Suurberg cushion bush

Description:

This is a slow-growing plant, reaching a height of up to 6 m with a stem of 460 mm in circumference . The bark is corky with a woolly layer below. Oldenburgia grandis has stiff, spreading branches with a woolly covering on the younger parts. The crown is composed of large, stiff, leathery leaves, bicoloured and stalkless, in rosettes at the ends of the branches. The leaves are up to 360 mm long and 150 mm broad, oblong or egg-shaped. The leaf margins are untoothed and rolled inwards, the surface somewhat rounded above. When O. grandis is mature it has deep green, shiny leaves with a greyish-white midrib. The undersides are velvety-white, sometimes with dark mould spots, with a broad and protruding midrib. The two surfaces make a lovely colour contrast. The young leaves are short, fat, white and densely furry. The leaves are said to be poisonous. The flowerheads are borne on a long, stout, velvety-white stem, which springs from the centre of the rosette of leaves. Each flowerhead resembles a short, wide, purple brush covered thickly with velvety-white hairs. They are a bit like a giant thistle. The head opens wider as it matures, reaching 100-130 mm in diameter, to expose the fruits. The fruits are nutlets; thin, brown, crowned with a tuft of long, pale hairs. Flowering is irregular throughout the year, often with a burst in autumn.

Habitat:

Oldenburgia grandis occurs on the Suurberg inland from Port Elizabeth in Eastern Cape, to Grahamstown. The species is endemic to this area. It grows on the rocky outcrops of the Witteberg quartzite. Near Grahamstown it grows on hard sandstone outcrops.