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Leucadendron immoderatum

The most recently discovered Leucadendron. Found on a Protea Atlas outing by Dr Tony Rebelo in September 2000. These are some of the very first photographs ever taken of this new species in flower.

"We inventoried solely wild individuals, i.e., plants which - except in three cases - were deemed to have originated naturally within the study area. Exceptional, were Acacia choriophylla, Opuntia corallicola, and Phoradendron rubrum; those species, extirpated from Key Largo years ago, were introduced into the Park by previous workers. We call the introduced plants wild because they grew in natural habitats, because they were not being maintained artificially, because some were robust and many years old, and because the three species were formerly native to Key Largo."

"During March, 1998, Josef Nemec discovered a previously unknown population (here called Population A) of P. rubrum within the Park; it was the last remaining original population known to occur there. Janice Duquesnel collected seeds from that population and planted them onto mahogany trees situated within the Park and elsewhere. The seeds yielded numerous offspring that persist today. Population A itself died-out in 2004, concomitant to death of the host trees."

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291890884_Floristic_inventory_of_dagny_Johnson_key_largo_hammock_botanical_state_park_and_immediately_adjacent_lands_Monroe_county_Florida_USA