top of the tube when the flower opens. The upper part (or limbs), which enclosed the pollen presenter in the bud, consists of four lance-shaped to elliptic lobes of about 2 mm (0.08 in) long and 1 mm wide, with few soft of felty hairs. From the perianth emerges a thread-like style of about 1.4 cm (0.56 in) long, that very slightly tapers nearing the tip. The thickened part at the tip of the style called pollen presenter is bluntly hoof-shaped, about 1 mm long with a groove that functions as the stigma across the very tip. The ovary is subtended by four opaque, awl-shaped scales of about ½ mm long. Differences with related species L. secundifolium can be distinguished from other species by its upright, eventually hairless rounded and narrowly elliptic leaves with a distinct stalk and its very small (1–1½ cm across) and few flowered heads. A unique feature among Leucospermum species is that the bracteoles that subtend the individual flowers become woody after flowering. This character is shared with the species of the genus Vexatorella, but in vexators, the individual flower head, or panicle of heads, is at the very tip of the stem. Taxonomy As far as we know, the stalked pincushion was first collected for science in 1928 by Mary Pocock, a specimen in fruit. Only after material in flower was collected in 1956, a full description became possible. John Patrick Rourke described it and named it Leucospermum secundifolium in 1970. L. secundifolium has been assigned to the section Diastelloidea. The species name secundifolium is compounded from the Latin words secundum (second or fortunate) and folium (leaf) and indicates that the leaves of this species are all upright. Distribution, habitat and ecology The stalked pincushion can be found only be found on the south slopes of the Klein Swartberg mountains, between Seweweekspoort and Towerkop at an elevation of around 1200 m (4000 ft), where it grows on Table Mountain Sandstone. The average annual precipitation in this area is 250–380 mm (10–15 in), mainly falling during the winter half year. The species is pollinated by insects, such as butterflies, flies and bees. The ripe fruits fall to the ground about two months after flowering, where these are collected by native ants, that carry them to their nests. Here they remain underground, safe for fire, seed-eating rodents and birds, until an overhead fire clears the vegetation and