About Spatalla squamata Meisn.
Spatalla squamata Meisn., commonly known as the silky spoon, is a flowering shrub in the genus Spatalla that is part of the fynbos vegetation community. This species is endemic to the Western Cape of South Africa, where it occurs in the Bredasdorp Mountains and on the Agulhas Plain. It grows as an upright shrub, reaching only 50 centimeters in height, and produces flowers from August to October. Individual plants are killed by fire, but their seeds survive to regenerate the population after fire. Spatalla squamata is hermaphroditic, and pollination is carried out by insects. Two months after flowering, ripe seeds drop to the ground, and are then spread by ants. This shrub grows in sandstone-derived sand on hills, at elevations between 30 and 460 meters.
