About Leucospermum reflexum H.Buek ex Meisn.
Leucospermum reflexum H.Buek ex Meisn., commonly called the rocket pincushion, is a large, rounded shrub that can reach up to 4 meters (13 feet) in diameter, growing from a single trunk at its base. Its branches are covered in smooth grey bark. Flowering stems are stiffly upright, 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) thick, and grey in color from a dense covering of fine twisted hairs pressed to their surface, with some additional long straight erect hairs. Alternately arranged leaves point upwards at an angle to the branch. They are elliptic to inverted lance-shaped, only 2–5½ cm (0.8–2.2 in) long and ½–1¼ cm (0.2–0.5 in) wide, and also have a dense covering of fine twisted hairs pressed to the surface. The tip of the leaf usually has two or three teeth, but may sometimes be entire. Flower heads are produced individually near the ends of branches. They are globe to egg-shaped when young, 8–10 cm (3.1–3.9 in) in diameter, growing on a 3–6 cm (1.2–2.4 in) long stalk. The common base that supports all flowers in a single head is narrowly cylinder-shaped, 2–3½ cm (0.8–1.4 in) long and ½–¾ cm (0.2–0.3 in) thick. The bracts subtending the whole flowerhead are narrowly triangular with a pointed tip, 1–1¼ cm (0.4–0.5 in) long and 4 mm (0.16 in) wide at the base, with a rubbery consistency, a sparse tuft of long hairs at the tip, and a row of hairs along its margin, similar to an eyelash. The bract subtending each individual flower tightly encloses the base of the perianth. It is about 1 cm (0.4 in) long and 6–8 mm wide at its base, with a pointed tip that may curve outward. It has thick woolly hairs at its base, and thinner, evenly spaced long straight hairs near the top. The perianth itself is 4–5 cm (1.6–2 in) long, most often crimson to deep orange, and very rarely pale yellow. The lowest part of the perianth that remains fused after the flower opens, called the tube, is about 1 cm (0.4 in) long. It is hairless and narrow at the foot, and finely powdery and wider closer to the top. The middle parts of the perianth that split when the flower opens, called claws, are uniformly covered in soft long hairs. They bend strongly immediately after the flower opens, forcing the style downward. The wider terminal parts of the perianth, called limbs, which cover the pollen presenter in the bud, are very narrowly lance-shaped to linear, 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long and about 1½ mm (0.06 in) wide with pointed tips, and are also covered in soft long hairs. Three of the claws stay attached along their full length to form a sheath, while the fourth is free. The limbs of all four perianth segments remain attached and are inrolled. Anthers attach directly to the perianth limbs without filaments, and are awl-shaped, 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long. The style is 7–7½ cm (2.8–3.0 in) long. It is initially orange, and later becomes deep crimson; it is yellow in the rare pale yellow form. The pollen presenter is the same width as the style, white with greenish yellow near the tip, cylindric to awl-shaped with a sharp tip, 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long, with a very slight notch at its base. The ovary, which is enclosed by the base of the perianth tube, is subtended by four awl-shaped, rubbery scales about 3 mm (0.12 in) long. The genus Leucospermum is placed in subtribe Proteinae, which consistently has a basic chromosome number of twelve, with 2n=24. L. reflexum is an endemic species found only in the eastern Cederberg mountains, ranging from Wupperthal in the south to Pakhuis Pass in the north. It grows at altitudes between 900 and 1800 m (3000–6000 ft), where annual rainfall is 250–380 mm (10–15 in), falling mostly in winter. Because the regional climate is dry and this species prefers relatively moist conditions, it grows mainly in seepage areas or along streams, where it is often found growing alongside the reed-like restionid Cannomois virgata and common bracken Pteridium aquilinum.
