''Protea scabra'', also known as the sandpaper-leaf sugarbush, is a flowering

groundcover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought. In an ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as t ...

that belongs to the genus '' Protea''. The plant is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and is found from the Hottentots Holland Mountains across the Riviersonderend Mountains, the

Kleinrivier Mountains The Kleinrivier Mountains are a mountain range in the Cape Fold Belt of the Western Cape province of South Africa. Kleinrivier means "Small River" in Afrikaans and is named after the river in the area that mouths out near Hermanus where the ran ...

and around the town of Caledon to the Swartberg mountains. Other

vernacular names In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

which have been recorded for this species are rasp-leaf erodendrum, scab-leaf protea, and scabrous sugarbush. In

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 ...

it is known as the ''skurweblaargrondsuikerbos''.

Taxonomy

This species was collected as a herbarium specimen by William Roxburgh during a stop at 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 ...

on the way to India, and was first described by Robert Brown in the 1810 publication ''

On the Proteaceae of Jussieu ''On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae'', also published as "On the Proteaceae of Jussieu", was a paper written by Robert Brown on the taxonomy of the plant family Proteaceae. It was read to the Linnean Society of London in the first q ...

''. Brown states the wealthy merchant George Hibbert grew the species in his private protea collection, although he questions if it were not another new species entirely. Brown also described ''Protea tenuifolia'' from a plant obtained by Hibbert's personal plant collector, the Scotsman James Niven, in the same publication. Although this

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

is now seen as a synonym of this species and was published first and thus had priority, the name had already been published a number of times prior for other species and was therefore

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

and illegitimate.

Description

The shrub forms a dense mat, up to 50cm in diameter, of root-like, underground

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s. Tufts of leaves eventually bearing flowers appear on the surface of the soil. It is long-lived, with individuals living longer than a century. The plant sprouts again from the underground stems after fires.

Ecology

The plant is

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Monoecy is conne ...

with both sexes in each flower. It blooms from April to October with the peak from July to October. Pollination may occur through the action of rodents, although it might also be pollinated by birds. The seeds are stored in the woody fruit which is retained on the plant for one to two years, until fires open the fruit. When released the seeds are dispersed by wind. The species grows on flats or low slopes in mountainous areas, typically in shale soil, but also in sandstone

fynbos Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...

, at elevations of 50 - 900 m.

Conservation

The population of this species has decreased by an estimated 25-30% over the last century due to

afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees (forestation) in an area where there was no previous tree cover. Many government and non-governmental organizations directly engage in afforestation programs to create forests a ...

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

, agriculture and urban expansion, but it is still locally common.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15584677 scabra Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces Plants described in 1810 Fynbos