These Leucospermum florets in bud and open stages divulge some of the intimate floral features of the genus. Some of the pollination process steps are shared widely in the Proteaceae family. Although the Leucospermum species in picture wasn’t identified, the details on show merit inspection.
At the top of the picture there are half-closed buds with elongating styles pushing out of their by now too short perianths, exposing their curved, cylindrical midsections and the force they are exerting. The style tips are still clasped firmly at the top by the greyish, hairy perianths not yet ready to budge.
In the foreground there are freed orange styles, straightened or straightening after victory over perianth control. Their pollen presenter tips are brown from the smeared off new pollen received as last touch gifts upon parting from their perianth tip anthers. This pollen awaits being served to passersby on the wing as food. Hopefully some of it will end up on mature style tips, now older and having assumed stigma duties. (Earlier they also served pollen to flying distributors when they were still pollen presenters.)
Around the erect styles the sagging, half-collapsed tips of several perianth segments show where the pollen had come from. They still have some of the same brown substance on their pointed inside surfaces as is present on the pollen presenters. This is nature's wastage or overproduction, the leftovers that did not stick to the unripe style tips, the pollen presenters.
Later, these pollen presenters will assume their ultimate feminine duties, becoming stigmas for accepting delivered pollen to fertilise their own ovules in the ovaries below (Manning, 2007; Leistner, (Ed.), 2002; Wikipedia).