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Leucadendron is a South African endemic genus in the Protea family, Proteaceae. The genus consists of about 80 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees. They are a prominent part of the fynbos ecoregion and vegetation type. Most species are shrubs that grow up to 1 m tall, some to 2 or 3 m. A few grow into moderate-sized trees up to 16 m tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, simple, entire, and usually green, often covered with a waxy bloom, and in the case of the Silvertree, with a distinct silvery tone produced by dense, straight, silky hairs. This inspired the generic name Leucadendron, which literally means "white tree". The flowers are produced in dense inflorescences; they are dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The seed heads, or infructescences, of Leucadendron are woody cone-like structures. This gave rise to their generic common name cone-bush. They are prized for their exotic-looking attractive flowers, cones and foliage. Leucadendron blossoms make excellent cut flowers, keeping their gorgeous red, burgundy, green or yellow color for up to three weeks. In the garden they do well in rockeries and also make excellent feature plants.
Leucadendron xanthoconus commonly known as Sickle-leaf Conebush in English and Blinkblaartolbos in Afrikaans is a South African endemic species found in the Western Cape Province. Leucadendron xanthoconus grows to 1-2m in height. It has soft narrow sickle-shaped leaves. It has bright yellow involucral leaves. The spring flowers are followed by silvery cones. A versatile fynbos shrub, with a silvery shine to its foliage, Leucadendron xanthoconus deserves a second glance. |