Protea laetans

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae}}

{{Italic title}}

{{Speciesbox

|name = Blyde River protea

|image = Africký keř King Protea, Blyde River Canyon, Jižní Afrika - panoramio.jpg

|image2 = Protea laetans.jpg

|image2_caption = habit and flower head

|status = EN|status_system = IUCN3.1

|status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Rebelo, A.G. |author2=Mtshali, H. |author3=von Staden, L. |author4=Lötter, M.C. |date=2020 |title=Protea laetans |volume=2020 |page=e.T33931A185550218 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T33931A185550218.en |access-date=15 November 2021}}

|genus = Protea

|species = laetans

|authority = L.E.Davidson

}}

Protea laetans, the Blyde River protea or Blyde sugarbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae. It was recognised as a species in 1970, and is endemic to the Blyde River Canyon of the Mpumalanga escarpment, South Africa.{{cite book | last = Onderstall | first = Jo | title = Transvaal lowveld and escarpment | publisher = Botanical Society of South Africa | series = South African wild flower guide | volume = 4 | location = Cape Town | date = 1984 | page = 86 | isbn = 0-620-07750-6 }} The slender plants are up to 5m tall and flower from mid to late summer. The bracts of their closed flower heads are shiny and silvery in appearance. They are most easily viewed near the F.H. Odendaal camp of the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve. Laetans means joyous, i.e. Blyde.