Macledium spinosum

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Macledium spinosum
Macledium spinosum00.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Asterids
Order:
Asterales
Family:
Asteraceae
Genus:
Macledium
Species:
M. spinosum
Binomial name
Macledium spinosum
(L.) S.Ortíz
Synonyms

Dicoma spinosa (L.) Druce.

Macledium spinosum is a variable species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, that is endemic to the southern Cape regions of South Africa.[1]

Description[]

Macledium spinosum in habitat

A low, compact, spreading shrub, reaching a maximum of 50 cm in height. The leaves are small (15 x 5mm), spiny, with a grey, velvet leaf-surface.

The wide (20mm) protea-like flowerheads appear in Spring and Summer, and range in colour from white to purple.[2][3]

Related species[]

A closely related species, , occurs in similar areas in the western Little Karoo and Overberg, but tends to be confined to quartzitic outcrops and quartz-fields.

differs by having longer leaves (20mm) and smaller flowerheads (10mm) that have prominent pink, spiny bracts (but only rudimentary ray-florets).

Distribution and habitat[]

This species can be found from Worcester in the west, eastwards through the Little Karoo and Overberg regions, as far east as Somerset East.

It is most common in clay-rich, shale-derived soils, in Renosterveld and Succulent Karoo vegetation types.

References[]

  1. ^ http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=7462-7
  2. ^ Ortiz, S. (2001). Reinstatement of the Genus Macledium Cass. (Asteraceae, Mutisieae): Morphological and Phylogenetic Arguments. Taxon, 50(3), 733-744. doi:10.2307/1223704
  3. ^ https://www.operationwildflower.org.za/index.php/albums/shrubs/macledium-spinosum-thabo-8-4460

Further reading[]

  • KwaZulu-Natal Wild Flowers by Elsa Pooley, p. 446.
  • Lawalrée, A. & Mvukiyumwami, J. 1982. Le genre Dicoma Cassini (Asteraceae) en Afrique centrale. Bulletin du Jardin Botanique National de Belgique 52: 151-163.
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