Protea coronata ruffled by insects

Visiting beetles and other insects that pollinate, as well as some birds, often play havoc with the initially neat appearance of a Protea coronata flowerhead. As one of the bearded proteas, P. coronata does not open widely. The involucral bracts remain clasped around the cluster of perianths, unlike the development of some other proteas like P. repens or P. aurea.

So, the pollinators have to burrow or "mine" a bit to reach their goal. Thus they unwittingly ensure sufficient pollen deposits on their own bodies for offloading on the next flower, their age-old chore they don't even know about! The result is the dishevelled look of the flowerhead in the picture, seen here on many flowerheads in September near Greyton.

The long-beaked sunbirds have learnt shortcuts for reaching the nectar of this protea. They push their sharp beaks through the involucral bracts on the side of the flowerheads to get at the juice. Thus they keep their faces clean, "steal nectar" and leave all the pollination duties to the insects that enter from the top. Every species lives as best it can!

The blooming season for this plant, the green sugarbush, lasts long, from autumn to spring. This provides a feeding facility to loyal pollinators for a generous period of time, taking into account the variety of lifestyles that characterise the numerous service providers (Rebelo, 1995; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com).