Source: Essence Online.
English: Prickly conostylis; Prickly cone flower; Golden Cotton Head.
Genus: ± 30 species; Cone flowers.
Region: South west Australia.
Habitat: variety of environments. coastal sand dunes, heathlands, swampy shrublands, Banksia woodlands; thrives in well-drained sandy soils or sandy loams.
Content: phenylphenalenones; nectar rich in sugars to attract pollinators.
Use: in landscaping; restoration as a hardy groundcover, border plant, or for erosion control on sandy slopes.
BotayHerb: perennial, tufted, multi-stemmed grass-like.
Root: buried rhizome; some have "runners" (proliferous stems) that allow the plant to spread horizontally and form wide clumps.
Stem: minimal; the primary structure consists of flowering scapes (stalks) that are 5–45 cm long, often simple but sometimes branched.
Leaves: flat; green to bluish-green, up to 60 cm long; margins with stiff, prickly bristles or spines (hence the name aculeata, meaning "with prickles"); leathery, strap-like, basal, sometimes from underground rhizomes.
Inflorescence: dense, globular (round) head or a loose cluster (cyme) of flowers held at the end of the scape.
Flowers: tubular; 5–12 mm long; six lobes; bright yellow, cream, orange or purple; covered in dense, star-like hairs on the outside, but smooth and paler on the inside. cream, yellow, orange or purple; tepals joined, tubular; stamens attached at the top of the tube
Fruits: dry, 3-celled capsule about 1 cm across, which retains persistent floral parts as it matures.
Seeds: small; dark; released when the capsule dries and splits; ermination is often triggered or enhanced by smoke or fire in its natural ecosystem.