Leucospermum grandiflorum

Leucospermum grandiflorum, commonly the grey-leaf fountain pincushion or rainbow pincushion, is an erect, single-stemmed, evergreen shrub reaching heights from 1,5 m to 2,5 m.

The species is endemic to the Western Cape, limited to southwesterly parts near Paarl and Malmesbury, possibly also (still) around Bellville and to the north maybe around Klawer and Clanwilliam. The plant is known to grow (or has grown in the past) on Paarl Mountain, Simonsberg at Stellenbosch, Paardeberg at Malmesbury and Durbanville Hills.

The habitat is fynbos on granitic slopes, sandy fynbos flats and renosterveld on granite, silcrete and shale. The plant population has markedly decreased, probably by more than half since the middle of the twentieth century. This occurred due to habitat loss or degradation caused by farming or other development, plant harvesting and alien plant invasion.

The species is considered to be endangered in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Eliovson, 1983; iNaturalist; Wikipedia; http://pza.sanbi.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).