Mimetes fimbriifolius coloured floral leaves and old perianth

The greenish yellow flowers of Mimetes fimbriifolius grow at stem-tips in cylindrical inflorescences of more than 6 cm long and nearly as wide. The florets emerge from the axils of the coloured, floral leaves and encircled by bracts. The cowl-like reddish yellow floral leaves are differently coloured to the other leaves lower down.

About four to seven florets make up each leaf axil cluster in the flowerhead. The styles of the open florets become up to 6 cm long, remaining rigidly erect below a coloured floral leaf. The four whitish-haired perianth segments trail after opening. The pollen presenters at style-tips are ellipsoid, about 9 mm long. The hairy ovary is subtended by four scales.

Flowering happens all year round with a peak in early spring. The tree is pollinated by birds.

The fruit is a small nutlet persisting for a period at the leaf base. The ripe fruits are dispersed by ants that carry them to their underground nests, where fire doesn’t harm the seeds discarded there after the ants have eaten the elaiosomes.

Flowering commences on trees of six to twelve years old. The trees become about a century old, the longest living of the Mimetes species (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; Wikipedia; http://redlist.sanbi.org).