''Protea'' () is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of South African

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s, also called sugarbushes (

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

: ''suikerbos'').

Etymology

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

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, possibly after the Greek god

Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus (; Ancient Greek: Πρωτεύς, ''Prōteus'') 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)''. ...

, who could change his form at will, possibly because they have such a wide variety of forms. Linnaeus's genus was formed by merging a number of 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. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20395297.) was a Dutch botanist, ...

, 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 (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

. Evidence from pollen fossils suggests Proteaceae ancestors grew in

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

, in the

Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger 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 ''creta'', the ...

, 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 is in Africa, but there are also many species in Australia; a few species occur in South America, New Caledonia, and elsewhere. Taxonomy Proteoidea ...

, 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 genera and about 950 species. Genera include ''Banksia'', ''Grevillea'', and ''Macadamia''. Description The ...

, 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 (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

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

Distribution

Most proteas occur 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 mountaino ...

. However, '' Protea caffra kilimandscharica ''is found in the

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

zone of

Mount Kenya National Park Mount Kenya National Park was established in 1949 to protect Mount Kenya, the wildlife and surrounding environment, which forms a habitat for wilderness, wild animals, as well as acting as an area for the catchment of water, to supply Kenya's wate ...

. About 92% of the species occurs only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mountainous coastal land from Clanwilliam to

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

, South Africa. 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.

Botanical history

Proteas attracted the attention of botanists visiting the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

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. Some protea flower species, like the

king protea ''Protea cynaroides'', also called the king protea, 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. It is widely ...

flower, are

self-pollinating Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen from the same plant arrives at the stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms). There are two types of self-pollination: in autogamy, pollen is transferred to ...

flowers. Other protea species, however, such as ''P. cordata'', ''P. decurrens'', and ''P. scabra'' are

self-incompatible Self-incompatibility (SI) is a general name for several genetic mechanisms that prevent self-fertilization in sexually reproducing organisms, and thus encourage outcrossing and allogamy. It is contrasted with separation of sexes among individuals ...

, thus rely on cross-pollination for successive seed set. The main vectors responsible for the transfer of pollen in protea cultivation are birds, insects, and wind. 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. Proteas usually flower during spring. The general structure of their flower heads consists of a mass of flowers on a woody receptacle. The ovary is protected by the receptacle, 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. The common Proteaceae plants, e.g. ''Protea'', ''

Leucospermum ''Leucospermum'' is a genus of evergreen upright, sometimes creeping shrubs that is assigned to the Proteaceae, with currently forty-eight known species. Almost all species are easily recognised as ''Leucospermum'' because of the long protruding ...

'', and ''

Leucadendron ''Leucadendron'' is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, endemic to South Africa, where they are a prominent part of the fynbos ecoregion and vegetation type. Description Species in the genus ''Leucadendron' ...

'' are diploid organisms, thus they can freely hybridise with closely related species to form new cultivars. Unusually, not all the genera within the family Proteaceae are able to hybridise 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.

Classification

Within the huge family

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...

, 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'' **''

Protea caffra ''Protea caffra'' (sometimes called the common protea), native to South Africa, is a small tree or shrub which occurs in open or wooded grassland, usually on rocky ridges. Its leaves are leathery and hairless. The flower head is solitary or in cl ...

'' (common protea) **''

Protea dracomontana ''Protea dracomontana'', the Nyanga protea or the Drakensberg sugarbush, is a flowering plant that belongs within the genus ''Protea''. The plant is found in the Eastern Cape, Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal and the escarpment of the Free State, as well ...

'' (Drakensberg sugarbush) **''

Protea glabra ''Protea glabra'', also called the Clanwilliam sugarbush, is a flowering shrub belonging to the genus ''Protea''. Other vernacular names for this plant are chestnut sugarbush, Clanwilliam protea or kayang bush. In Afrikaans language, Afrikaans ...

'' (Clanwilliam sugarbush) **''

Protea inopina ''Protea inopina'', the large-nut sugarbush, is a flowering shrub belonging to the well-known ''Protea'' genus. The plant is endemic to the Western Cape, rare, extremely isolated and occurs only in the Olifants River mountains near Palace Hill. ...

'' (large-nut sugarbush) **''

Protea nitida ''Protea nitida'', commonly called wagon tree, ''waboom'' or ''blousuikerbos'', is a large, slow-growing ''Protea'' endemism, endemic to South Africa. It is one of the few ''Protea'' species that grows into trees, and the only one that has usable ...

'' (wagon tree) **''

Protea nubigena ''Protea nubigena'', commonly known as cloud sugarbush, is a very rare species of a flowering shrub belonging to the ''Protea'' genus. It is endemic to KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is found in the uKhahlamba Basalt Grassland within the Royal ...

'' (cloud sugarbush) **'' Protea parvula'' (dainty sugarbush) **''

Protea petiolaris ''Protea petiolaris'', also known as the sickle-leaf sugarbush, is a tree in the Proteaceae family, found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked ...

'' (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''. The tree's national ...

'' (krantz sugarbush) **''

Protea simplex ''Protea simplex'', the dwarf grassveld sugarbush, is a flower-bearing shrub belonging to the genus ''Protea''. It is native to South Africa. In Afrikaans, it is known as . Description The plant is small, flattened, and grows in diameter. It ...

'' (dwarf grassland sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Paludosae'' **''

Protea enervis ''Protea enervis'', also known as the Chimanimani sugarbush, is a flowering shrub. It is native to the Chimanimani Mountains straddling Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and grows at altitudes of 1,680 to 2,000 metres. The inflorescence is reddish-pink i ...

'' (Chimanimani sugarbush) Protea madiensis MHNT

* ''Protea'' sect. ''Patentiflorae'' **''

Protea angolensis ''Protea angolensis'' is also known as the Angolan protea, northern protea or northern sugarbush. In Afrikaans it is known as the ''noordelijke suikerbos''. This is a dwarf, multistemmed shrub or small straggling tree occurring in open wooded gra ...

'' (woodland sugarbush) **''

Protea comptonii ''Protea comptonii'', also known as saddleback sugarbush, is a smallish tree of the genus ''Protea'' in the Family (taxonomy), family Proteaceae. It is found in South Africa and Eswatini. Names Other vernacular names which have been recorded to ...

'' (saddleback sugarbush) **''

Protea curvata ''Protea curvata'' (Serpentine sugarbush, af, Serpentynsuikerbos) is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Mpumalanga Province of South Africa,Protea laetans ''Protea laetans'', the Blyde River protea or Blyde sugarbush, is a localized plant of the family Proteaceae. It was recognised as a species in 1970, and is endemic to the Blyde River Canyon of the Mpumalanga escarpment, South Africa. The slende ...

'' (Blyde sugarbush) **''

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 ...

'' (tall woodland sugarbush) **'' Protea rubropilosa'' (Transvaal sugarbush) **''

Protea rupestris ''Protea rupestris'', also known as rocket sugarbush, is a flower-bearing tree of the genus ''Protea''. The plant is found in Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. As a tree it has few branches and g ...

'' (rocket sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Lasiocephalae'' **'' Protea gaguedi'' (African sugarbush) **''

Protea welwitschii ''Protea welwitschii'' is a species of shrub or small tree which belongs to the genus ''Protea'', and which occurs in bushveld and different types of grassland. Vernacular names given for this species include cluster-head protea, honey-scented p ...

'' (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 Nya ...

'' (Inyanga sugarbush) **''

Protea wentzeliana ''Protea wentzeliana'', also known as Wentzel's sugarbush, is a shrub belonging to the genus ''Protea''. The plant is found in the Chimanimani Mountains between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, as well as Malawi, southern Tanzania and central Angola. ...

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

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

'' (king protea) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Paracynaroides'' **''

Protea cryophila ''Protea cryophila'', the snowball sugarbush, snow protea, or snowball protea, is a flowering shrub of the genus ''Protea''. The plant is endemic to the Cederberg. The shrub is dense, wooded and grows in diameter and blooms from January to Apr ...

'' (snow protea) **''

Protea pruinosa ''Protea pruinosa'', also known as frosted sugarbush or burnished protea, is a flowering shrub which belongs to the genus ''Protea'' within the botanical family Proteaceae. The plant is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa. ...

'' (frosted sugarbush) **''

Protea scabriuscula ''Protea scabriuscula'', also known as the hoary sugarbush or gray sugarbush, is a flowering shrub, endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa. The species was first described by Edwin Percy Phillips in 1910. This plant grows in ...

'' (hoary sugarbush) **''

Protea scolopendriifolia ''Protea scolopendriifolia'', also known as the harts-tongue-fern sugarbush or hart's-tongue-fern sugarbush, is a flowering shrub endemic to South Africa, where it occurs in both the Western and Eastern Cape. It is found from the Cederberg, thr ...

'' (Hart's tongue-fern sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Ligulatae'' **''

Protea burchellii ''Protea burchellii'', also known as Burchell's sugarbush, is a flowering shrub in the genus ''Protea'', which is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa. The shrub is known by the vernacular name of ''blinksuikerbos '' in the Af ...

'' (Burchell's sugarbush) **''

Protea compacta ''Protea compacta'' is similar to ''Protea eximia''. Its distribution is from the Kleinmond to Bredasdorp Mountains and is one of the best known proteas in the cut flower industry. Its leaves curve upward. Description This is a popular local ma ...

'' (Bot River sugarbush) **''

Protea eximia ''Protea eximia'', the broad-leaved sugarbush, is a shrub from South Africa that may become a small tree. It occurs in mountain fynbos on mainly acidic sandy soils; the species was very well known under its old name of ''Protea latifolia''. The f ...

'' (broad-leaf sugarbush) **''

Protea longifolia ''Protea longifolia'', commonly known as the long-leaf sugarbush, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae that is native to the southwestern Cape Provinces of South Africa.Protea obtusifolia'' (limestone sugarbush) **''

Protea pudens ''Protea pudens'', also known as the bashful sugarbush, is a low-growing, groundcover-like, flowering shrub in the genus ''Protea''. It is only found growing in the wild in a small area in the Western Cape province of South Africa. In Afrikaa ...

'' (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 species ...

'' (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 ''Protea aristata'' is a compact shrub with beautiful flowers which is endemic to the southwestern part of the Cape Region of South Africa. ''P. aristata'' has become one of South Africa's most famous proteas in spite of its relatively late disc ...

'' (Ladysmith sugarbush) **''

Protea lanceolata ''Protea lanceolata'' is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process ...

'' (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 regions of South Africa. Related to other proteas, this plant is a relatively adaptable and variable species and can ...

'' (common sugarbush, Honey flower, Sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Speciosae'' **''

Protea coronata ''Protea coronata'' is an erect shrub usually growing tall, but known to reach . It produces an apple-green flower head and lanceolate leaves, turning purple-green around the flowerhead. Its stems are hairy. It flowers between April and Septembe ...

'' (green sugarbush) **''

Protea grandiceps ''Protea grandiceps'', commonly known as rooisuikerbos, suikerbos or red sugarbush, is a flowering shrub that belongs to the ''Protea'' genus and is native to parts south western parts of South Africa. The shrub was listed as an+ near threatened ...

'' (red sugarbush) **'' Protea holosericea'' (saw-edge sugarbush) **''

Protea laurifolia ''Protea laurifolia'', also known as the grey-leaf sugarbush, is a shrub from South Africa. It is native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. Another vernacular name for this species is laurel sugarbush. In Afrikaans this species is known by ...

'' (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 lorifolia'', in English called the strap-leaved sugarbush, strap-leaved protea or strap-leaf sugarbush is a flowering shrub which belongs to the genus ''Protea''. In Afrikaans this species is known by the vernacular name of ''riemblaa ...

'' (strap-leaf sugarbush) **'' Protea magnifica'' (queen sugarbush) **''

Protea neriifolia ''Protea neriifolia'', also known as the narrow-leaf sugarbush, oleander-leaved sugarbush, blue sugarbush, or the oleanderleaf protea, is a flowering plant in the genus ''Protea'', which is endemic to South Africa. Common names for the species ...

'' (oleander-leaf protea, narrow-leaf sugarbush) **'' Protea speciosa'' (brown-beard sugarbush) **''

Protea stokoei ''Protea stokoei'' is a flowering shrub which belongs to the genus ''Protea''. The plant is endemic to South Africa. It is found in the Kogelberg and Greenland mountains around Elgin. The shrub grows upright, grows up to 3.0 metres in height ...

'' (pink sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Exsertae'' **''

Protea aurea ''Protea aurea'', the long-bud sugarbush, is a shrub or small tree with a single trunk occurring in mountain fynbos, usually on cool, moist, southern slopes. It is endemic to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. The flowerheads are solitary and r ...

'' (common shuttlecock sugarbush) **''

Protea lacticolor ''Protea lacticolor'' or the Hottentot sugarbush, Hottentot white sugarbush or Hottentot's Holland sugarbush, is a flowering shrub of the ''Protea'' genus. It is also known as the Hottentotwitsukkerbos. The plant is endemic to South Africa and i ...

'' (Hottentot sugarbush) **'' Protea mundii'' (forest sugarbush) **''

Protea punctata ''Protea punctata'', also known as the water sugarbush or water white sugarbush, is a shrub belonging to the genus ''Protea'' which is found growing in the wild in South Africa. In Afrikaans this species is known by the vernacular names of ...

'' (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''. Taxonom ...

'' (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 (taxonomy), family Proteaceae, which is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa. Taxonomy The first person w ...

'' (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 ''Protea angustata'', also known as the Kleinmond sugarbush, is a flowering shrub that belongs to the genus ''Protea''. This plant is endemic to the south-west Cape Region of South Africa. Taxonomy ''Protea angustata'' was first discovered in ...

'' (Kleinmond sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Crinitae'' **''

Protea foliosa ''Protea foliosa'', also known as the leafy sugarbush, is a flowering plant of the genus ''Protea'' in the Family (taxonomy), family Proteaceae which is endemic to the Cape Region of South Africa. In the Afrikaans language it is known as ''ruie- ...

'' (leafy sugarbush) **''

Protea intonsa ''Protea intonsa'', also known as the tufted sugarbush, is a flowering plant of the genus Protea within the family Proteaceae, endemic to South Africa, where it is distributed from the eastern Swartberg and Kammanassie Mountains to the Baviaans ...

'' (tufted sugarbush) **''

Protea montana ''Protea montana'' also known as the Swartberg sugarbush, is a flowering plant of the genus ''Protea'' within the Family (taxonomy), family Proteaceae, which is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa. In Afrikaans it is known as ...

'' (Swartberg sugarbush) **''

Protea tenax ''Protea tenax'' also known as the tenacious sugarbush , is a flowering plant of the family Proteaceae endemic to South Africa and distributed in the Outeniqua, Tsitsikamma, Kouga and Winterhoek mountains as well as the Baviaanskloof. In Afrik ...

'' (tenacious sugarbush) **''

Protea vogtsiae ''Protea vogtsiae'', also known as the Kouga sugarbush, is a small flowering shrub of the genus ''Protea'' within the family Proteaceae, which is only found growing in the wild in the southern Cape Region of South Africa. It was named after M ...

'' (Kouga sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Pinifolia'' **''

Protea acuminata ''Protea acuminata'', also known in English as the black-rim sugarbush, or in the Afrikaans language as ''sederbergsuikerbos'', is a flowering shrub belonging to the genus ''Protea''. The plant is endemic to South Africa. There are isolated ...

'' (blackrim sugarbush) **''

Protea canaliculata ''Protea canaliculata'', also known as the groove-leaf sugarbush, is a species of flowering shrub of the genus ''Protea'', which is endemic to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. In Afrikaans this species is known by the vernacular name of ''ber ...

'' (groove-leaf sugarbush) **''

Protea nana ''Protea nana'', also known as the mountain rose or mountain-rose sugarbush, is a flowering shrub which belongs within the genus ''Protea''. Common names In the Afrikaans language the following vernacular names have been recorded for this plant ...

'' (mountain-rose sugarbush) **''

Protea pityphylla ''Protea pityphylla'', also known as Ceres sugarbush or mountain rose (along with a number of similar species), is a flowering shrub of the genus ''Protea'', in the family Proteaceae. The plant is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South ...

'' (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 Afrik ...

'' (thistle sugarbush) **''

Protea witzenbergiana ''Protea witzenbergiana'', or Swan sugarbush, is a flowering shrub of the genus ''Protea''. Taxonomy ''Protea witzenbergiana'' was first described by Edwin Percy Phillips in 1910, from specimens found growing in the Witzenberg range by Karl ...

'' (swan sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Craterifolia'' **''

Protea effusa ''Protea effusa'', sometimes known as the scarlet sugarbush, is a flowering plant which belongs to the genus ''Protea''. The plant is endemic to the Western Cape province of South Africa. In the Afrikaans language the vernacular name ''blosrooisu ...

'' (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 ''Protea pendula'', also known as the nodding sugarbush or arid sugarbush, is a flowering plant of the genus ''Protea'', in the family Proteaceae, which is only found growing in the wild in the Cape Region of South Africa. In the Afrikaans lan ...

'' (arid sugarbush) **'' Protea recondita'' (hidden sugarbush) **'' Protea sulphurea'' (sulphur sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Obvallatae'' **'' Protea caespitosa'' (bishop sugarbush) * ''Protea'' sect. ''Subacaules'' **''

Protea aspera ''Protea aspera'', commonly known as rough leaf sugar bush or ''aardroos suikerbos'', is a flowering shrub that belongs to the well-known Protea genus. The plant is endemic to South Africa and is found in the Kleinrivierberge, Bredasdorpberge ...

'' (rough-leaf sugarbush) **'' Protea denticulata'' (tooth-leaf sugarbush) **''

Protea lorea ''Protea lorea'', also known as the thong-leaf sugarbush, is a flowering shrub belonging to the genus ''Protea''. In Afrikaans it is known as ''sneeugrondsuikerbos''. Taxonomy ''Protea lorea'' was first described by Robert Brown in his 1810 ...

'' (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.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 t ...

'' (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 ''Protea scorzonerifolia'', the channel-leaf sugarbush, is a flower-bearing shrub belonging to the well-known ''Protea'' genus. The plant is endemic to South Africa and occurs in the Du Toit's Kloof, Franschhoek and Groot-Winterhoek mountains. T ...

'' (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 South Africa