Leucadendron
(from leukos, white, and dendron, a tree; the Wittebroom, or Silver-tree of the Cape colonists). ORD. Proteaceae. A rather large genus (about seventy species have been described) of woolly or glabrous shrubs or trees, entirely confined to Southern Africa. Flowers greenish or yellowish, in heads at the tips of the shoots, sometimes rendered conspicuous by the large leaf-like coloured bracts which surround them. Leaves coriaceous, entire. The following is the most ornamental and best known species; several have been introduced, but very few are now in cultivation.
L. argenteum (silvery).* Silver-tree. fl. yellow, in terminal heads, and of but little beauty. August. l. closely set upon the stems, lanceolate, 4in. to 6in. long, 1in. broad, of a very beautiful silvery white. h. 15ft. 1693. A very handsome tree, too rarely seen in cultivation. The dried leaves are imported, and largely used in the making of wreaths, &c. (B. R. 979.)