Leucospermum cordifolium budding beginnings

At this stage the stem-tip bud of a Leucospermum cordifolium flowerhead looks like a woolly knob, the obscure details of the emerging individual florets arranged according to the numbers of a Fibonacci series.

Snowy at its tip, the bud is already eye-catching although still ignored by the plethora of prospective nectar consumers serving as pollinators.

Glossy dark red teeth at the angular leaf tips are spaced like beads along the upper, white-haired margins. Faint hairiness of a velvety texture is present on the here olive green blades, and along the pale leaf midribs. Some faint lateral leaf venation is visible.

The leaves, roughly oval but variable in shape, are sessile, meaning stalkless. A leaf may be from from 2 cm to 8 cm long (Manning 2007; Rebelo, 1995; Matthews and Carter, 1993; iNaturalist).