Shrub to 1.5 m tall. Leaves to 6 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, lanceolate to elliptic, leathery with toughened margins and hard, pointed tip. Male flowers smelling faintly of lemon. Female flowers about 2.5 cm long, also lemon-scented. Basal leaves change from yellow-white to reddish then green each year.

S Africa (Cape).

Flower head closely enclosed by the specialised leafy bracts. L. sessile R. Br. is similar but has brown or purplish brown basal bracts not hidden by the leafy bracts.

Source: Spencer, R.; Molyneux, B.; Mathews, D. (2002). Proteaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.