Floral Friday : Serruria florida

The blushing bride is a single stemmed, erect, evergreen shrub, 0.8-1.5 x 0.5 m. Flowering stems branch off the main stem producing fine, dissected leaves and end in terminal flowering buds. It produces 1-8 ivory to pink flowers per branch. It flowers from July to October and produces nut-like seeds which are released about two months later.

Serruria florida is one of the faster growing Proteaceae species and adult plants start dying after about twenty years.

Conservation status
This species is critically endangered as it is threatened by alien invasive species such as hakea and pines. Too frequent fires are a critical threat to the remaining wild populations, as immature plants are not given enough time to produce seeds that will rejuvenate the underground seed bank.

Distribution and habitat
Serruria florida naturally occurs on the Franschhoek side of the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve. It grows on mountain slopes in soils derived from granite, which is found below the sandstone soils typical of the Table Mountain Group.