Mimetes

Mimetes, commonly pagoda bush or in Afrikaans stompie (little stump), is a genus of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the Proteaceae family, ranging from 50 cm to 6 m in height.

The pagoda name refers to the stem-tip flower clusters under the conspicuously floral, spreading or angled out, coloured leaves.

The stompie name used for all Mimetes species, actually refers to only one of the species: Only Mimetes cucullatus, the much-seen Cape fynbos plant, resprouts from its underground stump or rootstock, growing several stems quickly after a fire. This gives the plant head start from the ashes over reseeders. The other Mimetes species are all single-stemmed, stumpless, only capable of growing from seed after a fire.

The generic name, Mimetes, is derived from the Greek word mimos meaning imitator or actor, referring to the similarity of flower structure between Mimetes and Leucospermum.

The alternate, overlapping leaves are simple, oblong to elliptic or ovate with entire margins. One or a few horny teeth or thickened, coloured growths are usually present at leaf-tips. The blades are leathery and hairy, sometimes silvery.

The tiny, stalkless flowers grow in spike-shaped heads or clusters of 3 to many from upper leaf axils. They are surrounded by involucres or small bracts. The florets are bisexual, their perianths in bud cylindrical, bulbous or short-tubed.

The anthers arise from inside the perianth. The hairy ovary is slender, comprising one ovule. The style is thin and cylindrical, temporarily bent before released from the perianth when it promptly straightens. The pollen presenter becomes the stigma when the ovary is receptive.

The fruit is covered in a fleshy layer, an elaiosome, eaten by ants that reciprocate their benefit by dispersing the seeds.

There are 13 species, all in the Western Cape fynbos, some slightly extending into the Kouga in the Eastern Cape.

Among all the Mimetes species, only the resprouter in picture, M. cucullatus or rooistompie (little red stump), is considered to be of least concern in its habitat early in the twenty first century. One more is rare with stable population (M. fimbriifolius of the Cape Peninsula). All the others cause concern: three are vulnerable, five endangered and three critically endangered (Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; http://pza.sanbi.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).