when finally released after the plant burns and dies. This is known as fire-mediated serotiny. The seeds are spread to new growing sites by means of the wind. These seeds are small and light, and covered with a pappus of fine hairs. The temperatures dropping at night appears to stimulate germination. It has proteoid, cluster roots which form a mat only a few centimetres thick, which is found just below the surface of the soil. Distribution The plant is endemic to the Western Cape province of South Africa, and is found from the Groot Winterhoek mountains, through the Du Toits Mountains, to the Skurweberg near Ceres. It occurs near the towns of Porterville, Ceres, Paarl, Tulbagh and Worcester. It is usually found occurring in a large number isolated stands. Ecology The plant grows on mountain slopes at altitudes of 400 to 900 metres. It prefers a fynbos habitat, and is found growing on granite-based or sandstone-based substrates. It grows on both dry sand or moist, peaty loam. It prefers a slightly acidic soil as substrate. The fynbos soils where it grows are very phosphorus-deficient. Potential wildfires destroy the plant, but the seeds are able to survive such an event. The leaves have evolved to be long and narrow to conserve water and survive the hot and dry summers of the fynbos. In 1998 it was still unknown what creature(s) might be responsible for the pollination, and the flowers produce very little nectar compared to other Protea. The nectar is, however, fortified with a high sugar content; the sugars include xylose. The downward-pointing shape, the odd yeasty odour, high sugar content and the flowering time in late winter all indicate pollination by rodents. Animals which have now been recorded as visiting the flowers are, besides sunbirds, the rodent species Otomys irroratus, Micaelamys namaquensis, Rhabdomys pumilio and Myomyscus verreauxii. Each of these rodents were found with this plants pollen on their noses or in their scat. M. verreauxi is the best at climbing and is thought to be the main pollinator. Rhabdomys pumilio, on the other hand, was sometimes found to be quite destructive of the inflorescences in a laboratory setting. In the field on average 20% of the inflorescences are destroyed within a two-month period, and this mouse is thought to be likely responsible. The xylose in the nectar can be metabolised by the intestinal microbiotic flora of the small mouse