can grow from them.