''Protea sulphurea'', also known as the sulphur sugarbush, is a flowering plant of the genus ''

Protea ''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). Etymology The genus ''Protea'' was named in 1735 by Carl Linnaeus, possibly after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form a ...

'' in the 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 ...

, which is only known to grow in the wild in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

province of

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 ...

. A

vernacular name A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

for the plant in the

Afrikaans language Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch dialects, Dutch vernacular of Holland, Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German set ...

is heuningkoeksuikerbos or Skaamblom (shy flower) .

Taxonomy

''Protea sulphurea'' was first described by Edwin Percy Phillips in 1910. A

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

(#3208) was originally collected by the German explorer

Rudolf Marloth Hermann Wilhelm Rudolf Marloth (28 December 1855 Lübben, Germany – 15 May 1931 Caledon, Cape Province) was a German-born South African botanist, pharmacist and analytical chemist, best known for his ''Flora of South Africa'' which appeared i ...

in 1903; there are at least three specimen sheets labelled as Marloth3208 housed at the

Kew Herbarium Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its living collections include some of the ...

. Another, possibly older, specimen was also collected by one Pearson (perhaps

Thomas Pearson Stokoe Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

), who was possibly the first European to collect this species. Phillips gives neither a type for the

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 ...

, nor an

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

for the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

. Otto Stapf designated the Pearson collection as the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

in 1912, but in 1972

John Patrick Rourke John Patrick Rourke FMLS (born 26 March 1942, in Cape Town) is a South African botanist, who worked at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and became curator of the Compton Herbarium. He is a specialist in the flora of the Cape Floristi ...

overturned this for some reason, and selected one of the three sheets of Marloth's collections at Kew as the

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

Description

This species grows into a low, squat, woody, densely-branched

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

up to 0.5 1.8 or 2 m tall. The branches are glabrous. The leaves are

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

(or yellowish when dry or during droughts), indistinctly veined, minutely rugulose (having a finely wrinkled surface and texture), long, and 6 to 13 mm broad. Their shape is either narrowly

obovate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

- cuneate or

oblanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

Protea sulphurea outramps-tanniedi iNat20173472c

The flowers are produced from April to August, densely packed together within large

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s. These inflorescences, or more specifically pseudanthia (also called '

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

'), are almost

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

(having a very short and indistinct peduncle), and hang downwards towards the ground. They have a long receptacles which are conical in shape. The flower head is surrounded by petal-like structures called '

involucral bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s', these are glabrous and arranged in a series of nine or ten rows. The outer bracts have somewhat pointy ends, ovate in shape and minutely ciliate (having a fringe of hairs like an eyelash at their margins). The inner bracts are oblong or

spathulate This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

-oblong in shape, and are longer than the actual flowers. It 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 ...

, both sexes occur in each flower. The

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s and

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s of the flowers are fused into a tube-like, long

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ...

-sheath. This sheath is dilated, has three keels and six to seven veins on the lower portion, has an 8.5 mm lip, and generally glabrous except for a few setose (bristly, stiff) hairs from the base to near the upper parts of the outer surface. The lip is slightly recurved, has a few scattered setose hairs on it, and has three teeth at its end. The two outer of these teeth are longer than the middle one, at 1.4 mm long versus 1 mm. All of the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are fertile. Their filaments are 0.53 mm long and channelled. The

anther The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s are linear and 4.8 mm long. The apical glands are 0.35 mm in length, ovate in shape and end in an acute point. There are oblong and obtuse (blunt) hypogynous scales which are 1.4 mm in length. The

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

is covered in long, spreading, yellow-brown hairs. The

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

is 2.65 mm long,

falcate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...

, compressed, glabrous and tapers towards both ends. The stigma is 5.3 mm long, with an obtuse end, grooved, and almost imperceptibly becomes the style.

Similar species

It is similar to ''

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 ...

'', primarily differing in having conically-shaped receptacles within the inflorescence, and also to ''P. pendula'', from which it differs by having wider leaves with indistinct

venation Venation may refer to: * Venation (botany), the arrangement of veins in leaves * Wing venation, the arrangement of veins in insect wings See also * * Vernation Vernation (from ''vernal'' meaning ''spring'', since that is when leaves spring forth ...

Distribution

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 ...

to the

province of South Africa. It is found distributed from the

Hex River Mountains The Hex River Mountains ( af, Hexrivierberge) make up the second highest mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa and are located 120 kilometres (75 miles) north-east of Cape Town. They form part of a large anticline in the Ca ...

, through the Witteberg Mountains, to the

Swartberg The Swartberg mountains (''black mountain'' in Afrikaans) are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Kar ...

mountains and the Waboomsberg, which is one of the

Koue Bokkeveld Mountains The Koue Bokkeveld, meaning "Cold Buck Shrubland" in Afrikaans, is a mountain range in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Geologically the range is composed of Cedarberg Sandstone of the Cape System. Location and extent It is located above ...

. It occurs near the town of

Matjiesfontein Matjiesfontein is a settlement in Central Karoo District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. History The original inhabitants of the region were the Khoikhoi herders and the San hunter gatherers. Following the arrival o ...

Gallery

File:Protea sulphurea linkie iNat11243666a.jpg, ''Protea sulphurea'' bush File:Protea sulphurea linkie iNat11243666b.jpg, ''Protea sulphurea'' flower head File:Protea sulphurea linkie iNat11243659.jpg, ''Protea sulphurea'' flower head File:Protea sulphurea outramps-tanniedi iNat20173472b.jpg, ''Protea sulphurea'' bush File:Protea sulphurea outramps-tanniedi iNat20173472d.jpg, ''Protea sulphurea'' flower head File:Protea sulphurea nicky iNat20174151a.jpg, ''Protea sulphurea'' bush File:Protea sulphurea nicky iNat20174151b.jpg, ''Protea sulphurea'' flower head File:Protea sulphurea nicky iNat20174151c.jpg, ''Protea sulphurea'' bush File:Protea sulphurea nicky iNat20174151d.jpg, ''Protea sulphurea'' flower head

Ecology

Mature plants are killed in the periodic

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

s which sweep its

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

, but the seeds can survive such occasions. It flowers in the Autumn and Winter, from April to August. The flowers are

pollinated Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, ...

by birds and small non-flying mammals. Small mammal pollinators include '' Micaelamys namaquensis'' and '' Elephantulus edwardii''.Kühn, N., Midgley, J. & Steenhuisen, S.-L. (2017). Reproductive biology of three co-occurring, primarily small-mammal pollinated Protea species (Proteaceae). ''South African Journal of Botany,'' 113: 337-345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2017.08.020 The fruits may be retained for a few years. Seeds are stored in seed heads on the plant and dispersed by means of the wind.

Habitat

It is found in arid areas, in a habitat which is most commonly

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 ...

, although near the town of Matjiesfontein it also grows in

renosterveld Renosterveld is a term used for one of the major plant communities and vegetation types of the Cape Floristic Region (Cape Floral Kingdom) which is located in southwestern and southeastern South Africa, in southernmost Africa. It is an ecoregion ...

in a

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

-derived soil, as well as in the shale fynbos in that area. It is usually found growing in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

-derived soils, although a few populations, all found around Matjiesfontein, also grow here in a

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

-derived substrate and the aforementioned shale. It is found at between 1,000 and 1,550 metres in altitude.

Conservation

This species is not threatened. The state of the population numbers is considered stable. In 2009 the

South African National Biodiversity Institute The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is an organisation established in 2004 in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, No 10 of 2004, under the South African Department of Environmental Affairs ( ...

first assessed this species to have the conservation status of '

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

', an opinion that was reiterated by the institute in 2019.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q18082431 sulphurea Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces