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Leucadendron argenteum

 
Leucadendron Argenteum

 
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Leucadendron argenteum
 
 
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Leucadendron argenteum (Silver tree, Silver leaf tree, Witteboom, or Silwerboom) is an endangered species in the family Proteaceae
Proteaceae

Proteaceae is a family of flowering plants. Mainly restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, it is a fairly large family, with around 80 genus but fewer than 2000 species....
, endemic
Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a particular geographic location, such as a specific island, Habitat type, nation, or other defined zone....
 to a small area of the Cape Peninsula
Cape Peninsula

The Cape Peninsula is a generally rocky peninsula that juts out for 75 km into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent....
, Stellenbosch, and Paarl
Paarl

Paarl is the third oldest European settlement in the Republic of South Africa and forms part of the Western Cape Province. The 2001 census reports Paarl to have a population of approximately 108,000 which makes it the largest town in the Cape Winelands....
 in South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, notably the Lion's Head
Lion's Head (Cape Town)

Lion's Head is a mountain located in Cape Town, South Africa, between Table Mountain and Signal Hill . Lion's Head peaks at above sea level. The peak forms part of a dramatic backdrop to the city of Cape Town and is part of the Table Mountain National Park....
 area and the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden.

It is a small evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
 growing up to 5-7 m tall, exceptionally to 16 m tall. The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are lanceolate, 8-15 cm long and 2 cm broad, with a distinct silvery tone produced by dense silky hairs.






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Encyclopedia


Leucadendron argenteum (Silver tree, Silver leaf tree, Witteboom, or Silwerboom) is an endangered species in the family Proteaceae
Proteaceae

Proteaceae is a family of flowering plants. Mainly restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, it is a fairly large family, with around 80 genus but fewer than 2000 species....
, endemic
Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a particular geographic location, such as a specific island, Habitat type, nation, or other defined zone....
 to a small area of the Cape Peninsula
Cape Peninsula

The Cape Peninsula is a generally rocky peninsula that juts out for 75 km into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent....
, Stellenbosch, and Paarl
Paarl

Paarl is the third oldest European settlement in the Republic of South Africa and forms part of the Western Cape Province. The 2001 census reports Paarl to have a population of approximately 108,000 which makes it the largest town in the Cape Winelands....
 in South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, notably the Lion's Head
Lion's Head (Cape Town)

Lion's Head is a mountain located in Cape Town, South Africa, between Table Mountain and Signal Hill . Lion's Head peaks at above sea level. The peak forms part of a dramatic backdrop to the city of Cape Town and is part of the Table Mountain National Park....
 area and the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden.

It is a small evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
 growing up to 5-7 m tall, exceptionally to 16 m tall. The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are lanceolate, 8-15 cm long and 2 cm broad, with a distinct silvery tone produced by dense silky hairs. The flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are produced in dense globose inflorescence
Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches....
s 4-5 cm diameter; it is dioecious
Plant sexuality

Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes Morphology aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
, with separate male and female plants. The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 is a woody cone-like structure, containing numerous seed
Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
s; the seeds have a silky-haired helicopter-like parachute, enabling them to disperse by wind.

An estimated 40 to 50 percent of the entire world's native population of these trees was destroyed between 26 January and 27 January in the 2006 Table Mountain fire
2006 Table Mountain fire

The Table Mountain fire was a large fire in and around the Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town, South Africa. It broke out at approximately 4 p.m....
 . However, as recruitment of seedlings only occurs naturally after fire this is a necessary stage in the life-cycle of this Fynbos
Fynbos

Fynbos is the natural shrubland or Heath vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate....
 species. Recruitment after the fire has been good, and the population has recovered totally. It will however take another few years before this population produces seeds, during which time it would be vulnerable to extinction by further fires.

Conservation

A major deterrent to propagation of the silver leaf tree is its short life span. Most individuals don't live more than 20 years. But that is not a problem for conservation as fires rejuvenate populations on average every 15-20 years by killing the surviving adults and stimulating the canopy-stored seed banks (in the cones) to be released and the soil-stored seed banks to germinate. Juveniles take 5-7 years to flower and set seed, whereafter the populations are ready to burn again.

Heraldry

[S]tylized twigs of the silver tree [sic] appear in the arms of the South Peninsula Municipality of South Africa.

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