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Serruria aemula

species of plant

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ5490380 ↗
Source-derived summary

Serruria aemula is a critically endangered species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae, endemic to South Africa. It is known by the common name of strawberry spiderhead.

This plant used to occur in large numbers on the Cape Flats of Cape Town. Its natural habitat now lies under urban sprawl so only a few plants survive on patches of road-side. Several of its subspecies are now in fact extinct in the wild, surviving only in botanical gardens. Mostly it grows up to 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) in height.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Serruria aemula” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Serruria, aemula and species.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current 91-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Serruria, aemula and species providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Serruria aemula”, the useful work is to connect “species of plant” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5490380. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Serruria aemula”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Serruria aemula primary sources, Serruria aemula archive and Serruria research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Serruria aemula”?
  2. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
  3. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Serruria aemula” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.