About Diastella proteoides (L.) Druce
Diastella proteoides, commonly known as the Flats silkypuff, is a flowering shrub that belongs to the genus Diastella and is part of the fynbos vegetation. This plant is native to the Western Cape of South Africa, where it grows on the Cape Flats in the range between Tokai, Malmesbury, and Eerste River. The shrub has a low, spreading growth habit: it reaches only 50 cm in height, but can grow up to 3 m in diameter. It flowers year-round, with a peak flowering period from July to February.
Fire kills the mature plant, but its seeds can survive fire events. Two months after flowering finishes, the fruit drops from the plant, and ants disperse the seeds by storing them in their nests. D. proteoides is unisexual, and pollination is carried out by bees. It grows on sandy plains at altitudes between 0 and 150 m above sea level.
