Proteas, also called sugarbushes, are a genus of South African flowering plants. Representations of the protea have become synonymous with South Africa, but today these beauties are available all over the world. Here are some interesting facts about this large genus of flowering plants.
Origin and Diversity
Proteas are considered to be among the oldest of flowering plants. Dating back approximately 300 million years, proteas are considered to be among the oldest families of flowering plants on the planet.
Because of this, it is believed that the protea genus originated on the super-continent Gondwana. Evidence from pollen fossils suggests Proteaceae ancestors grew in Gondwana, in the Upper Cretaceous, 75-80 million years ago.
When the continent eventually split, proteas were spread across different continents and countries including Australia, New Zealand and South America.
The Proteaceae are divided into two subfamilies: the Proteoideae, best represented in southern Africa, and the Grevilleoideae, concentrated in Australia and South America and the other smaller segments of Gondwana that are now part of eastern Asia.
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With over 1500 species, proteas come in different shapes and sizes, from shrubs to tall trees. African proteas can range in stature from tiny shrubs to tall trees of 25 feet (7.6 meters) or more.
More than 90 percent of them are only found in what’s known as the Cape Floristic Region, in a narrow region of the south and southwestern coastal mountain ranges that is considered one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. About 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mountainous coastal land from Clanwilliam to Grahamstown, South Africa. Most protea species are found south of the Limpopo River.
Map of the Cape Floristic Region in South Africa
Australia has the greatest diversity of protea species. Although South Africa is associated with proteas more than any other country, Australia has the largest collection of species on the planet-over 850. South Africa comes in at second place, with more than 330 species.
Nomenclature and Classification
The protea was named and classified in the 1700s. The father of taxonomy and botanist, Swedish-born Carl Linnaeus, gave the protea (proteaceae) its name in 1735.
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The name “protea” was inspired by Greek mythology. Proteas are named after Proteus, son of Poseidon and shape-shifter, highlighting the variety of plants found within the large proteaceae family. Proteas were named after the Greek god Proteus, son of Poseidon, who had the ability to transform himself into many different shapes-and proteas do come in an astounding variety of shapes, sizes, hues, and textures. The name of the plant family Proteaceae as well as the genus Protea, both to which P. cynaroides belongs to, derive from the name of the Greek god Proteus, a deity that was able to change between many forms.
Protea cynaroides is a species of Protea in the huge family Proteaceae. The family comprises about 80 genera with about 1,600 species. Protea cynaroides is further placed within the subfamily Proteoideae, which is found mainly in Southern Africa. This subfamily is defined as those species having cluster roots, solitary ovules and indehiscent fruits.
Proteoideae is further divided into four tribes: Conospermeae, Petrophileae, Proteae, and Leucadendreae.
The King Protea
The King Protea, (Protea cynaroides), 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 the flagship of the The Protea Atlas Project, run by the South African National Botanical Institute.
The artichoke-like appearance of the flower-heads of the king protea lead to the specific name ‘cynaroides’, which means ‘like cynara’ (the artichoke). The name does not do justice to the beautiful flower-heads of this protea, which is the largest in the genus.
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The king protea (protea cynaroides) took the title of South Africa’s national flower in 1976. The king protea is the national flower of South Africa. Protea cynaroides, also called the king protea (from Afrikaans: koningsprotea, Xhosa: isiQwane sobukumkani[3]), is a flowering plant.
The king protea, so called because of its resemblance to a crown, is the largest of all proteas and is found in the Cape Floristic region. The flower appears on South African birth certificates and passports, as well as on the South African 5-Rand coin, and the Proteas, South Africa’s cricket team, also took its name from the genus.
South African 5-Rand coin with the King Protea
The "flowers" of P. cynaroides are actually composite flower heads (termed an inflorescence) with a collection of flowers in the centre, surrounded by large colourful bracts, from about 120 to 300 millimetres (5 to 12 in) in diameter. Large, vigorous plants produce six to ten flower heads in one season, although some exceptional plants can produce up to forty flower heads on one plant.
P. cynaroides is a woody shrub with thick stems and large dark green, glossy leaves. Most plants are one metre in height when mature, but may vary according to locality and habitat from 0.35 to 2 metres (1 ft 2 in to 6 ft 7 in) in height.
Adaptations and Survival
These plants are known for their unusual and beautiful flowers, which seem rather mythological themselves, like blooms from an alien landscape-some can reach 12 inches (30.5 centimeters) across. Proteas are considered to be among the oldest of flowering plants, and from the king protea Protea cynaroides to the tall silver tree Leucadendron argenteum to the nodding pincushion Leucospermum cordifolium, they have the allure of another time.
Proteas need an open, sunny, well-ventilated position and acidic soil that is gravelly, sandy, or basaltic loam.
P. cynaroides grows in a harsh environment with dry, hot summers and wet, cold winters. Several adaptions include tough, leathery leaves, which helps to prevent excessive loss of moisture, and a large taproot which penetrates deep into the soil to reach underground moisture. The leaves are arranged in a spiral around the stem, usually tough and leathery, and may be rounded, oval, paddle-shaped, or needle-like. They can be light to dark green, blue-green, or gray-green in color.
Like most other Proteaceae, P. cynaroides has proteoid roots, roots with dense clusters of short lateral rootlets that form a mat in the soil just below the leaf litter. All proteas have a proteoid root system. The proteoid root system allows them to survive in soil that isn’t rich in nutrients.
Fire is an important element in shaping the landscape, and proteas have evolved to survive the frequent brush fires. Dormant buds survive the wildfires that so often clear the dry Cape land, only to emerge once the fire has gone out. The plants are, as such, hardy and can withstand the toughest of weather conditions.
Most Protea species can be placed in one of two broad groups according to their response to fire: reseeders are killed by fire, but fire also triggers the release of their canopy seed bank, thus promoting recruitment of the next generation; resprouters survive fire, resprouting from a lignotuber or, more rarely, epicormic buds protected by thick bark.
Some avoid the flames by growing in rocky crags or through cracks or depressions in the ground, while others have tough roots that can quickly sprout new stems after a fire has gone through. Some varieties grow a thick bark that can insulate tissues.
Pollination
Proteas use a variety of pollination strategies. Many rely on nectar-feeding birds, especially African sunbirds and sugarbirds. Others are pollinated by flower-visiting rodents or insects. The flowers are fed at by a range of nectarivorous birds, mainly sunbirds and sugarbirds, including the orange-breasted sunbird (Anthobaphes violacea), southern double-collared sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus), malachite sunbird (Nectarinia famosa), and the Cape sugarbird (Promerops cafer).
In order to reach the nectar, the bird must push its bill into the inflorescence. As it does so, its bill and face gets brushed with pollen, thereby allowing for possible pollination.
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 flower, are self-pollinating 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.
Cultivation
Proteas attracted the attention of botanists visiting the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th century. Proteas are currently cultivated in over 20 countries. Cultivation is restricted to Mediterranean and subtropical climates.
Propagation is from seed, cuttings, or grafting; the hybrid cultivars are usually propagated from cuttings.
The common Proteaceae plants, e.g. Protea, Leucospermum, and Leucadendron 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).
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 king protea has a long vase life in flower arrangements, and makes for an excellent dried flower. While you are enjoying your fresh protea flowers remember they also dry into a durable flower that can be enjoyed a long time...
It has several colour forms, and horticulturists have recognised 81 garden varieties, some of which have injudiciously been planted in its natural range.
Although proteas are well adapted to their natural habitat, a number of varieties are considered at risk of extinction. Of the 360 African species, about 120 of them are listed as endangered, due to loss of habitat and over-collection. Disease can also be responsible for significant die-offs, especially when people inadvertently track non-native bacteria or fungi into the sensitive habitat.
Because proteas grow well in Southern California’s climate, both the Zoo and the Safari Park grow many varieties of proteas in our gardens.
