About the plant
Leucospermum conocarpodendron is endemic to the Cape Peninsula of South Africa. It has two subspecies, L.conocarpodendron subsp. viridium (green tree pincushion) and L.conocarpodendron subsp. conocarpodendron (grey tree pincushion).
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Not yet evaluated
The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species uses a set of criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of the world’s species. The ongoing mission is to evaluate every plant species in the world.
IUCN Red List Status:
Not yet evaluatedData deficientLeast concernNear threatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically endangeredExtinct in the wildExtinct -
Banked in the MSBSeeds from this plant have been banked in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, at Wakehurst in Sussex
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Invertebrate foodPlant is eaten by native and feral animals
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MaterialPlant provides materials for manufacturing either fibre or timber
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MedicinePlant or components of this plant are used in medicine
Facts
- Seeds are dispersed by ants
- Pollinated by sugarbirds and sunbirds
- Used for firewood during the 1700s
- Used in treating dysentery
- Habitat lost to urbanisation and alien plants
Andrew Massyn via Wikimedia Commons
© Harriet Maxwell
By Abu Shawka via Wikimedia Commons
By Andrew Massyn via Wikimedia Commons
By Alan Mason via flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
Oil painting by Marianne North, no 410
200 year old seed
Seeds of fynbos species are known to be long lived. Our specimen of subsp. conocarpodendron took 200 years to find its way to Kew.
In 2005 a researcher found some seeds at The National Archives that had been collected in 1803 and then confiscated by the British Navy. The seeds had been kept in the Tower of London, then Chancery Lane and at The National Archives, before coming to Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank.
There, Kew’s scientists managed to germinate a few seeds, 200 years after they had been collected. One of the resulting plants can now be seen in the Temperate House.
-
Not yet evaluated
The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species uses a set of criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of the world’s species. The ongoing mission is to evaluate every plant species in the world.
IUCN Red List Status:
Not yet evaluatedData deficientLeast concernNear threatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically endangeredExtinct in the wildExtinct -
Banked in the MSBSeeds from this plant have been banked in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, at Wakehurst in Sussex
-
Invertebrate foodPlant is eaten by native and feral animals
-
MaterialPlant provides materials for manufacturing either fibre or timber
-
MedicinePlant or components of this plant are used in medicine