Serruria brownii at Kirstenbosch in September

Serruria brownii produces many erect, yellowish branches with flowers appearing at the branch tips. The smallish evergreen shrub is densely covered in dark green, divided and needle-like leaves.

The common name of bottlebrush spiderhead and its quaint direct translation of fleskwasspinnekopbos in Afrikaans, refer to the appearance of the flowerheads that here look ashen grey to whitish. The erect bracts of the flowerhead appear like a hairy tuft around the flowers with their bits of brown, yellow, pink and purple colouring.

Blooming proceeds from late winter to midsummer (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; http://protea.worldonline.co.za; http://redlist.sanbi.org).