Leucospermum lineare

Leucospermum lineare
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
Order:	Proteales
Family:	Proteaceae
Genus:	Leucospermum
Species:	L. lineare
Binomial name
Leucospermum lineare R.Br.
Synonyms
Leucodendron lineare, Protea linearis Thunb., 1781 non Houtt., 1775 Leucadendrum fallax Leucospermum lineare var. calocephalum, Leucospermum calocephalum

Leucospermum lineare is an evergreen shrub with linear leaves and pale yellow to orange flower heads and is assigned to the Proteaceae. Its common name in English is needle-leaf pincushion.

Taxonomy

In 1768, Nicolaas Laurens Burman was the first to describe the needle-leaf pincushion, and he named it Leucadendron lineare. Carl Peter Thunberg assigned the species to the genus Protea, making the new combination P. linearis in 1781, but he had not noticed the name was already occupied in 1775, when Maarten Houttuyn used it for another species now known as Leucadendron ericifolium. Joseph Knight published a book in 1809 titled On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae, that contained an extensive revision of the Proteaceae attributed to Richard Anthony Salisbury. Salisbury named the needle-leaf pincushion Leucadendrum fallax, a superfluous name since he referenced Burman, and should have adopted his species name. In 1810, Robert Brown called the species Leucospermum lineare, but refered to Thunberg's homonym, where he should have taken up Burman's name. Michel Gandoger in 1901 distinguished Leucospermum lineare var. calocephalum, which he raised together with Hans Schinz to a species in 1913, making the new combination Leucospermum calocephalum. In 1970, John Patrick Rourke considered these synonymous.