3 Protea speciosa Seeds - Brown-beard Sugarbush - Indigenous to South Africa + FREE SEEDS

Protea speciosa Seeds

Brown-bearded Protea; Baardsuikerkan, Baarsuikerbos, Brandhout, Kreupelboom, Kreupelbos, Kreupelbossie, Suikerbos

Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of South African flowering plants, sometimes also called sugarbushes in English and Suikerbos in Afrikaans. The genus Protea was named after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form at will, because plants within this genus have such a wide variety of forms. The Proteaceae family to which proteas belong is an ancient one. Its ancestors grew in Gondwana, 300 million years ago. Most protea occur south of the Limpopo River. 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mountainous coastal land from Clanwilliam to Grahamstown, South Africa. They are evergreen shrubs or trees usually found in fynbos. Protea blossoms make excellent cut flowers, keeping their colour for up to three weeks. In the garden they do well in rockeries and also make excellent feature plants. An added attraction during flowering time is the numerous birds attracted to the plants. Other well-known genera of the Proteaceae are Aulax with brightly coloured pincushion flowers, Leucospermum also known as pincushions, Leucadendron with decorative woody cones and Serruria, of which Serruria florida, the blushing bride, with its beautiful pale pink flowers is the most well-known, Spatalla and Telopea with its unique bright flowers. Protea speciosa commonly known as Brown-bearded Protea in English and Baardsuikerkan, Baarsuikerbos, Brandhout, Kreupelboom, Kreupelbos, Kreupelbossie or Suikerbos in Afrikaans is a South African endemic species naturally found growing in the Western Cape Province. It grows into a low shrub of 0.5 to 1.2m tall. From June to January every year it bears its gorgeous bearded flowers. Flowering peaks from September to October. It has leaves with thickened margins that are 90-160 mm long and 10-60 mm wide. The flowerheads have closely packed brown fringed flowering bracts giving the plant its common name the brown beard sugarbush. It is a resprouting species that is able to survive fire and resprout from its woody underground stem.