Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 31, 2015

Lambertia formosa is a shrub found in New South Wales, Australia, from the family Proteaceae. It is commonly named mountain devil, after the small devil-figures that were made from its horned woody follicles. Specimens were collected during Lieutenant James Cook's landing at Botany Bay in 1770. First described in 1798 by English botanist James Edward Smith, it is the type species of the small genus Lambertia. It is generally found in heathland or open forest, growing in sandstone-based soils. It grows as a multistemmed shrub to around 2 m (7 ft) with a woody base known as a lignotuber, from which it regrows after bushfire. It has stiff narrow leaves and pink to red flowerheads made up of seven individual tubular flowers that generally appear in spring and summer. The flowers hold profuse amounts of nectar and are pollinated by honeyeaters. Although L. formosa is uncommon in cultivation, it is straightforward to grow in soils with good drainage and a partly shaded to sunny aspect. It is readily propagated by seed. Unlike all other members of the genus Lambertia, L. formosa is resistant to the soil pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi. (Full article...)

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