Protea repens Red Seeds
Common Sugarbush, Real Sugarbush, Sugar Protea, Sugarbush; Bierbos, Mebos, Opregte Suikerbos, Perdebos, Soetsopbos, Stroopbos, Stroopbossie, Suikerbos, Suikerkan, Tulpboom
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 repens red commonly known as Common Sugarbush, Real Sugarbush, Sugar Protea or Sugarbush in English and Bierbos, Mebos, Opregte Suikerbos, Perdebos, Soetsopbos, Stroopbos, Stroopbossie, Suikerbos, Suikerkan or Tulpboom in Afrikaans is a South African endemic species naturally found growing in the Eastern Cape Province. This sturdy, dense shrub produces fairly large flowers ranging in colour from cream to deep red either during summer or during winter, depending on the variant grown. It is an excellent addition to any "wild-life" garden as the large amount of nectar produced by the flowers attracts birds, bees and other insects. The plants are tolerant to a large variety of growing conditions but will show frost damage at temperatures below -4 degrees Celsius.
