2035.000 Protea L.

Description of the genus

Erect or prostrate suffrutices, shrubs or trees, up to 8 m. Leaves alternate or clustered near the ends of the branches simple, entire. Flowers in dense heads, surrounded by a conspicuous many-seriate involucre of bracts; bracts spirally arranged, very small in the outer series to as large as the flowers in the inner, sometimes brightly coloured. Style terminated by a linear pollen-presenter. Fruit an obconic achene, with the long straight brown hairs persistent.

Derivation of name: after Proteus, son of Poseidon, who was able to take on many different forms; referring to the great variability of the genus.

Worldwide: c. 100 species in the tropics and South Africa.

Malawi: 14 taxa.

The larvae of the following species of insect eat species of this genus:
Cinabra hyperbius (Banded emperor)
Ovios capensis (Cream cake, Sleepy tiger)
Protea heckmanniana var. heckmanniana

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
angolensis Welw. var. angolensis NDescription, Image
angolensis Welw. var. divaricata (Engl. & Gilg) BeardN,C,SDescription, Image
angolensis Welw. var. trichanthera (Baker) BrummittNDescription, Image
caffra Meisn. subsp. nyassae (Rendle) Chisumpa & Brummitt[End]S
gaguedi J.F. Gmel.N,C,SDescription, Image
heckmanniana Engl. var. heckmanniana [NrEnd]NDescription, Image
kibarensis Hauman subsp. cuspidata (Beard) Chisumpa & Brummitt [NrEnd]N
madiensis Oliv. subsp. madiensis N,C,SDescription, Image
mafingensis (Chisumpa & Brummitt) Beard[NrEnd]NDescription
petiolaris (Engl. ex Hiern) Baker & C.H. Wright subsp. elegans Chisumpa & BrummittN,C,SDescription, Image
petiolaris (Hiern) Baker subsp. petiolaris NDescription, Image
rupestris R.E. Fr.N,CDescription, Image
welwitschii Engl.N,C,SDescription, Image
wentzeliana Engl.Description, Image

Other sources of information about Protea:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Protea
Flora of Caprivi: Protea
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Protea
Flora of Mozambique: Protea
Flora of Zambia: Protea
Flora of Zimbabwe: Protea
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Protea

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Protea
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Protea
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Protea
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Protea
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Protea
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Protea
JSTOR Plant Science: Protea
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Protea
Plants of the World Online: Protea
Tropicos: Protea
Wikipedia: Protea

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Malawi: Genus page: Protea.
https://www.malawiflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=485, retrieved 28 March 2024

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