Serruria adscendens

The Kleinmond spiderhead, as Serruria adscendens is locally known, is an attractive shrub of slopes and flats in the coastal fynbos between Betty’s Bay and Bredasdorp in the Western Cape. It does not resprout after veld fires, new plants growing from seeds.

The nut-like fruits are dispersed by ants that feed on them, as on many seeds of plants in the Proteaceae family. After the ants’ meal, the intact seeds are deposited according to a long-standing natural “food for dispersal” pact. The edible bits or elaiosomes are fleshy attachments not vital to the seeds’ propagation, but providing the transactional currency (Bean and Johns, 2005; Mustart, et al, 1997).