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Pincushion Protea, Hawaii, USA

From the middle of July to the end of November, Leucospermum cordifolium shrubs provide vivid splashed of orange and red. Nurseries in Israel, California, Hawaii, Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand produce large amount of cut flowers of hybrids and cultivars of this South African plant.

 

Leucospermum cordifolium belongs to the protea family and is indigenous to South Africa. It grows in acid, nutrient poor soils

 

An added attraction during flowering time are the numerous birds found near the plants. In the early hours of the morning the abundant nectar flow attracts a variety of small insects, which in turn attract th insectivorous birds that consume the small insects as well as the nectar, and in the process transfer pollen from one flower to the next.

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Uploaded on June 17, 2009
Taken on February 20, 1999