Protea speciosa

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

{{Speciesbox

|image = Protea speciosa (1).JPG

|image_caption =

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Rebelo, A.G. |author2=Mtshali, H. |author3=von Staden, L. |date=2020 |title=Protea speciosa |volume=2020 |page=e.T113221210A185574444 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T113221210A185574444.en |access-date=18 November 2021}}

|genus = Protea

|species = speciosa

|authority = L.{{Cite web |title=Protea speciosa |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/706146-1 |website=International Plant Names Index |publisher=The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries and Australian National Botanic Gardens |access-date=11 August 2020}}

|synonyms =

|synonyms_ref =

}}

Protea speciosa, also known as the brown-beard sugarbush,{{cite web |last1=Rebelo |first1=A.G. |last2=Mtshali |first2=H. |last3=von Staden |first3=L. |title=Brown-beard Sugarbush |website=Red List of South African Plants |version=version 2020.1 |date=13 June 2019 |publisher=South African National Biodiversity Institute |url=http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=799-134 |access-date=11 August 2020}}{{Cite web|url=http://biodiversityexplorer.info/plants/proteaceae/protea_speciosa.htm|title=Protea speciosa (Brown-beard sugarbush)|website=biodiversityexplorer.info}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.proteaatlas.org.za/sugar2.htm|title=Bearded Sugarbushes|website=www.proteaatlas.org.za}} is a flowering shrub which is classified as within the genus Protea.

Taxonomy

The first specimen was to be found in the herbarium of Aylmer Bourke Lambert and was collected by William Roxburgh in during a stop at the Cape of Good Hope on the way to India.{{Citation |mode=cs1 |last1=Andrews |first1=H.C. |contribution=Protea speciosa |title=The Botanists' Repository, for New, and Rare Plants |volume=7 |at=Plate 438 |contribution-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35501071 |access-date=26 July 2020}}

Description and ecology

The shrub grows upright, and grows up to a height of 1.2 metres. It blooms from June to January, peaking in September to October. The plant is monoecious with both sexes in each flower. Pollination occurs through the action of birds rooting in the large flowerheads for nectar. The seeds are stored in woody capsules and are dispersed by means of the wind.

The plant grows in mountainous, cool, southern slopes at altitudes from sea level to 1,300 metres. It can re-sprout again after being burnt off in periodic wildfires.

Distribution

Protea speciosa is endemic to the Western Cape province of South Africa. It occurs from the Cape Peninsula to the Heuningberg mountain above the town of Bredasdorp.

References

speciosa

Category:Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus