Macledium spinosum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Macledium spinosum | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | 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]
Related species
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 (20 mm) protea-like flowerheads appear in Spring and Summer, and range in colour from white to purple.[2][3]
A closely related species, Macledium relhanioides, occurs in similar areas in the western Little Karoo and Overberg, but tends to be confined to quartzitic outcrops and quartz-fields.
Macledium relhanioides differs by having longer leaves (20 mm) and smaller flowerheads (10 mm) that have prominent pink, spiny bracts (but only rudimentary ray-florets).
