''Protea'' () is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of South African

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s, also called sugarbushes (

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

: ''suikerbos''). It is the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearin ...

of the

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family (biology), family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genus, genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentr ...

family. About 92% of the species occur only in the

Cape Floristic Region The Cape Floral Region is a floristic region located near the southern tip of South Africa. It is the only floristic region of the Cape Floristic Kingdom, and includes only one floristic province, known as the Cape Floristic Province. The Cap ...

, a narrow belt of mountainous coastal land from Clanwilliam to

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

, South Africa. Most protea species are found south of the

Limpopo River The Limpopo River () rises in South Africa and flows generally eastward through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers led by Hosi Rivombo who settled in the mou ...

. ''

Protea madiensis ''Protea madiensis'', commonly known as the tall woodland sugarbush, is a flowering shrub which belongs to the genus ''Protea''. It is native to the montane grasslands of Sub-Saharan Africa. Taxonomy ''Protea madiensis'' was first described as ...

'' grows in

Afromontane The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions o ...

enclaves across tropical Africa, from

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

, and

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. ''

Protea afra ''Protea afra'' (sometimes called the common protea), native to Africa, inhabiting from South Africa to Kenya, is a small tree or shrub which occurs in subtropical open or wooded grassland, usually on rocky ridges. Its leaves are leathery and ha ...

'' ranges from the Cape region to

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

and

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, including in the

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

zone of

Mount Kenya National Park Mount Kenya National Park is a national park in Kenya that was established in 1949 around Mount Kenya to protect its surrounding environment and wildlife. It is also a drainage basin for the region's water supply. History Initially, it was a for ...

. The extraordinary richness and diversity of species characteristic of the Cape flora are thought to be caused in part by the diverse landscape, where populations can become isolated from each other and in time develop into separate species.

Etymology

The genus ''Protea'' was named in 1735 by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

when he was examining male and female plants of a species now known as ''

Leucadendron argenteum ''Leucadendron argenteum'' (silver tree, silver leaf tree, , or ) is an endangered plant species in the family Proteaceae, which is endemic to a small area of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Most grow in and around the city of Cape Town, but ...

'' which are very different from each other; he misunderstood them to be two different species, and he compared those forms to the ability of Greek god

Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus ( ; ) is an early prophetic sea god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" (''hálios gérôn''). Some who ascribe a specific domain to Prote ...

who could change his form at will. Linnaeus's genus was formed by merging several genera previously published by

Herman Boerhaave Herman Boerhaave (, 31 December 1668 – 23 September 1738Underwood, E. Ashworth. "Boerhaave After Three Hundred Years." ''The British Medical Journal'' 4, no. 5634 (1968): 820–25. .) was a Dutch chemist, botanist, Christian humanist, and ph ...

, although precisely which of Boerhaave's genera were included in Linnaeus's ''Protea'' varied with each of Linnaeus's publications.

Taxonomy

The family Proteaceae to which ''Protea'' species belong is an ancient one among

angiosperms Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit. T ...

. Evidence from pollen fossils suggests Proteaceae ancestors grew in

Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...

, in the

Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cret ...

, 75–80 million years ago. The Proteaceae are divided into two subfamilies: the

Proteoideae Proteoideae is one of the five subfamilies of the plant family Proteaceae. The greatest diversity of the subfamily is in Africa, but there are also many species in Flora of Australia, Australia. A few species occur in South America, New Caledonia, ...

, best represented in southern Africa, and the

Grevilleoideae The Grevilleoideae are a subfamily of the plant family Proteaceae. Mainly restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, it contains around 46 genus, genera and about 950 species. Genera include ''Banksia'', ''Grevillea'', and ''Macadamia''. Descriptio ...

, concentrated in Australia and South America and the other smaller segments of Gondwana that are now part of eastern Asia. Africa shares only one genus with

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, whereas South America and Australia share many common genera – this indicates they separated from Africa before they separated from each other.

Description

Proteas usually flower during spring. Protea flowers have large heads made of small florets packed on a woody receptacle, each floret is reddish or pinkish in color and measures between 28.4 and 53.8 millimeters. The

carpel Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more ...

in the flower's center is cream colored. The ovary is protected by the receptacle, and thus is not seen when looking at the flower, but the anthers are present at the top of the flower, which can then easily transfer the pollen to the vectors. Proteas are pollinated by birds, insects, and wind. All the florets open big enough for small and medium beetles to land and feed on their nectar before flying to other heads pollinating them in the process. Some protea flower species, like the

king protea ''Protea cynaroides'', also called the king protea (from , ), is a flowering plant. It is a distinctive member of ''Protea'', having the largest flower head in the genus. The species is also known as giant protea, honeypot, or king sugar bush. ...

flower, are

self-pollinating Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen arrives at the Stigma (botany), stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms) of the same plant. The term cross-pollination is used for the opposite case, where ...

flowers. Other protea species, however, such as ''P. cordata'', ''P. decurrens'', and ''P. scabra'' are self-incompatible, and thus rely on cross-pollination for successive seed sets. Some ''Protea'' species exhibit both self-pollination and cross-pollination as a method of reproduction. Cross-pollination is preferred, though, as a method of reproduction because it provides genetic diversity in the population. When cultivating proteas, breeders use hand pollination as a controlled method to transfer pollen from one flower to another.

Genetics

The common Proteaceae plants, e.g. ''Protea'', ''

Leucospermum ''Leucospermum'' commonly known as pincushions, is a genus of evergreen upright, sometimes creeping shrubs that is assigned to the Proteaceae, with currently 48 known species. The shrubs mostly have a single stem at their base, but some species ...

'', and ''

Leucadendron ''Leucadendron'' is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, endemic to the Cape Provinces and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, where they are a prominent part of the fynbos ecoregion and vegetation type. Desc ...

'' are diploid organisms, thus they can freely hybridize with closely related species to form new cultivars. Unusually, not all the genera within the family Proteaceae can hybridize freely; for example, ''Leucadendron'' species cannot be crossed with ''Leucospermum'' species because of the difference in their haploid chromosome number (13 and 12, respectively). This

genetic incompatibility Genetic incompatibility describes the process by which mating yields offspring that are nonviable, prone to disease, or genetically defective in some way. In nature, animals can ill afford to devote costly resources for little or no reward, ergo, ...

results in pollinated flowers that yield either no fruit, or seedless fruit, as the resulting plant embryos, from the incompatible pollen and ovum, fail to develop.

Botanical history

Proteas attracted the attention of botanists visiting the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

in the 17th century. Many species were introduced to Europe in the 18th century, enjoying a unique popularity at the time amongst botanists.

Cultivation

Proteas are currently cultivated in over 20 countries. Cultivation is restricted to Mediterranean and subtropical climates. Three categories of traits have to be considered before developing a new cultivar. The yield or production capacity of the cultivar must be considered. The ease of handling and packaging of the cut stems and the last category is to consider the perceived market value of the cultivar. The cultivation of a ''Protea ''plant is time-consuming, so good planning when developing the cross combinations and goals are of great importance of the breeding programme.

Classification

Within the huge family

, they are a member of the subfamily Proteoideae, which has Southern African and Australian members.

Species

(listed by section: a 'section' has a name in two parts, consisting of the genus name and an epithet). * ''Protea'' sect. ''Leiocephalae'' **''

'' (common protea) **'' Protea dracomontana'' (Drakensberg sugarbush) **'' Protea glabra'' (Clanwilliam sugarbush) **'' Protea inopina'' (large-nut sugarbush) **'' Protea nitida'' (wagon tree) **'' Protea nubigena'' (cloud sugarbush) **'' Protea parvula'' (dainty sugarbush) **'' Protea petiolaris'' (sickle-leaf sugarbush) **''

Protea rupicola ''Protea rupicola'', also known as the krantz sugarbush, is a flowering shrub belonging to the genus ''Protea''. It has a highly branched trunk and grows up to 2m high. In Afrikaans it is known as the ''kranssuikerbos''. Distribution The pl ...

'' (krantz sugarbush) **'' Protea simplex'' (dwarf

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Paludosae'' **'' Protea enervis'' (Chimanimani sugarbush) Protea madiensis MHNT

* ''Protea'' sect. ''Patentiflorae'' **'' Protea angolensis'' (woodland sugarbush) **'' Protea comptonii'' (saddleback sugarbush) **'' Protea curvata'' (Barberton sugarbush) **'' Protea laetans'' (Blyde sugarbush) **''

'' (tall woodland sugarbush) **'' Protea rubropilosa'' (Transvaal sugarbush) **'' Protea rupestris'' (rocket sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Lasiocephalae'' **'' Protea gaguedi'' (African sugarbush) **'' Protea welwitschii'' (dwarf savanna sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Cristatae'' **''

Protea asymmetrica ''Protea asymmetrica'', also known as the Inyanga sugarbush, is a flowering plant, named for its asymmetric flowerheads, of the family Proteaceae and endemic to Zimbabwe and the Nyanga region, where it grows in grasslands, as well as Mount Nyang ...

'' (Inyanga sugarbush) **'' Protea wentzeliana'' (Wentzel's sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Protea'' **''

Protea cynaroides ''Protea cynaroides'', also called the king protea (from , ), is a flowering plant. It is a distinctive member of '' Protea'', having the largest flower head in the genus. The species is also known as giant protea, honeypot, or king sugar bush ...

'' (king protea) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Paracynaroides'' **'' Protea cryophila'' (snow protea) **'' Protea pruinosa'' (frosted sugarbush) **'' Protea scabriuscula'' (hoary sugarbush) **'' Protea scolopendriifolia'' (Hart's tongue-fern sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Ligulatae'' **'' Protea burchellii'' (Burchell's sugarbush) **'' Protea compacta'' (Bot River sugarbush) **'' Protea eximia'' (broad-leaf sugarbush) **'' Protea longifolia'' (long-leaf sugarbush) **'' Protea obtusifolia'' (limestone sugarbush) **'' Protea pudens'' (bashful sugarbush) **''

Protea roupelliae ''Protea roupelliae'' is a species of ''Protea'' in the large family Proteaceae, and was named to commemorate Arabella Elizabeth Roupell (1817–1914) who spent two years in Cape Town and painted local flowers for her own pleasure. This specie ...

'' (silver sugarbush) **''

Protea susannae ''Protea susannae'', also known as stink-leaf sugarbush, is a flower-bearing shrub of the genus ''Protea''. The plant is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa. Other vernacular names are stink-leaf protea. In the Afrikaans l ...

'' (stink-leaf sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Melliferae'' **'' Protea aristata'' (Ladysmith sugarbush) **'' Protea lanceolata'' (Lance-leaf sugarbush) **''

Protea repens ''Protea repens'', known as the common sugarbush and in Afrikaans as the suikerbossie, is an erect shrub growing in the southern Cape Provinces of South Africa. This species is relatively adaptable and variable and can be found growing widely in ...

'' (common sugarbush, Honey flower, Sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Speciosae'' **'' Protea coronata'' (green sugarbush) **'' Protea grandiceps'' (red sugarbush) **'' Protea holosericea'' (saw-edge sugarbush) **'' Protea laurifolia'' (gray-leaf sugarbush) **''

Protea lepidocarpodendron ''Protea lepidocarpodendron'', the black bearded sugarbush, is a bearded ''Protea'' that is placed in the section ''Speciosae''. It grows between one and 2 m tall, with narrowly oblong leaves. Flowerheads are oblong with a purple-black beard and ...

'' (black-beard sugarbush) **''

Protea lorifolia ''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). It is the type genus of the Proteaceae family. About 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mo ...

'' (strap-leaf sugarbush) **'' Protea magnifica'' (queen sugarbush) **'' Protea neriifolia'' (oleander-leaf protea, narrow-leaf sugarbush) **'' Protea speciosa'' (brown-beard sugarbush) **'' Protea stokoei'' (pink sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Exsertae'' **'' Protea aurea'' (common shuttlecock sugarbush) **'' Protea lacticolor'' (Hottentot sugarbush) **''

Protea mundii ''Protea mundii'', the forest sugarbush, is a flowering shrub native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces ...

'' (forest sugarbush) **'' Protea punctata'' (water sugarbush) **'' Protea subvestita'' (waterlily sugarbush) **'' Protea venusta'' (creeping beauty) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Microgeantae'' **''

Protea acaulos ''Protea acaulos'', also known as the common ground sugarbush, is a flowering plant found in the southwestern Cape Region, South Africa. It is also simply known as ground protea; in the Afrikaans language it is known as an ''aardroos''. Taxonomy ...

'' (common ground sugarbush) **''

Protea convexa ''Protea convexa'', also known as large-leaf sugarbush, is a rare flowering shrub in the genus ''Protea'' of the family Proteaceae, which is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa. Taxonomy The first person who is known to have ...

'' (large-leaf sugarbush) **'' Protea laevis'' (smooth-leaf sugarbush) **''

Protea revoluta ''Protea revoluta'', also known as the roll-leaved sugarbush or rolled-leaf sugarbush, is a species of plant which is classified in the genus ''Protea''. ''P. revoluta'' is only found growing in the wild in South Africa, where plants can be fo ...

'' (rolled-leaf sugarbush) **'' Protea angustata'' (Kleinmond sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Crinitae'' **'' Protea foliosa'' (leafy sugarbush) **'' Protea intonsa'' (tufted sugarbush) **'' Protea montana'' (Swartberg sugarbush) **'' Protea tenax'' (tenacious sugarbush) **'' Protea vogtsiae'' (Kouga sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Pinifolia'' **'' Protea acuminata'' (blackrim sugarbush) **'' Protea canaliculata'' (groove-leaf sugarbush) **'' Protea nana'' (mountain-rose sugarbush) **'' Protea pityphylla'' (Ceres sugarbush) **''

Protea scolymocephala ''Protea scolymocephala'', also known as the thistle protea or thistle sugarbush, is a flowering plant from the genus ''Protea'' native to South Africa. Other recorded vernacular names for the plant are small green protea or scoly. In the Afri ...

'' (thistle sugarbush) **'' Protea witzenbergiana'' (swan sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Craterifolia'' **'' Protea effusa'' (Marloth's sugarbush) **''

Protea namaquana ''Protea namaquana'', also known as the Kamiesberg sugarbush, is a flowering plant which belongs to the genus ''Protea''. The plant is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa, in particular the Kamiesberg mountains of Namaqualan ...

'' (Kamiesberg sugarbush) **'' Protea pendula'' (arid sugarbush) **'' Protea recondita'' (hidden sugarbush) **'' Protea sulphurea'' (sulphur sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Obvallatae'' **'' Protea caespitosa'' (bishop sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Subacaules'' **'' Protea aspera'' (rough-leaf sugarbush) **'' Protea denticulata'' (tooth-leaf sugarbush) **''

Protea lorea ''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). It is the type genus of the Proteaceae family. About 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mo ...

'' (thong-leaf sugarbush) **''

Protea piscina ''Protea piscina'', also given the vernacular name Visgat sugarbush, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae that is native to South Africa. It is endemic to the southwestern Cape Provinces The Cape Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical ...

'' (Visgat sugarbush) **''

Protea restionifolia ''Protea restionifolia'', which is also known as the Reed-leaf sugarbush, is a flowering shrub endemic to the Western Cape province of South Africa where it is found from the upper part of the Breede River Valley through the Bot River Valley to ...

'' (reed-leaf sugarbush) **''

Protea scabra ''Protea scabra'', also known as the sandpaper-leaf sugarbush, is a flowering groundcover that belongs to the genus ''Protea''. The plant is endemic to South Africa and is found from the Hottentots Holland Mountains across the Riviersonderend Mo ...

'' (sandpaper-leaf sugarbush) **'' Protea scorzonerifolia'' (channel-leaf sugarbush)

References

External links

*
Protea Atlas Project
a project to map the distribution of South African plant species, using ''Protea'' as a flagship.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser
{{Taxonbar, from=Q227822 Proteaceae genera Flora of the Afrotropical realm