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Afrikaanse Inligting
Broadleaf Featherbush Veerkanariebos - Aulax umbellata
The Broadleaf Featherbush is also a protea! Apart from Pincushions, Conebushes, Sugarbushes and Spiderheads there are 10 other genera of proteas occurring naturally in South Africa. All of them occur in the Western Cape Province. One of the smallest of these genera is the Featherbushes. Featherbushes have separate sexes. The males have the feathery flowerheads, bright yellow in colour. The females bear the flowers in little baskets, which close up after flowering to protect the seeds from fire and predation. After fire the baskets open up, to release the seeds onto the ground where they germinate after the rains. The Broadleaf Featherbush prefers the more acidic and neutral soils in the Agulhas region. The colour of the leaf and the degree to which it curls is very variable in the region, and may be related to the soil. Flowers are produced from November to January.