Protea cynaroides budding

Compact Protea cynaroides flowerhead buds are positioned solitary at stem-tips among long-stalked leaves that present them to the sun like hands delivering offerings. They seem to wait impassively for launching on fantastic flights.

The  buds highlight the artichoke resemblance recognised in the specific name of the plant, Cynara being an artichoke. The colouring is not it: The powdery white to pinkish Protea bracts would be green in artichokes. But the rounded overall bud shape with pointed tip and densely overlapping bracts tapering to acutely pointed tips like artfully laid tiles leaves nothing to the imagination.

And the artichoke resemblance stops before the leaves. The wavy, red-rimmed P. cynaroides leaves with entire margins look nothing the like leaves of artichokes.

People leave the eating of these magnificent objects to birds and insects (once the flowerheads open). The artichoke as a dish is a different matter.