Leucadendron laxum young fruit cone

A green Leucadendron laxum female cone is ovoid with rows of lemon-yellow bracts. Soft, whitish hairs are visible lower down on the outside of some bracts in picture. The bracts have wavy margins and pointed tips that veer away from the centre, opening like a rose-bud. Bract colouring becomes cherry red, later brown as they dry, remaining open while curving out.

The male, pollen cones (growing on different plants), are yellow, exuding an unpleasant odour.

The insect-pollinated cones of L. laxum plants grow solitary or in clusters of up to three at stem-tips. Flowering happens in about the first half of spring (Bean and Johns, 2005; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; INaturalist).