Leucadendron uliginosum

Leucadendron uliginosum is an erect, single-stemmed shrub reaching heights from 2 m to 4 m. There are two subspecies, viz. subsp. uliginosum, the Outeniqua conebush bearing silvery, hairy leaves and subsp. glabratum, the Tsitsikamma conebush, bearing leaves that are hairless when mature.

The Outeniqua conebush has a wider distribution that ranges in the Western Cape from the Tradouw Pass south of Barrydale to the west of the Eastern Cape in the Tsitsikamma Mountains. Subsp. glabratum is confined to a westerly part of the Eastern Cape in the Tsitsikamma Mountains and the Langkloof. The photo was taken in the Langkloof in fynbos on a mountain slope southwest of Louterwater. The subspecies of the plant in picture has not been determined, i.e. leaf hairiness was not checked.

The species habitat is moist sandstone fynbos slopes at mid to upper levels. Subsp. glabratum is range-restricted and rare. Its habitat is partly invaded by alien vegetation but its population is considered to be stable early in the twenty first century. Subsp. uliginosum also growing in fynbos is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).