Blushing Bride Group

Blushing Bride Group

Serruria Florida – Blushing Bride

Serruria Florida is popularly called the ‘Blushing Bride’. It was extinct in the wild until a fire germinated some seeds on the Franshoek mountains.
The blushing bride is a single stemmed, erect, evergreen shrub, 0.8-1.5×0.5 m. Flowering stems branch off the main stem producing fine, dissected leaves and end in terminal flowering buds. It produces 1-8 ivory to pink flowers per branch. It flowers from July to October and produces nut-like seeds which are released about two months later.

Serruria florida is one of the faster growing Proteaceae species and adult plants start dying after about twenty years.

This species is critically endangered as it is threatened by alien invasive species such as hakea and pines. Too frequent fires are a critical threat to the remaining wild populations, as immature plants are not given enough time to produce seeds that will rejuvenate the underground seed bank.

Serruria florida naturally occurs on the Franschhoek side of the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve. It grows on mountain slopes in soils derived from granite, which is found below the sandstone soils typical of the Table Mountain Group.

Derivation of name and historical aspects
The genus Serruria comprises 55 species, including the beautiful species S. rosea and S. aemula. Serruria florida was first collected by Swedish botanist Carl Thunberg in 1773. It was recorded and described but not again seen or collected for another 110 years. Professor MacOwan found the Franschhoek population which was then cultivated at Kirstenbosch and later presented to royalty in England.

The genus was named after J. Serrurier, a professor of botany at the University of Utrecht in the early eighteenth century. The species name florida refers to the Latin meaning free-flowering or producing abundant flowers. Its common name, blushing bride, was derived from folklore. One version states that a young man would court a maiden, presenting her with a flower. The deeper the shade of pink, the more imminent the proposal, causing the maiden to blush. Another follows similar lines, stating it was custom for a young gentleman to wear a flower in his lapel when he was about to propose. The deeper the pink of the flower the more ardent his affection for the maiden and again the result would be a blushing maiden or bride to be. Other origins suggest that the flower became a popular bridal posy or that the flower itself resembled a bridal gown.

These beautiful flowers are pollinated by insects. Seeds are released and dispersed by ants in their underground nests, which form the seed bank. Serruria florida is one of the fynbos species that is highly dependant on a fire ecosystem. The parent plants will die in a fire and only seeds survive to form the next generation. Seeds will only germinate after fire has occurred. Too frequent fires destroy the natural seed bank as young seedlings require two years before they are mature enough to produce flowers and the new seed crop
Information from:http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantqrs/serrurflorid.htm

290 views as at 20/12/09

Blushing Bride Group belongs to the following groups:

Endangered or Vulnerable Plants, Protaceae Family - 2 per day, Proteas, Leucadendron, Leucospermum, Orothamnus & Serruria and The 100 - 499 VIEWINGS GROUP Available for sale as

Greeting Cards, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters