Aulax umbellata Seeds
Broad Leaf Featherbush, Veerkanariebos
Aulax is a South African Proteaceae genus of just three species of evergreen shrubs commonly known as featherbushes. It is unusual among the many South African Proteaceae in having male and female flowers on separate plants. The bushes have fine needle-like foliage. In spring and summer female plants produce funnel-shaped Leucospermum-like flower heads that develop into seed cones. The catkin-like male flowers are yellow. Aulax is part of an ancient plant family, the Proteaceae, which had already divided into two subfamilies, the Proteoideae and the Grevilleoideae, before the break-up of the Gondwanaland continent about 140 million years ago. Both these subfamilies occur mainly in the Southern Hemisphere. In southern Africa there are about 360 species, of which more than 330 species are endemic to the Cape Floral Kingdom, a relatively tiny portion of South Africa between Nieuwoudtville in the northwest and Grahamstown in the east. The extreme diversity of growth habits, flower forms and colours prompted the botanist Linnaeus to name this family after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his shape at will. Other well-known genera of the Proteaceae are Leucospermum with brightly coloured pincushion flowers, Protea with some of the most spectacular flowers imaginable, Leucadendron with decorative woody cones and Serruria, of which Serruria florida, the blushing bride, with its beautiful pale pink flowers is the most well-known, Spatalla and Telopea with its unique bright flowers. Aulax umbellata is a slender shrub, up to 2.5 metres tall, with bright yellow flowers contrasting vividly with the purplish brown young foliage around the flowers during summer. Aulax umbellata is one of the three species which form the genus Aulax, the other two being Aulax cancellata, the channel-leaf featherbush and Aulax pallasia, the needle-leaf featherbush. The genus name is from the Greek aulax, a furrow. This refers to the channeled leaves of Aulax cancellata. The species name umbellata refers to the umbel shaped; nearly flat female flower heads. The plants of the genus Aulax are dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The flowers of the male plants are bright lemon yellow, arranged in small lax spikes, which open over a period of several weeks. The new leaves of some of the plants are a beautiful purplish brown from early September, slowly fading to green after the end of the flowering period. The leaves of Aulax umbellata are more or less needle shaped, but considerably wider than the other two species, and this is the main distinguishing characteristic for the species. Aulax umbellata occurs mainly on coastal lowlands in the Western Cape Province, from Kogelberg to Stilbaai, where it often forms dense stands. The plants grow in very well drained sandy soil.
