Aulax umbellata Seeds

Aulax umbellata Seeds

Family: Proteaceae (Protea family)
Common names: Broad-leaf Featherbush, Veerkanariebos

Aulax umbellata is a slender shrub with bright yellow flowers contrasting vividly with the purplish brown young foliage around the flowers during summer.

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.

Aulax umbellata 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.