Serruria brownii, the bottlebrush spiderhead, is a single-stemmed shrub that grows to heights around 50 cm. The plant dies in fire, unable to resprout, only regrowing from seed.
The seeds are collected from the plant by ants for consuming edible parts not vital to the plant’s propagation. Thus they are the chief seed dispersal agents for this and other fynbos species.
The species distribution in the Western Cape ranges from Hopefield and Mamre to the Tygerberg.
The land where these plants grow has soils characterised by heavy sand, granite soil and shale. The species is considered endangered in habitat due to agriculture, habitat loss from proximity to a city, i.e. too many people in its way and exotic plant invasion. Much of the original distribution range is now taken up by vineyards and wheat fields.
Every threatened indigenous species should be a concern to every good citizen (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://protea.worldonline.co.za; http//redlist.sanbi.org).