About Serruria flagellifolia Knight
Serruria flagellifolia, commonly known as the Houwhoek spiderhead, is a flowering shrub in the genus Serruria that is part of the fynbos vegetation community. This plant is endemic to the Western Cape of South Africa, where it grows in the Kogelberg, Greenlandberg, and Babilonstoringberge mountain ranges. Mature shrubs reach up to 1.0 meter in height, and flower between June and November. Fires kill the entire above-ground plant, but its seeds are able to 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. S. flagellifolia is unisexual, and insect pollinators carry out pollination for this species. It grows in sandstone soil, at elevations ranging from 150 to 400 meters above sea level.
