Protea repens bicoloured flowerheads

Between the white and pinkish red flowering forms of Protea repens there are plants bearing bicoloured flowerheads, as this one seen in Fernkloof. The deeper red flowering plants are more associated with regions within the Eastern Cape. The long bloomtime of this sugarbush, often all year round, is a boon to many, people and pollinators.

Only the involucral bract tips deviate from white, the uppermost or inner row of bracts having the least added tip colouring. The shorter, outer or lower bracts are brownish, the sign of age setting in.

The dull green leaves are wider near tip than base (spoon-shaped or oblanceolate), their margins pale and entire. The leaves are round-tipped, the floral bracts acutely pointed (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Manning, 2007; Rebelo, 1995; Rourke, 1980; iNaturalist).