Common Sunshine Conebush

Appearance

"Leucadendron salignum" is an evergreen, stiff, upright shrub of up to 2 metres high, with soft, silky hairs pressed against the branches, with variable leaf sizes and bract colour.. Its rigid but rather thin leathery leaves are oblong linear or lance-shaped linear, 2+1⁄2–7+1⁄2 cm long, 3+1⁄4–6+1⁄2 mm wide, gradually pointy or with the midrib extended in a pointy tip, with soft, silky hairs pressed against the leaf surface. Like in all species of "Leucadendron", the male and female flower heads are on different plants.

The male flower head may be yellow or burgundy red, is cone- or egg-shaped, 8–19 cm long, hardly about 1+1⁄4 cm across, subtended by an involucre of several leaves of about 1.9 cm long that are often covered in rusty-coloured soft hairs. The bract subtending the individual male flower is covered with long soft hairs, about 1⁄2 mm long, oblong in shape and the tip almost pointed. The lower part of the 4-merous perianth of the male flower that remains merged upon opening called tube is 1+1⁄2 mm long, somewhat compressed and covered with long soft hairs. The middle part that consists of four free segments ones the flower opens are linear to spade-shaped, about 2 mm long, and covered with long soft hairs. The higher part consists of four segments that are about 1⁄2 mm long, elliptic with a somewhat blunt tip, and softly hairy, and are directly merged with the anthers without a filament, 1⁄2 mm long, oblong in shape. The rudimentary style in the male flower is about 3 mm long, thread-shaped, hairless with an egg-shaped stigma of 1⁄2 mm long. At the base of the style are four line-shaped scales of 1⁄2 mm long.

The young female flower head is oblong to cylinder-shaped and about 1+1⁄4 cm long. The involucral leaves are often ivory in colour and may conceal the head. Inflorescences can be either yellow or red. The bract subtending the individual female flower is softly hairy, transversely oblong, about 2 mm long and 4 mm broad. The perianth tube of the female flower is covered with long soft hairs, about 2 mm long, and compressed. The segments in the middle part are about 1 mm long, line-shaped, and covered with long soft hairs. The four segments in the higher part are 1⁄3 mm long, oblong, and covered with long soft hairs. The staminodes are 1⁄4 mm long and line-shaped. The style is hairless, about 3 mm long, line-shaped but broadening towards the cut-off stigma. The ovary is covered with long soft hairs, compressed oblong in shape, and about 1 mm long. It is subtended by four line-shaped scales of 1+1⁄2 mm long. The mature female head is egg-shaped, 2+1⁄2–3+1⁄4 cm long, and nearly 2+1⁄2 cm across. The mature bracts are covered with densely matted woolly hairs on the outside. The fruits are elliptic, about 4 mm long, compressed, with a hairless and wrinkled surface.

Distribution

The common sunshine conebush is a widespread and common species found from Nieuwoudtville in the north to the Cape Peninsula in the southwest and Grahamstown in the east. It copes with a wide range of soil types, and can be found from sea level to about 2,000 metres altitude.

Habitat

Like all "Leucadendron" species, "L. salignum" has separate male and female plants. This species is pollinated by small beetles, including the sap beetle species "Pria cinerascens" and the Adonis ladybird. The winged seeds remain in the cone on the female plant for many years on end, until they are released after a fire kills the above ground biomass. The mature plants usually do not die, but regrow from the underground rootstock.