other hand have thin, papery bracts. The common base of the flowers that jointly constitute a single flowerhead (called receptacle) varies considerably among species. It may be flat, globe-shaped, pointy conical or blunt cylindric. This character can best be seen by cutting a flower head lengthwise in two equal halves. The individual flowers are subtended by a bract (or bracteole) that is wooly at its foot and softly hairy or hairless near the tip. Sometimes it grows on while the flower is in bloom and eventually becomes woody. While still in the bud, the perianth is a tube of 1½–5½ cm (0.6–2.2 in) long. When flowering, the perianth is yellow, orange, crimson, pink or white in color, straight or often curved towards the center of the flower head. The perianth consists of four tepals that are fused into a tube of either of uniform width or expanding towards the tip, but there are also a few species where it is inflated nearer the tip, such as in L. utriculosum, L. hamatum and L. harpagonatum. Above the tube, three of the lobes may become fused in a sheath, open towards the outside of the flower head, while the lobe facing the rim of the flower head is free. In the upper part of the perianth (or limbs) all four lobes may remain fused or only the three that remained already fused in the middle part. In the section Diastelloidea all four lobes are free in the upper parts and curl back forming a four-part rim around the top of the tube. The anthers differ little between species of Leucospermum and are usually fused with the tips of the perianth lobes, and filaments cannot be identified, but in the species that constitute the section Brevifilamentum, a filament of 1–1⅛ mm (0.2–0.3 in) long makes the connection between the anther and the lobe. The buds are ripped open along a suture facing away from the center of the flower head by the style that grows in length quickly, eventually reaching a length of , straight or with a curve towards the center of the flower head, in diameter, often narrower nearer to the tip or thread-shaped, mostly identically colored as the perianth. The end of the style is (sometimes only slightly) thickened and holds the pollen that is transferred there just before the bud rips open. There is a considerable morphological variation in