Aulax

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Aulax
Aulax umbellata 1DS-II 1-C4489.jpg
Aulax umbellata female plant
with pistillate flowers
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Subfamily: Proteoideae
Tribe: Petrophileae
Genus: Aulax
Berg., 1767
Species

See text

Aulax umbellata male plant
with staminate flowers Aulax umbellata 1DS-II 1-C4234.jpg
Aulax umbellata male plant
with staminate flowers

Aulax is a South African Proteaceae genus of just three species of evergreen shrubs commonly known as "featherbushes". The name Aulax was named by a botanist named Linnaeus; he named Aulax after the Greek god Proteus, who is known to inherit the ability to change his shape at will. [1] 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 flowerheads that develop into seed cones. The catkin-like male flowers are yellow.

Contents

Species

Described species are listed below: [2]

Cultivation

In all respects except frost hardiness, these are tough plants. They tolerate extreme heat, very low humidity, and prolonged drought. Like virtually all Proteaceae plants, they grow best on a light gritty soil with good drainage. They propagate from seed or half-hardened late summer-autumn cuttings.

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<i>Protea</i> Genus of South African flowering plants

Protea is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes. It is the type genus of the Proteaceae family.

<i>Hakea</i> Genus of plants in the family Proteaceae endemic to Australia

Hakea is a genus of about 150 species of plants in the Family Proteaceae, endemic to Australia. They are shrubs or small trees with leaves that are sometimes flat, otherwise circular in cross section in which case they are sometimes divided. The flowers are usually arranged in groups in leaf axils and resemble those of other genera, especially Grevillea. Hakeas have woody fruit which distinguishes them from grevilleas which have non-woody fruit which release the seeds as they mature. Hakeas are found in every state of Australia with the highest species diversity being found in the south west of Western Australia.

<i>Chamaerops</i> Genus of palms

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<i>Adenanthos</i> Genus of Australian native shrubs in the flowering plant family Proteaceae

Adenanthos is a genus of Australian native shrubs in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. Variable in habit and leaf shape, it is the only genus in the family where solitary flowers are the norm. It was discovered in 1791, and formally published by Jacques Labillardière in 1805. The type species is Adenanthos cuneatus, and 33 species are recognised. The genus is placed in subfamily Proteoideae, and is held to be most closely related to several South African genera.

<i>Leucadendron argenteum</i> Species of tree

Leucadendron argenteum is an endangered plant species in the family Proteaceae, which is endemic to a small area of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Most grow in and around the city of Cape Town, but outlying populations exist near Somerset West (Silwerboomkloof), Paarl and Stellenbosch. It is a protected tree in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proteaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentrations of diversity. Together with the Platanaceae, Nelumbonaceae and in the recent APG IV system the Sabiaceae, they make up the order Proteales. Well-known 'Proteaceae genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea, Hakea and Macadamia. Species such as the New South Wales waratah, king protea, and various species of Banksia, Grevillea, and Leucadendron are popular cut flowers. The nuts of Macadamia integrifolia are widely grown commercially and consumed, as are those of Gevuina avellana on a smaller scale.

<i>Isopogon anethifolius</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae

Isopogon anethifolius, commonly known as narrow-leaf drumsticks or narrow-leafed drumsticks, is a shrub in the family Proteaceae. The species is found only in coastal areas near Sydney in New South Wales, and to the immediate west. It occurs naturally in woodland, open forest and heathland on sandstone soils. An upright shrub, it can reach to 3 m (9.8 ft) in height, with terete leaves that are divided and narrow. The yellow flowers appear in the Spring, from September to December, and are prominently displayed. They are followed by round grey cones, which give the plant its common name of drumsticks. The small hairy seeds are found in the old flower parts.

<i>Protea aristata</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea aristata is a compact shrub with beautiful flowers which is endemic to the southwestern part of the Cape Region of South Africa. P. aristata has become one of South Africa's most famous proteas in spite of its relatively late discovery, and re-discovery in 1953. The leaves are soft, dense and needle-like and the flower heads are a stunning crimson red, it may thus be a good potential ornamental plant for South African gardens. It is usually called the Ladismith sugarbush in South African English, although it has been called pine sugar bush in Australia. In the Afrikaans language it has the vernacular name of klein-den-suikerbos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proteoideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

Proteoideae is one of the five subfamilies of the plant family Proteaceae. The greatest diversity is in Africa, but there are also many species in Australia; a few species occur in South America, New Caledonia, and elsewhere.

<i>Alloxylon pinnatum</i> Tree of the family Proteaceae found in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales

Alloxylon pinnatum, known as Dorrigo waratah, is a tree of the family Proteaceae found in warm-temperate rainforest of south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales in eastern Australia. It has shiny green leaves that are either pinnate (lobed) and up to 30 cm (12 in) long, or lanceolate (spear-shaped) and up to 15 cm (5.9 in) long. The prominent pinkish-red flower heads, known as inflorescences, appear in spring and summer; these are made up of 50 to 140 individual flowers arranged in corymb or raceme. These are followed by rectangular woody seed pods, which bear two rows of winged seeds.

<i>Persoonia lanceolata</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae native to New South Wales in eastern Australia

Persoonia lanceolata, commonly known as lance-leaf geebung, is a shrub native to New South Wales in eastern Australia. It reaches 3 m (10 ft) in height and has smooth grey bark and bright green foliage. Its small yellow flowers grow on racemes and appear in the austral summer and autumn, followed by green fleshy fruits which ripen the following spring. Within the genus Persoonia, P. lanceolata belongs to the lanceolata group of 58 closely related species. It interbreeds with several other species found in its range.

<i>Persoonia pauciflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Persoonia pauciflora, commonly known as the North Rothbury persoonia, is a plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is a small, spreading shrub with bright green, thread-like leaves and a relatively small number of yellow flowers in summer. A recently described species, it is similar to P. isophylla but has fewer and shorter flowers than that species. A very restricted distribution has led to its classification as "critically endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

<i>Hakea leucoptera</i> Species of plant in the family Proteaceae endemic to Australia

Hakea leucoptera, commonly known as silver needlewood, needle hakea, pin bush or water tree and as booldoobah in Koori language, is a shrub or small tree with rigid, cylindrical, sharply pointed leaves and white, cream-coloured or yellow flowers in late spring and early summer. It is widespread and common in central parts of the Australian mainland.

<i>Leucadendron salignum</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae from the Cape provinces of South Africa

Leucadendron salignum, also known as the common sunshine conebush, is an evergreen, dioecious shrub that produces several stems from the ground of up to 2 metres high; forming part of the genus Leucadendron from the family Proteaceae. It survives the wildfires that occur every one or two decades in the fynbos where it occurs by regrowing from an underground rootstock. Pollinated by beetles, it flowers from April to November. The winged seeds remain in the woody cones until they are released after a fire, and are distributed by the wind. It is possibly the most common Proteaceae species in South Africa, and can be found in the Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces. Its current conservation status is Least Concern.

<i>Leucospermum lineare</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae from the Western Cape of South Africa

Leucospermum lineare is an evergreen shrub with linear leaves and is assigned to the Proteaceae. There are two distinct forms that have not been formally recognized as separate taxa. There is an upright form with orange flower heads of up to 2 m (6.6 ft) high, and a sprawling form of 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) in diameter with yellow flower heads. Its common name is needle-leaf pincushion, or narrow-leaf pincushion, in English and smalblaarspeldekussing in Afrikaans. The orange-flowered form is called tangerine pincushion or assegaaibos pincushion. Flowering occurs in the first half of the southern hemisphere season, but peaks in September and October. It is an endemic species that can only be found in the southwest of the Western Cape province of South Africa.

<i>Leucadendron teretifolium</i> Species of plant

Leucadendron teretifolium, the needle-leaf conebush, is a flower-bearing shrub belonging to the genus Leucadendron and forms part of the fynbos. The plant is native to the Western Cape, South Africa.

Aulax cancellata, the channel-leaf featherbush, is a shrub that is native to the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape and belongs to the genus Aulax. This plant is widespread, it occurs on the Cape Peninsula, Hottentots-Holland Mountains to the Langeberg and Kouga Mountains, Swartberg and Kammanassie Mountains. The shrub grows upright with a single stem and grows up to 2.5 m tall.

<i>Aulax pallasia</i> Species of flowering shrub

Aulax pallasia, the needle-leaf featherbush, is a species of shrub in the genus Aulax. It is native to the Western Cape, South Africa.

<i>Aulax umbellata</i> Flowering shrub from South Africa

Aulax umbellata, the broad-leaf featherbush, is a shrub native to the Western Cape. It occurs on the lower slopes and coastal lowlands from Kogelberg to Mossel Bay up to altitudes of 500 m. The shrub grows with a single stem and grows up to 2.5 m tall. Umbellata means like an umbrella. The leaves have rounded tips and can become 110 mm long and 15 mm in diameter. The plant is bisexual, male and female flowers grow on different plants. The plants bloom from September to February. A variety of insect species help pollinate the plants. Female flowers dry out and form a woody shell in which the seeds are formed and preserved. Fires destroy the plant and only the seeds survive.

References

  1. "Aulax umbellata". www.plantzafrica.com. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  2. "Aulax Berg. 1767". Protea Atlas Project. South African National Biodiversity Institute. Archived from the original on 2013-06-16. Retrieved 2013-05-22.